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AEJMC Public Relations Division Membership Newsletter

Vol. 36, No. 2, Winter 2001

In this issue:

• Exciting panel sessions and a new paper sponsor lined up for convention
• National Conference Preliminary Schedule
• Best houses and free stuff in D.C.
• Call for Research and Teaching Public Relations Papers
• Website Offers Portal to Public Relations Education
• Public Relations Division Is Strong on PF&R
• Division Business Meeting Minutes - August 2000
• Washington, D.C.: Land of the Free (Stuff)
• Faculty Vacancies Announcements

Exciting panel sessions and a new paper sponsor lined up for convention

WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER, we'll be about halfway through the convention cycle. And as you're deciding which research projects to package for the April 1 deadline, division officers and members will have already prepared much of the convention.

Susan Gonders as newsletter editor has been offering suggestions for out-of-convention activities while William Thompson has been making sure members have a wide variety of programs available during the convention.

William more than successfully negotiated the sponsorship and chip maze of AEJMC's mid-winter meeting. He went into the session with panel priorities determined by an initial peer review (something that we haven't done in the recent past) and with half of the sponsorships already secured.

While the panels have been determined, the papers for the scheduled research sessions depend on your submissions by the April 1 deadline. If you do not plan on entering a paper and would like to be involved, I encourage you to contact Lou Falk or Andi Stein to volunteer to serve as a paper reviewer.

Other behind-the-scenes activities include a review of the paper competitions and awards. Barb DeSanto has spearheaded this effort and, of particular note, has worked with Worldcom Public Relations Group to become one of our paper competition sponsors. Our division has been fortunate to have the support of three organizations that have been providing cash awards for the top papers – the Page Society for faculty research, PRSSA for student research, and IABC for teaching papers. Worldcom will provide award money for faculty-student co-authored papers.

The D.C. 2001 convention will provide another opportunity for scholarship and practice to meet through Edelman Worldwide's continuing sponsorship of an awards luncheon with a keynote speaker.

If you haven't started making plans for D.C. in August, the news in this issue will certainly inspire you to join us for an exciting convention in the nation's capital.

AEJMC National Conference Public Relations Division Events

Saturday, August 4

1:00-4:00 p.m.
Best of Show: PR’s Best Integrating Practitioners Into Teaching

This pre-conference seminar will include panel discussions, sample teaching plans and roundtable discussions on PR pedagogy. There will be strategies and tips for every professor, from practitioners and graduate students entering teaching, to seasoned instructors.

Sunday, August 5

8:15 a.m.
Research Session 9:45 a.m.
A Study of Public Relations Models in Emerging Democracies

This panel will examine how emerging democracies, faced with winning the consent of the governed, are integrating public relations as well as new governmental structures into their societies.

1:00 p.m.
Top Faculty Research Papers

4:15 p.m.
The “Phoenix” of Public Relations Ethics

How can a function originating from an unethical base of puffery now claim to be the ethical conscience of the organization? Although the public relations function has less-than-credible historical origins, the profession has matured, so that when properly conceived and managed, it integrates the interests of publics, the community and society in organizational decision-making.

6:00 p.m.
Exploring the Dark Side

Can journalists and PR work together? This teaching panel will examine various ways journalism and PR educators can facilitate the building of good working relatioships between journalists and PR practitioners, including activities designed to enhance student awareness of and appreciation for the roles played by both groups.

Monday, August 6

12:00 p.m.
Washington PR Tours

Preliminary plans call for tours guided by PRD members of the public relations functions at the Pentagon, Capitol Hill or BBC America.

2:45 p.m.
Teaching Writing and Placing Writing

This panel will review best practices in teaching writing, examine new ways to incorporate technology into writing instruction, and explore new media outlets and the demands they place on writing pedagogy and media placement tactics.

4:30 p.m.
Beyond Monicagate: The Language of Governmental Ethics

Everything from presidential lapses to the revolving door of government service/corporate service has been front-page news. These panelists will raise important issues about how we define and talk about ethics in our society.

