scholarly journals Do They Have What It Takes: A Review of the Literature on Knowledge, Competencies and Skills Necessary for 21st Century Public Relations Practitioners in Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence (Terry) Flynn

The practice and study of public relations in Canada has had a contested and conflicted history. Theory building and empirical research have been overshadowed by the dominant, American-centric, two-way symmetrical model that was proposed some 20 years ago. Further, there has been limited focus on the requisite competencies and skills necessary for contemporary public relations practitioners, despite the transformations in the media and professional communications fields in recent years. This study is situated and contextualized in the knowledge, competencies, and skills required for twenty-first-century professional communication workers. It also explores the specific requirements for current public relations practitioners.La pratique et l’étude des relations publiques au Canada ont eu une histoire difficile et pleine d’épreuves. La construction des théories et la recherche empirique ont été éclipsées par le modèle dominant, américano-américaines, bio-directionnelle proposé il y 20 ans. En plus, il y a eu un focus limité sur les compétences nécessaires pour les professionnels en relations publiques de nos jours, malgré les transformations dans les secteurs du média et la communication professionnelle dans les années récentes. Cette étude se situe dans le contexte des connaissances et compétences requises par les professionnels en communication au 21e siècle. Elle explore aussi les exigences particulières pour les professionnels en relations publiques de nos jours.

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-310
Author(s):  
Marina G. Shilina ◽  
Irina I. Volkova

The paper presents the current transformations of Russian public relations during the SaRS-COVID-19 pandemic and remote working in 2020. In response to the crisis and uncertainty, companies have adapted and restructured corporate strategies and communications. The increasing demand for communication support of strategies and daily support of corporate activities indicates the growing significance of PR and the implementation of organizational strategies, as well as the demand for the optimization of corporate communication in society. The PR industry in general and professional communication are becoming more and more integrated due to the attraction of knowledge, competencies, specialists from a wide range of related industries: marketing, sociology, management. The current communication situation caused changes in the characteristics of Russian PR in the segment of communication agencies. Despite the traditionally high volume of the agencies marketing services, the growth of crisis and digital communications has turned to be stable, which indicates the demand for more flexible PR formats. Based on an analysis of public relations of the leading local communication agencies in 2020, the authors put forward a hypothesis on the formation of the prerequisites for the transition of Russian public relations to the format of strategic communications.


Author(s):  
Van Thi Hong Loan

The paper provides empirical evidence for the development of the theory of media agendasetting. The power of the media, according to the theory, has been changed in public relations in Vietnam. Public relations practitioners have power to shape media content as they desire. This research uncovers that public relations practitioners not only impact media agendas as the theory describes, but also do the job of journalists. While public relations practitioners in the West use framing and information subsidies to influence media agendas for the public, this study indicated that practitioners in Vietnam tend to be responsible for public relations editorials that are considered as the main duty of media people. The paper additionally explains the way Vietnamese journalists conduct news to underpin understanding of the characteristics of media relations in the country. This paper also presents a Tripolar model of corporate, media and public agendas which was designed based on the research data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Princewell Nwanganga Achor ◽  
Justie O. Nnabuko

Background  Existing literature depicts public relations practitioners as gatekeepers. Despite this, limited research exists on how much of a gatekeeping role public relations practitioners play in their organizations’ communication with the publics in the social media domain. Analysis  This article bridges the research gap by examining the dual role of quasi-gatekeeping and quasi-gatewatching performed by public relations practitioners in their attempt to communicate, regulate, and manage information in the social media domain and market-space media environment. Conclusion and implications  Discussion of these two distinct roles expands the frontiers of gatekeeping studies in public relations practice and communication studies, through the introduction of a new mixed-flow model of the gatekeeping function of public relations practitioners in the digital media landscape.RÉSUMÉContexte  En dépit de la littérature existante montre que les spécialistes des relations publiques en tant que gardiens, cependant, il y a peu de recherches sur la quantité de rôle de surveillance les spécialistes en relations publiques jouent dans leurs organisations la communication avec le public dans le domaine des médias sociaux. Analyse  Par conséquent, cet article se ferme cette lacune en examinant le rôle de la dualité de pouvoirs quasi-control et quasi-gatewatching effectuée par le spécialistes des relations publiques dans leur tentative de communiquer, réglementer et gérer l’information dans le domaine des médias sociaux. Conclusion et implications  La discussion sur ces deux rôles distincts a enrichi la compréhension et les frontières d’un contrôle dans la pratique des relations publiques par l’introduction d’un nouveau modèle de flux mixtes de contrôle dans le paysage médiatique numérique.


