Its Not Just PR: Public Relations in Society

Whether one sees it as unwelcome, underappreciated, orunnoticed, public relations has an important influence on modernsociety. In the second edition of their award–winning book, W.Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. Holladay provide a broad and thoroughlook at the field of public relations in the world today and assessits impact on society s values, knowledge, andperceptions.

The authors show how public relations affects society bothpositively and negatively and use a range of global,contemporary examples from multi–national corporations through tothe non–profit sector to prove their point.  The authors havethoroughly revised and updated the book with discussion of newissues, including the search within the profession for a definitionof PR; the role and limitations of social media; the emergence ofIssues Management; how private politics is shaping corporatebehavior; and the rise of global activism and the complications ofworking in a global world.  The authors also provide a nuancedand balanced discussion of ethical concerns for professionals inthe field that doesn t rely on oversimplification of theissues.  Well organized and clearly written by two leadingscholars, this is a must–read for students and professionals instrategic communication.

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction to the Second Edition 1

1 Does Society Need Public Relations? 4

2 Ethical Implications of Public Relations 36

3 Who Practices Public Relations? 60

4 Public Relations Influences Society 90

5 Shifting the View of Public Relations 123

References 141
Index 159

W. Timothy Coombs is Professor in the Nicholson School ofCommunication at the University of Central Florida.  His booksinclude the award–winning Ongoing Crisis Communication(2007) and Code Red in the Boardroom (2006).  WithSherry J. Holladay, he is co–author of Managing Corporate SocialResponsibility (Wiley–Blackwell, 2011) and PR Strategy andApplication (Wiley–Blackwell, 2009) and co–editor of TheHandbook of Crisis Communication (Wiley–Blackwell, 2010). He has worked with consulting firms in the U.S. and Europe on waysto improve crisis communication efforts for their clients.

Sherry J. Holladay is Professor in the Nicholson Schoolof Communication at the University of Central Florida. She teachescourses in public relations and corporate communication and herresearch interests include corporate social responsibility, crisiscommunication, reputation management, activism, and stakeholderrelations. Her work appears in the Journal of Public RelationsResearch, Public Relations Review, Management CommunicationQuarterly, Journal of Communication Management, andInternational Journal of Strategic Communication.  WithW. Timothy Coombs, she is co–author of Managing CorporateResponsibility (Wiley–Blackwell, 2011) and PR Strategies andApplications (Wiley–Blackwell, 2009), and co–editor of TheHandbook of Crisis Communication (Wiley–Blackwell, 2010).