Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach (2nd Edition)

In a time when society is holding individuals and organizations to high standards of conduct, Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach teaches students how to build ethical, productive relationships with strategic constituencies. By placing public relations in a broad social context, Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach provides an introduction to a dynamic, growing, and honorable profession. Steeped in the traditions and theories of public relations, the book features an engaging, informal tone. It abounds with lively anecdotes. A sustained focus on how public relations activities reflect and affect an organization's core values is a thread that runs through every chapter.

In a time when society is holding individuals and organizations to high standards of conduct, Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach teaches students how to build ethical, productive relationships with strategic constituencies. By placing public relations in a broad social context, Public Relations provides an introduction to a dynamic, growing, and honorable profession. Steeped in the traditions and theories of public relations, the book features an engaging, informal tone. It abounds with lively anecdotes and comes in at a reasonable price for students. A sustained focus on how public relations activities reflect and affect an organization's core values is a thread that runs through every chapter.

New to the Third Edition

• A new chapter on Public Relations in the Digital Age shows students the implications of the digital revolution.
• New and timely examples such as the use of public relations in the war on terror and the war in Iraq, as well as the Madonna—Britney kiss, Super Size Me, and the breakup of Barbie and Ken, bring public relations into the cultural world of students and energize class discussions.
• Expanded ethics chapter includes corporate responsibility, providing guidance in the aftermath of corporate scandals.
• Information on recent developments in the law, including Sarbanes-Oxley and Regulation FD, Kasky v. Nike, and new database-restriction legislation, helps students navigate the shifting grounds of the laws and regulations that affect public relations.
• Coverage of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management’s new international ethics code and the PR Alliance’s report Restoring Trust in Business show the growth of international standards for public relations and the importance of public relations in preventing future corporate scandals.
• Enhanced discussion of theoretical concepts including SWOT analysis, framing theory, ROI (return on investment), and AVE (advertising value equivalency) gives students a variety of tools to understand and analyze public relations practices.
• Nine new case studies and sidebars on international and multicultural public relations expose students to public relations practices and issues on the global stage.

Praise for Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach

The material is fresh, easy to understand, current, and covers the most appropriate areas of Public Relations for a semester-long course.
Robert A. Bergman, Lewis University

Its prescriptions for writing are very good, and the text provides the best discussion of planning processes of any of the introductory books.
Michael Smilowitz, James Madison University