Author(s):  
Jane Lung

<p>Undoubtedly, in recent years, the world as a whole, as well as the present world of work, has seen rapid changes which have served to bring about fundamental changes to work practices. Employees and trainers are thus facing greater challenges to achieve the required competency needed in this changing workplace environment. Bhatia (2013) observes that while the analyses of legal discourse have focused largely on ‘discursive practices’, very little effort has been given to studying ‘critical performance’ in professional legal practices, which is distinct from discursive practices. For this reason, this paper aims to show why discursive output has proved insufficient in the dynamic and complex discourse world of the present day workplace, as well as how the application of Critical Genre Analysis (CGA) greatly assists our understanding of it. By using critical genre theory, this paper looks more closely at interdiscursivity in public relations (PR) involving professional communication and how this in turn results in greater understanding of the changing workplace environment of the PR profession and helps individual PR practitioners cope with the challenges that they face. To achieve these aims, this study includes (i) in-depth interviews with public relations practitioners to gain their perceptions of their daily activities and the language and communication skills required by public relations practitioners to improve their effective professional communication, and (ii) critical genre analysis of the production of PR/communication plans, in particular, the Executive Summary and the Situation Analysis Section of the plans, to show the interaction between discursive and professional practices in the “socio-pragmatic space” of public relations contexts and how interdiscursivity is built into PR genres. For example, in order to examine the appropriation of genre and genre resources, it is interesting to consider: (i) in what way the Executive Summary of the PR/communication plans satisfies the requirements of sales promotional materials, and (ii) how in a very subtle manner, promotional elements are incorporated in the Situation Analysis Section, resulting in a mixed and embedded genre and discourse, achieving a mixture of  communicative purposes in the communicative context: to report and to recommend communicative actions as well as to achieve ‘private intentions’ within the context of ‘socially recognized communicative purposes’ (Bhatia 2002).</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-530
Author(s):  
Mark Dottori ◽  
Guy Faulkner ◽  
Ryan Rhodes ◽  
Norm O’Reilly ◽  
Leigh Vanderloo ◽  
...  

This study explored the frame-setting and frame-sending process of media who reported on the 2015 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Through the use of a case-study method employing a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach (content analysis followed by semistructured interviews), the findings revealed a high level of frame-sending characteristics by the media, and the framing of stories was found to be influencing the message being sent, making it different from the original messaging sent by public relations practitioners charged with dispersing information. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed along with suggestions for future studies.


Author(s):  
Van Thi Hong Loan

Public relations is practiced around the world from Western to Asian countries. Public relations theory was initially defined and formalised in the United States of America, and continued to evolve in Europe and the United Kingdom, but had a slower uptake of theory and its application to practice in Asia and other parts of the world. Within varied social and cultural environments, this research explores public relations in Vietnam - what public relations performs in the context of Vietnam where the culture values personal relationships. The exploratory study uses a qualitative research approach with the primary method of semistructured interviews of twenty-nine consultants and in-house public relations practitioners, in both Vietnamese and international organisations. The research found that Vietnamese public relations uses a one-way communication model proposed by Grunig & Hunt (1984). It simultaneously uses a two-way shared perspective which appears similar to the symmetrical model by Grunig & Hunt (1984) but the Vietnamese model focuses on relationships for communication. The study concludes that the nature of public relations in Vietnam is changed by the impact of the cultural factors.


Author(s):  
Mohd. Shuhaimi Ishak

 Abstract Generally speaking, media is extensively used as the means to disseminate news and information pertaining to business, social, political and religious concerns. A portion of the time and space of media has now become an important device to generate economic and social activities that include advertising, marketing, recreation and entertainment. The Government regards them as an essential form of relaying news and information to its citizens and at the same time utilizes them as a powerful public relations’ mechanism. The effects of media are many and diverse, which can either be short or long term depending on the news and information. The effects of media can be found on various fronts, ranging from the political, economic and social, to even religious spheres. Some of the negative effects arising from the media are cultural and social influences, crimes and violence, sexual obscenities and pornography as well as liberalistic and extreme ideologies. This paper sheds light on these issues and draws principles from Islam to overcome them. Islam as revealed to humanity contains the necessary guidelines to nurture and mould the personality of individuals and shape them into good servants. Key Words: Media, Negative Effects, Means, Islam and Principles. Abstrak Secara umum, media secara meluas digunakan sebagai sarana untuk menyebarkan berita dan maklumat yang berkaitan dengan perniagaan, kemasyarakatan, pertimbangan politik dan agama. Sebahagian dari ruang dan masa media kini telah menjadi peranti penting untuk menghasilkan kegiatan ekonomi dan sosial yang meliputi pengiklanan, pemasaran, rekreasi dan hiburan. Kerajaan menganggap sarana-sarana ini sebagai wadah penting untuk menyampaikan berita dan maklumat kepada warganya dan pada masa yang sama juga menggunakannya sebagai mekanisme perhubungan awam yang berpengaruh. Pengaruh media sangat banyak dan pelbagai, samada berbentuk jangka pendek atau panjang bergantung kepada berita dan maklumat yang brekenaan. Kesan dari media boleh didapati mempengaruhi pelbagai aspek, bermula dari bidang politik, ekonomi, sosial bahkan juga agama. Beberapa kesan negatif yang timbul dari media ialah pengaruhnya terhadap budaya dan sosial, jenayah dan keganasan, kelucahan seksual dan pornografi serta ideologi yang liberal dan ekstrim. Kertas ini menyoroti isu-isu ini dan cuba mengambil prinsip-prinsip dari ajaran Islam untuk mengatasinya. Tujuan Islam itu sendiri diturunkan kepada umat manusia ialah untuk menjadi pedoman yang diperlukan untuk membina dan membentuk keperibadian individu dan menjadikan manusia hamba yang taat kepada Tuhannya. Kata Kunci: Media, Kesan Negatif, Cara-cara, Islam dan Prinsip-prinsip.


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