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AEJMC Public Relations Division Membership Newsletter

Vol. 36, No. 1, Fall 2000

In this issue:

• Cutlip Stood the Test of Time
• PR Division Gets 'A' from AEJMC
• PR Profs at the Head
• Multicultural Directory Available
• Clearly Stated, Measurable Objective Set for PRD Listserv
• Three-Year Commitment By PRD Head Pamela Bourland-Davis
• Get on the PRD 2001 Program in Washington!
• Washington, D.C.: Land of the Free (Stuff)
• Division Leadership for 2000-2001

Cutlip Stood the Test of Time

Public relations lost a major figure and leader August 18 when Scott Cutlip lost his battle with inoperable brain cancer. He had turned 85 July 15 and was apparently at peace with the inevitable and feeling satisfied that he had made a contribution during his life. He certainly had, setting the stage for all of us in public relations education today and helping define the contemporary practice as a management function.

When Scott decided to accept the deanship at the University of Georgia, I was hired to head the public relations sequence at Wisconsin. When I heard people say that I had "replaced Cutlip," I reminded them that I had "followed Cutlip." Clearly, nobody could or would ever "replace" Scott Cutlip.

Scott came to San Diego in 1983 to plan the revision of Effective Public Relations for the sixth edition – my first edition as co-author. He spent three days in our home. It was a memorable time.

As we sat in my study hour after hour, turning page-by-page through the fifth edition, I was impressed with Scott's knowledge of every detail in the book. He seemed to relish explaining why each part was important to developing his and Allen Center's vision for the field. Many of the insights and examples in the book reflected his and Allen's firsthand experiences and close associations with leaders both in education and in the practice. The point of the exercise, however, was to revise and update for the sixth edition, so his emphasis was on changes and updates needed in the new edition – except for one chapter.

When we got to the history chapter – Scott's favorite part of the book – he flipped past those pages, saying, "This chapter has stood the test of time." Simply put, Scott first wrote the history of our field in his beloved text. Years later he drew upon his unmatched expertise to write the two-volume history that records the major actors and events in the evolution of public relations from its earliest American colonial beginnings through the first half of the 20th century. His Public Relations History and The Unseen Power surely also will stand the test of time as the authoritative history of our field for generations to follow.

Scott's dream for our field stood on a historical foundation that he had researched and reported in his books. He stood for high standards of ethical practice and against those whose practice violated his sense of the calling's social responsibility. He stood against those who would subordinate the calling to journalism or marketing. And, he stood at PRSA, AEJMC and Page Society conventions to receive the highest awards given in our field.

Scott Cutlip is now part of the history he wrote. May he rest in peace and in the warm glow of our respect and appreciation. He and his work stood the test of time.

PR Division Gets 'A' from AEJMC

Bill Adams chaired this year's Edelman Luncheon with Gabriel Guerra, CEO of Edelman Latin America. Guerra was previously cultural attache at the Mexican Embassy in the U.S.S.R., press counsellor at the Mexican Embassy in Germany, foreign media director for the president of Mexico, and consul general of Mexico in Toronto, Canada. He discussed Mexico's five media trends of professionalization (better reporters), specialization, penetration (better target identification), credibility, and influence.

Dean Kruckeberg invited participation in the PRSA Educators Academy "Super Sunday" October 22 during the World Congress in Chicago. Copies of the Student Handbook for PR Research compiled by Bill Adams and Florida International students will be available.

A call for panel proposals for AEJMC's 2001 Convention appears on p. 3 (go online version).. Proposers will be notified of status in mid-December, and all program copy for scheduled sessions is due to national March 15.

The call for convention papers will be in the winter issue of PR Update (deadline January 1). Paper submissions must be postmarked no later than April 1, with competition results distributed in mid-May.

The Washington, D.C., pre-conference will be on a Saturday (August 4) rather than a Tuesday, followed by the four-day convention Sunday-Wednesday (August 5-8). The plenary, "Bringing In the Out," will focus on inclusivity in democracy. Watch for tourism tips in each issue of PR Update leading up to August

PR PROFS AT THE HELM:
Wilcox Elected Interim Director

Dennis Wilcox, past PRD chair, has been elected interim director of the San Jose State University School of Journalism and Mass Communications. This is the first time in the school's 65-year history that a public relations professor has headed the unit that includes 800 majors in journalism, advertising and PR.

Wilcox joins a growing number of PR educators who head academic units. The dean of the college at the University of South Carolina, Judy VanSlyke Turk, is on leave at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. Shirley Ramsey is interim director of the University of Oklahoma school that will soon become a college, and Dan Lattimore is associate dean of the college at the University of Memphis. Pam Creedon is director of the school at Kent State. Don Stacks heads the PR and advertising program at Miami (Florida).

Department chairs include Laurie Wilson at Brigham Young University, Barbara Hines at Howard University, and R. Ferrell Ervin at Southeast Missouri State University. Jim Van Leuven recently resigned as head at Colorado State to accept an endowed professorship in PR at the University of Oregon. And these examples by no means constitute an exhaustive list.

Wilcox as been at San Jose State for 25 years and is the primary author of two major textbooks, Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques and Public Relations Strategies & Tactics. An abridged paperback version of the latter, Essentials of Public Relations, has recently been published by Longman.