6:15 p.m.
PRSA Meet Your Citations Social

Tentative plans call for a social where you can meet a cast of academic all-stars (you’ve likely cited them in your work) and socialize with D.C.’s professional practitioners. Sponsored by PRSA’s National Capital Chapter.

Tuesday, August 7

8:30 a.m.

Cooperative Research Projects Between
Practitioners and Scholars:
Opportunities for Applied and Basic Research

This how-to session will build bridges between the worlds of academic and applied research to discover consulting opportunities for professors and ways to obtain “real world” observations to generate, test and refine theory-driven questions.

12:00 p.m.
Edelman Luncheon

Edelman Public Relations Worldwide will provide one of its top Washington consultants as a speaker – and a sumptuous spread of food – for the division’s annual luncheon.

2:45 p.m.
Since the Spiral of Silence: Applications and Implications

Continuing last year’s successful panel exploring major theories applied to public relations, this panel offers both retrospection and introspection on this important theory 25 years after it was created.

4:30 p.m.
The Relevance of Critical Research to the Future of Public Relations Scholarship

With the overwhelming emphasis on public relations as a corporate function, the impact of public relations on society has taken a back seat. This panel will discuss the relevance of critical theory and research in public relations and debate the validity of different perspectives to social values at the beginning of the 21st century.

6:15 p.m.
Research Session

Wednesday, August 8

8:45 a.m.
Incorporating Electronic Journalism into Public Relations Classes

This panel is designed to help public relations educators deal with legal problems in incorporating electronic journalism into effective classroom pedagogy and provide a bibliography of top radio, television and internet sources.

10:30 a.m.
Interactive Media Rule: The New Rules of Interactive Media

This mini-plenary proposes to study how persuasive communication is being transformed by interactive media, examining the changing power dynamics between marketer and consumer when consumers have the capacity to shape their own personalized sales messages.

2:45 p.m.
Research Session

Best houses and free stuff in D.C.

OK. SO IT’S NOT FREE and it’s not really in D.C. It’s still the only house in America on the United Nations World Heritage List of sites that must be protected at all costs.

Thomas Jefferson, the third president, inherited the property three miles southwest of Charlottesville (which is 121 miles southwest of D.C.) from his father. In May 1768, at age 26, he began leveling land on top of a 987-foot mountain to build Monticello, which is Italian for “little mountain.”

Jefferson designed and built his home between 1869 and the end of his presidency in 1809. The three-story house has 35 rooms, many of them in his favorite octagonal architectural shape. Some of Jefferson’s innovations still in use include a seven-day calendar clock with cannonball weights, double doors between the hall and parlor that open simultaneously when either is moved, a weather vane connected to a ceiling dial so it can be read from inside the house, and beds built into alcoves with overhead closets. The house also has indoor privies and a stone-lined air shaft for ventilation. Ceiling heights range from 10 to more than 18 feet. The kitchen, smokehouse, laundry and other outbuildings are located beneath long terraces connected by all-weather passageways.

The 5,000-acre plantation includes several multi-acre gardens where Jefferson cultivated 250 varieties of vegetables and 170 fruits with the labor of 130 slaves.

Half-hour guided tours of only the 11 first-floor rooms begin every five minutes and are limited to 25 people. Guided walking tours of the slave sites and grounds begin every hour, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tours cost $11, $6 for ages 6-11, and free for under age 6.

The most frequent bus service is the Gold Line/Gray Line, 1-800-862-1400 or 301/386-8300, which runs twice per week.

Drawing: Monticello (attached)

www.monticello.org

Drawing: Mount Vernon (attached)

www.mountvernon.org

George Washington was almost out of luck. His half-brother, Augustine, Jr., inherited the Pope’s Creek Plantation where George was born, and half-brother Lawrence inherited the Little Hunting Creek Plantation developed by their great-grandfather. Lawrence renamed his home in honor of his commanding officer, British Navy Admiral Edward Vernon.

After George, then in his 20s, acquired the property from Lawrence’s widow, Mount Vernon grew from 2,126 acres to more than 8,000, organized into five separate farms. (It now covers 400 acres.) He more than doubled the size of the house, incorporating a high-columned two-story piazza that overlooks the Potomac River and the Maryland shore.

