Contends that public relations is a professional occupation that has become more than a subset or specialization of other disciplinary areas. Calls for reevaluation of professional and disciplinary areas that have influenced public-relations education. Contends that the integrity of public-relations professional education must take precedence over…

While comparisons of public relations practitioners and attorneys remain attractive among practitioners and scholars searching for evidence of public relation's emergence as a profession, practitioners would be better served by emulating physicians in their "healing" role rather than attorneys in their "advocacy" role. Public…

Argues that no insurmountable barriers preclude the development of a binding code within the public relations professional community. Suggests a professional model similar to that used by Certified Public Accountants as more appropriate, because it recognizes that not all the activities of its practitioners can be exclusionary and limited to those…

Contends that the 1998 Summer Conference of the National Communication Association, and the massive formative research in preparation for it, were seminal in examining current public-relations practice and education, in advocating education norms for the future, and in contributing to a much-needed ecumenism among the diverse public-relations…

States that Moslem culture heavily influences much of Middle Eastern practice, and that contemporary public relations literature indicates that "ethical" public relations practices embrace a "two-way symmetrical" model. Describes a counterthesis that contends that public relations is culturally relative in both theories and…

The 1987 Commission on Undergraduate Public Relations Education report "Design for Undergraduate Public Relations Education" is examined. Much has changed since that document was published yet much remains the same. Some specific challenges to the existing document include but are not limited to these: (1) multicultural and international…

Predictions for a "third wave" in which power and productivity will be based on developing and distributing information should interest public relations practitioners and educators since public relations will be a critically needed professional specialization. A future of communication technology barely fathomable today, together with a…

Even within the perceived homogeneity of the American hinterlands, a plethora of social issues and concerns threaten contemporary society. Among applied communicators, and especially among public relations practitioners, increasingly complex relationships must be satisfactorily nurtured so that people and institutions can be helped to seek…

This paper addresses the question, "What is the relationship of communications--in the sense of technology of information--and community?" The answer is the Internet. Public relations educators must teach students and practitioners how to best use the Internet to enhance public relations community-building. The implications of today's Internet are…

It is unlikely that Harvard University (Massachusetts) considered "outcomes assessment" for its first class of nine students in 1640, and most certainly the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States did not offer a public relations curriculum. A short history of education in the United States shows increasing numbers of…

Sophisticated public relations is being practiced in the Middle East. However, the models used in that region are not identical to American models, nor are they identical to those in other Western countries usually considered part of the "First World." In particular, Moslem culture heavily influences Middle East practice. Can the ethics…

This paper asserts that the greatest challenge for 21st century public relations practitioners will be the identification of organizational values and their reconciliation with societal values within the context of a quickly and seemingly chaotic syncretizing popular culture. This function of public relations requires considerable practitioner…

This paper asserts that an enlarged vision and additional perspectives of public relations will be needed in the 21st century: vision and perspectives that will not only complement but challenge existing paradigms. Future communication technological phenomena will require dramatic changes in public relations practitioners' efforts in relationship-…

A chronic problem in public relations education is the fragmentation of coursework, particularly as this fragmentation impacts on the application of communication theory. Public relations textbooks presentation of theory is often fragmented and segregated in to "theoretical" chapters and "applied" chapters with little integration between the two.…

Examines the scope and power of transnational corporations. Identifies and reviews four types of criticism leveled at such organizations. Advocates that public relations practitioners and other professional communicators of transnational corporations actively pursue development of codes of ethics that consider the transnational corporate…