RESOURCES: Multicultural Directory Available

Rochelle Tillery-Larkin of Howard reports that the 2000 directory, produced by the Multicultural Communications Section of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Department of Journalism at, features a listing of more than 1,000 practitioners representing Asian Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans and Native Americans.

"This edition features more detailed listings of individuals with their educational background, specializations, professional affiliations and professional experiences. Furthermore, it includes a host of minority-owned public relations agencies and multicultural public relations practices within the U.S.," said Barbara Hines, editor and department chair at Howard. "We're hoping this will be an easy-to-use resource guide for any organization needing multicultural expertise."

The directory, which can be purchased through PRSA online or by phone for $75, also includes a listing of helpful multicultural resource websites and information about the PRSA Multicultural Communications Section.

For information: PRSA Professional Practice Center or call 212/995-2230.

RESOURCES: Clearly Stated, Measurable Objective Set for PRD Listserv

We've shared and solicited syllabi, we've announced position vacancies, we've sought and shared advice, called for papers, and one enterprising graduate student alerted members to an online survey associated with his/her thesis.

In the event you're not familiar with a listserv, it is simply this: Members "subscribe" to the list by sending a simple e-mail message (described below). Once subscribed members can e-mail a message to a single address; the message is automatically distributed to all other subscribers. Similarly, each subscriber receives messages sent by other subscribers. The sender is identified in the e-mail details so that the receiver can easily reply directly to the individual. Subscribers may subscribe from several e-mail addresses – at home and at the office, for example.

There is no cost to subscribers. The advantages include avoiding the need to create lengthy group e-mail addresses, as well as the ability to "unsubscribe" (be taken off the list) at any time. It also avoids the recurring problem of group e-mail members changing e-mail addresses. Message senders can include attached files, photos, even "hotlinks" to websites. If you were on the list shortly after the Phoenix convention, for example, you would have received photos of PRD activities, including the tribute to Jim Grunig. At least one subscriber has included one of those photos in her personal website.

Here's how to subscribe. In your e-mail program, address a message to listserv@email.uncc.edu. Note there's no final "e" in "listserv." Leave the subject block blank. In the message block, type subscribe aejmcprd followed by your name. For example: subscribe aejmcprd Edward Bernays . Within a few moments you should receive an automated message confirming your subscription. You need do nothing more to begin receiving new messages sent by other subscribers.

To send a message to all subscribers, send the email to aejmcprd@email.uncc.edu. Use the subject and message blocks as you would for any other message.

To stop receiving messages, follow the "subscribe" procedures, but substitute "unsubscribe" for "subscribe," and you need not include your name. You will also no longer be able to send messages to the listserve after you "unsubscribe."

Let's see if we can double our subscription level by the end of the calendar year – a clearly stated, measurable objective.

Alan Freitag
North Carolina-Charlotte

Three-Year Commitment By PRD Head Pamela Bourland-Davis

Looking back, I cannot imagine having to pull together at least 10 program proposals and lobby for those proposals and co-sponsorships, much less having to schedule those programs by draft in half-chip increments without the benefit of that first year.

The complexity of this process, I think, underscores our need to recognize the leadership of our division over the years – vice chairs and chairs working together to learn the finer nuances of program planning the AEJMC way while also trying to meet the needs of our members.

Some of these leaders of our most recent past include Barbara DeSanto, who jumped in as vice chair from newsletter editor, a position she continued in while program chair! Helping her plan the program was Susan Lucarelli Dimmick, who had the counsel of Bill Adams the year before. The list goes on with Don Stacks, Dean Kruckeberg, Carolyn Cline and Maria Russell, to name a few from our most recent past.

These were also the people who got me involved and likely don't even remember doing so. Chatting in the halls in Atlanta, Stacks said, "If you want to get involved, just show up at the Incoming Executive Business Meeting." Of course, anyone showing up for a 7 a.m. meeting will get drafted!

Somewhere along the line, Cline asked if I would serve as liaison to the Commission on the Status of Women. The next thing I know, I'm serving as membership co-chair for two years, as chair of the former Student Research Paper Competition, and then vice chair-elect.

An added benefit of the three-year position is helping the division achieve greater continuity and enhanced PF&R, teaching and research programming. The hope is to smooth out our weak spots, such as having to "re-create" our paper competition each year, which means that DeSanto is pulled into yeoman's duty as immediate past chair to head an ad hoc committee to address concerns about the competition guidelines and awards.

As vice chair-elect, I watched and I learned. William Thompson did even more. Through Thompson's work, this position now includes some specific duties that help the program planner while also helping the vice chair-elect, now Ken Plowman, learn the ropes in a lower pressure environment.

Those duties include generating convention evaluation forms, proposing a panel for the mid-winter session, and putting together a panel.

By having more input into the programming earlier, the chair, vice chair and vice chair-elect can work together to make sure we cover AEJMC's recommendations from the committees for PF&R, Teaching Standards and Research, based on our annual reports.

As our vice chair, Thompson is now working to pull together proposals for the mid-winter meeting in Atlanta. I think I can speak for Thompson and Plowman when I say we look forward to working with this year's Executive Board. These people will be our future leaders.

A few final notes on PRD leadership: