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My books of the year
Here's my personal list of the five best books about - or of value for - public relations students and practitioners published in 2010. Notes and further discussion follow at the end. 1. Mediactive by...
View ArticleKey themes for 2011
Looking back on 2010 allows us to predict some of the main talking points for the year ahead. Value I have previously argued that the Stockholm Accords were a milestone event. This document...
View ArticlePublic relations – or communication?
It's a good question: what's the difference between public relations and communications? It matters because there's a century of investment in the idea of public relations: it has the professional...
View ArticleA week in the life
Increasingly it seems that education never sleeps. Particularly if there's an educational aspect to one's presence on social media. I'm not complaining: it's a privilege to teach and I'm fortunate to...
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New thinking in public relations
Where do the best ideas appear? In textbooks, in business books, in academic journals, in conference papers, on blogs, in conversation, in white papers? The answer, of course, is in all and any of...
View ArticleIs there a PR personality?
Warning: this post contains generalisations. But remember that theories are abstractions (ie generalisations) based on evidence such as observation. I fear that we are producing too much convergent...
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University lecturers: the three tribes
Inspired by re-reading a popular piece of social anthropology, I thought I'd proposed three types of university lecturer. I'm aware that many practitioners are curious about - even envious of - our...
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Some thoughts on PR theory and practice
In preparation for a peer group discussion this week, here are my thoughts on PR theory and practice drawn from some notable recent contributions to public relations literature. As so often when...
View ArticleGraduateness without a degree (21 by 21)
I spoke to a class of sixth formers about university this week. They, remember, will be the first group having to fund fees of up to £9,000 a year if they choose to go to university. I told them that...
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Why PR is going backwards
It was during the final session of the second annual International History of Public Relations Conference (#ihprc2011) when event organiser Professor Tom Watson said something explosive. While...
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There may be trouble ahead
We have a problem. There's a perfect storm approaching for students and universities. Oversupply of graduates is meeting a shrinking jobs market just when the cost of higher education is about to...
View ArticleMy review of my year
We encourage students to become 'reflective learners' - but in general undergraduates are poor at reflection. Some assume they're perfect and all assume that they're perfectible works-in-progress. I...
View ArticleThe future of public relations education
Guess which university is currently recruiting for a part-time public relations lecturer? Newcastle University (here's the ad). This is worth noting because for past two decades undergraduate PR degree...
View ArticleBack to earth. Back to reality.
There's a feeling of 'back to school' this week. But that's not the reason for the jolt. The reality check is the decision to fold the Media Guardian supplement (and Education and Society supplements...
View ArticleMy thoughts on references and recommendations
I'm often asked to write references - and now so many are on LinkedIn, recommendations too. I'm willing to help, but if you're thinking of asking then here's how you can help yourself first. Here's...
View Article#commschat: the role of learning
I'm leading a #commschat Twitter discussion later on the theme of learning. What can academics learn from practitioners? What can practitioners learn from academics? How do we all keep up, let alone...
View ArticleAre we mavericks? (to the tune by The Killers)
In an intriguing aside as he presented findings from the PR2020 research, Dr Jon White described PR practitioners as 'marginal, and often mavericks'. By marginal, he did not mean marginalised. He meant...
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My PR books of the year
Here's a very personal pick of the top five newly-published books on public relations in 2011. 1. Measure What Matters by Katie Delahaye Paine (Wiley) Two books were published by Wiley earlier this...
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Public relations needs to be rhizomatic – academic, scholarly, professional...
I describe myself as a hybrid, which I view as representing heterogeneity or a mixture of different things. I prefer the complex and chaotic to the simple and predictable. I relish individuality,...
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