Located eight miles south of Alexandria and 16 miles from downtown D.C., Mount Vernon is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Self-guided tours cost $9, $4.50 for ages 6-11, and free under age 6. Eleven buildings open to the public include the kitchen, storehouse, work structures and the main mansion. On a hill where hundreds of slaves are buried in unmarked graves stands a stone memorial.

At the foot of the Mount Vernon vineyard is a stone tablet above the vault gate with the following inscription: “Within this Enclosure Rest the remains of Genl. George Washington.” Also interred there is the nation’s first first lady.

Grandson Wash built a mansion he named Arlington on a bluff overlooking the new Federal City named for Washington. Wash’s daughter, Anne Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee. Arlington was seized during the Civil War, and its grounds became a federal cemetery to preclude the commander of the Confederate Army from ever being able to go home again.

Tour fees are included in the cost of transportation with two lines serving Mount Vernon. Tourmobile (202/554-7950) costs $22 or $11 for ages 3-11. It departs from the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Gray Line Tours (202/289-1995) costs $25 or $12 for ages 3-11 and will pickup at major hotels before 8:30 a.m.

Just northeast of Monticello is the Port Conway birthplace of the fourth president, James Madison, but he lived most of his life at Montpelier. The Georgian mansion constructed by Madison’s father in 1760 is about midway between Mount Vernon and Monticello. Daily tours cost $7.50, $3.50 for ages 6-11.

www.montpelier.org

THE RESEARCH AND TEACHING Committees of the Public Relations Division call for papers for AEJMC’s August 4-8, 2001, National Convention in Washington, D.C.

Research

The PRD Research Committee invites faculty and students to submit competitive papers related to public relations research. Papers should test, refine or expand public relations theory and research, or explore methods of effective public relations practice. Submissions employing all methods of inquiry are invited. Papers should include appropriate literature reviews, methodology, findings and discussion.

Papers on public relations research that have not been presented in other forums should be submitted to:

Louis K. Falk
Department of Marketing
Williamson College of Business Administration
Youngstown State University
One University Plaza
Youngstown, OH 44555
330/742-3078 | Fax: 330/742-1459

Teaching

The PRD Teaching Committee is accepting papers on any aspect of the topic, including values in curriculum choices, adapting classroom instruction to changes in communication technologies, educational trends, faculty development, diversity issues, ideas for motivating students, creative approaches to teaching, assessing student outcomes, and preparing students for lifelong learning. Papers that focus on or incorporate pedagogical innovation and papers that address the teaching of ethics are also encouraged.

Papers on teaching public relations that have not been presented in other forums should be submitted to:

Andi Stein
Department of Communications
California State University
P.O. Box 6846 (not 6848, as appears in printed version)
Fullerton, CA 92834-6846
714/278-5434

Guidelines

Six copies of each paper must be postmarked no later than April 1, 2001. (No e-mail or fax submissions will be considered.) Authors will be notified by May 15. At least one author must attend the convention to present the paper.

All six copies must include a cover page identifying the author(s) with appropriate identification for all listed author(s), including rank as a faculty member or graduate student, mailing address(es), telephone number(s); and, if available, the e-mail address of the principal author. The paper’s body should include a title and a maximum 75-word, single-spaced abstract on a separate sheet of paper included immediately after the title page. The only identification throughout the paper should be a running header with the title of the paper and page number.

The author does not have to grant AEJMC permission to do anything with the paper (the author can check “no” on all terms), but the permission form should be included with the paper submission.

The permission form and all other guidelines of the AEJMC Uniform Paper Call are published in AEJMC News and should be followed.

The PR Division expects to award cash prizes for the top three papers in each competition area.

A NEW WEBSITE (http://PR-education.org) has been launched by Kirk Hallahan, Colorado State University. The site provides easy access to online resources about public relations education for educators, students and practitioners.

Educators can locate teaching resources, including links to the four major education associations, reports and teaching monographs. Sections enable educators to list online course syllabi and faculty vacancies.

The section for practitioners focuses on the educational offerings of professional organizations as well as seminars produced by commercial sponsors.

Students can use the site to find lists of schools that offer public relations as well as information on major scholarships, grants and prizes, careers and job hunting. Links to sources about public relations research are included.

A separate resources section, designed for all users, provides links to PR publications, book publishers, listservs, agency directories, wire services, vendors and more than 100 other sites related to public relations topics.

Many of Hallahan's own teaching and research materials have been online for several years, including his "Primer on Publicity." He expects to expand and regularly update the site's content. He invites users to send comments and submit other relevant links.

Public Relations Division Is Strong on PF&R

WHEN THE Public Relations Division won the award for the best PF&R annual report at the Phoenix conference, I knew I had a hard act to follow. Like my predecessor, I had no idea what PF&R stood for when I was asked to be the PF&R chair for the 2000-01 year. After the Phoenix conference, I sure did know and was delighted to tackle the many ethical issues we as public relations educators are only too aware of.

The PF&R (Professional Freedom and Responsibility) portfolio requires AEJMC divisions to make contributions in five specific areas. AEJMC encourages its members to incorporate these themes in paper presentations, panel discussions, teaching and service. The fact that the Public Relations Division won the award for the best annual report for PF&R was particularly gratifying because in the past public relations practices have been scrutinized and found wanting in each of the identified areas.

Free expression challenges us to promote and defend the freedom of speech. Over the years, organizations have come under attack for the ways they use public relations to dominate the marketplace of ideas and to silence the voices of opposition publics. Lately, the role of public relations in creating opportunities for the free flow of ideas in organizations or silencing the voices of employees have become an area for research and scrutiny.

Public relations ethics is an area that continuously receives attention from public relations scholars, and I was gratified to learn that a special panel will discuss public relations ethics at the next AEJMC conference. Ethics is the area where we are the most vulnerable, and it therefore probably needs the giant share of our attention.

In addition to the strong existing body of knowledge about gender issues in public relations, some scholars have also started to focus on minority issues and cultural inclusiveness in public relations. However, minority and culture issues remain undertheorized and underexplored, and public relations scholars will need to make a special effort to ensure inclusiveness and representation of all publics.

Media criticism/accountability and public service are the other two areas PF&R focuses on. The first places the spotlight on media analysis, particularly from a critical perspective, and the latter on service to society beyond our normal call of duty.

AS PF&R chair, I am particularly interested in promoting a more critical approach to public relations, both in the classroom and through open and honest discussion of what we do or neglect to do.

In this regard, I will welcome any suggestions for promoting PF&R issues, not only when it is time for the next AEJMC conference, but also throughout the year. I welcome contributions from PR Division members on how you address these issues in teaching and research, and through open debate in your professional environment. By sharing our ideas, we might just ensure that the Public Relations Division is a regular future winner of the best PF&R annual report.

Patricia A. Curtin
PR Division Secretary
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

DIVISION CHAIR Barbara DeSanto called the meeting to order at 9:45 p.m. Minutes of the 1999 meeting were approved (moved by Dan Lattimore; seconded by Carol Oukrop). The financial report was read, with $1,822.04 in the treasury as of May 9, 2000. Webmaster Kirk Hallahan will post the report on the division’s website.

STANDING COMMITTEES

Annual Report: In the area of research, the division was awarded an extra paper presentation session this year because of the increase in membership and paper submissions. Paper submissions should be increased more, however, to reflect the growing membership numbers. In the area of teaching, the division was cited for its website, newsletter and publication of TPR, but was encouraged by AEJMC to do more. In the area of Professional Freedom and Responsibility (PF&R), the division received the award for outstanding report. PF&R Chair William Thompson was acknowledged for his leadership in this area.

Journal of Public Relations Research: Editor Linda Hon and representative Linda Bathgate of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates discussed the division’s journal. Hon reported a balance of $2,997.90 in the journal’s account. Bathgate discussed the possibility of online availability of the journal. All institutional subscribers would receive free online access, while access to division members would be available for an extra fee. Submissions to the journal are healthy, and work is underway to have the journal included in the Social Sciences Citation Index. Hon cited Liz Toth for her work as the previous journal editor.

Newsletter: Editor Susan Gonders recruited submissions for the newsletter.

Website: Kirk Hallahan was not present. He will continue to serve as webmaster.

Research: Ken Plowman reported that approximately 41 papers were reviewed by 36 judges, and 21 papers (51%) were accepted for presentation.

Teaching: Shannon Bowen reported that nine papers were submitted and four (44%) were accepted by the same pool of judges. A signup sheet was available for judges for next year’s competition.

Membership: Alan Freitag reminded members of the Edelman lunch the following day and said he was concentrating on ways to attract more graduate students, academics from other organizations, and practitioners to the division. He encouraged members to join the division listserv. The division has a total of 454 members, making in the fourth largest division of AEJMC, only five members behind the History Division.

Professional Freedom and Responsibility (PF&R): William Thompson reported he worked with the PRSA chapter in Phoenix and that 12 members enrolled in the preconference session. The Tuesday afternoon session presented marketing professionals from the state of Arizona. The session brought in many Arizona professionals to the conference. Planning is underway for next year’s conference in Washington, D.C., including talks with the local PRSA chapter. Thompson reminded members that the conference will run from Saturday to Wednesday, August 4-8, which is a change from past schedules. Thompson cited Dean Kruckeberg for his work on the Commission on Public Relations Education and Bill Adams for coordinating the Edelman lunch.

Inez Kaiser Awards: Linda Aldoory reported that more awards were given this year than ever before; 25 students received one-year memberships to AEJMC and to the PR Division. She reported difficulty in obtaining names of eligible students, and a sheet was passed to obtain names of possible student recipients and sponsors.

Buddy Program: Linda Aldoory reported that there was no Buddy Program this year due to a lack of interested graduate students. The program will be reviewed.

ELECTION

Nominating Committee: Pam Bourland-Davis is the incoming chair, and William Thompson is vice chair. In the absence of Nominating Committee Chair Susan Dimmick, Barb DeSanto and Pat Curtin presented the report. Ken Plowman was nominated for vice chair-elect, Shannon Bowen for General Assembly, and Pat Curtin for secretary. The slate was approved by the membership.

Appointed Officers: Bourland-Davis named the appointed officers for the next year: Louis Falk, research; Andi Stein, teaching; Susan Gonders, newsletter; Derina Holtzhausen, PF&R; Lisa Fall and Bonnie Knutson, Professional Liaison; Alan Freitag, Membership; Katherine Kinnick, Teresa Mastin and Lisa Lyon, Roschwalb and Inez Kaiser Awards; Maria Len-Rios, Graduate Student Liaison; and Barbara DeSanto, Linda Aldoory and Meta Carstarphen, Nominating Committee.

NEW BUSINESS

National Awards: Barb DeSanto announced that two division members were receiving national awards – Dr. James E. Grunig, recipient of the Paul J. Deutschmann Award for Excellence in Research, and Dr. Doug Newsom, recipient of the Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education Award.

Education Task Force: Isobel Parke of Jackson, Jackson and Wagner asked the membership to endorse the recommendations of the Public Relations Education Task Force to lend stature and weight to the report. Following discussion of an amendment proposed by Bojinka Bishop to add “communication” to the foundation disciplines listed in the resolution, it was moved by Dean Kurckeberg and seconded by Shirley Serini to pass the resolution as originally worded. The resolution was unanimously approved.

Paper Competition: Barb DeSanto announced the formation of an ad-hoc task force on paper competition guidelines comprising former research chairs and heads of the division.

Publications: Liz Toth, member of AEJMC’s Publications Committee, the oversight committee for division publications, noted that AEJMC’s policy of urging paper presenters to submit the full text of their papers on disk was jeopardizing intellectual property rights and possible publication opportunities. Toth reminded members that they are not required to submit the full text to engage in the conference, and she noted that her concern had not generated a lot of support from other members of the Publications Committee. She asked for feedback from the membership.

Panels: William Thompson solicited panel proposals for the 2001 convention. With an October 15 deadline for proposals, final decisions will be made at the mid-winter meeting in December.

PRSA Educators Academy: Dean Kruckeberg and Shirley Serini reported on PRSA Super Sunday, October 22 during the PRSA World Congress in Chicago. The $25 fee includes sessions on teaching and graduates returning to the profession, top paper awards and individually hosted dinners, with a luncheon underwritten by Edelman. Bill Adams added that Florida International students are compiling a student research handbook that will be presented in Chicago and then distributed through PRSSA channels.

Mission Statement: Laurie Wilson announced that ACEJMC is considering a new mission statement, and she encouraged the membership to support broadening the statement to include advocacy and persuasion. Comments should be sent to Suzanne Shaw.

Commendations: Glen Broom commended Bill Adams for his contributions to the profession with his “Ask the Prof” column. Broom also noted that Scott Cutlip, the first person named as PRSA’s Outstanding Educator and the first public relations educator to receive the Deutschmann Award, was suffering from terminal brain cancer. (Cutlip died the next week.)

Student Paper Competition: Student Joel Andren asked for clarification of procedures for the student paper competition. Barb DeSanto noted that the newly formed ad hoc task force would clarify these. Ken Plowman thanked discussants for this year’s sessions.

ADJOURNMENT

Pam Bourland-Davis recognized Barb DeSanto and William Thompson for the work they had done in the past year. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m.

Washington, D.C.: Land of the Free (Stuff)

Also with free admission is the Washington National Cathedral. Theodore Roosevelt laid the foundation stone with the same silver trowel held by George Washington in setting the cornerstone of the Capitol, and it took 83 years to complete construction. The cathedral is the burial site of Woodrow Wilson and second wife Edith. Other burial sites of important figures, including John Philip Sousa, Matthew Brady and J. Edgar Hoover, are located at the Congressional Cemetery.

If you’re interested in a three-tiered Elizabethan theater, the Folger Shakespeare Library houses the world’s largest collection of the Bard’s works, along with other rare Renaissance books and manuscripts. Admission is free.

If you’re interested in new technology, you won’t want to miss the National Air and Space Museum, a three-block building in the Smithsonian complex. Free, of course, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. A short trip northeast of D.C. is the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. In addition to interactive exhibits, the center houses the Hubble Space Telescope. Free tours for adults and children over age 10 begin at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. On the Sunday of the AEJMC Convention at 1 p.m., see a display of model rocket launches.

All AEJMC members should be interested in the Washington Post operation. Free walking tours of the plant are conducted on Mondays. Also of relevance is the interactive newsroom of the Newseum in nearby Arlington, Va. Many AEJMC members are also interested in money. You can take a free tour of the Department of Treasury, the oldest federal building in D.C., but they probably won’t let you take any souvenir money. Admission to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where all currency and stamps are produced, is also free.

More FREE STUFF in D.C. in the next issue! Make plans for AEJMC in August 2001. -sg

Faculty Vacancies Announcements

Assistant professor, 9-month, tenure track, August 2001. Ph.D. required, ABD considered. Teach courses and conduct research in public relations and journalism. Ability to teach courses related to issue management or communication technologies helpful. Demonstrate and maintain commitment to instructional excellence. Maintain an on-going program of research and professional activities. Advise students in public relations and journalism. Perform appropriate service activities. New master's program emphasis is in PR and organizational comunication; 130 PR track undergraduate majors; more than 50 paid members of PRSSA chapter. Send cover letter, current vita, official graduate transcripts and three letters of reference to: Dr. Bill Hill, Chair, Department of Communication Studies, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001. Woman and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. AA/EOE. University of Southern Indiana-Evansville

Bradley University-Peoria, Illinois

Assistant professor, tenure track, August 2001. Minimum qualifications: ABD, professional experience and research potential. Commitment to diversity and internationalization. Preferred qualifications: Ph.D., college-level teaching experience, a rich and relevant professional background, and interest in research and/or appropriate creative activity. Teach, conduct research and advise students in an integrated marketing communications environment. Teach courses in one or both of the advertising and public relations concentrations and other mass communication courses, including core courses. Send (1) letter of application stating qualifications and interest (hard copy), (2) resume/curriculum vita, (3) at least three current letters of recommendation, (4) evidence of teaching effectiveness if available to: Professor Bonney Rega, Chair, Communications Search Committee, Department of Communication, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625. AA/EOE. http://www.bradley.edu/personnel/#fac