Happy New Year!
And, welcome back to another year of Practicing Public Relations.Com.
I apologize for the recent delay in updating this site.

As you may already know, since I retired from university teaching I gradually dialed down the frequency of the updates. They had occurred weekly, or sometimes even more frequently, when I was teaching full-time. But, in the years after my retirement, I gradually began to space them out until they were occurring every 6-8 weeks. And, that was the schedule I maintained for several years, right up until the end of 2023.

Now, as I'm starting to work on the latest update, it's been three months since the last one, and I have no one to blame but myself. Nor can I offer a dramatic explanation or point to any single happening that caused it. It was just due to a convergence of random circumstances in my day to day life that kept me from focusing and working to update the site.

I apologize if that delay has frustrated you. And, I want you to know that I have made a firm New Year's Resolution not to let it happen again. I will strive to be more conscientious and to stick to my goal of updating this website at least every 6-8 weeks, if not more frequently.

So, let's get to it.

 
winter shot

 
Maintained by: Professor Emeritus Michael Turney, Ph.D., ABC, Northern Kentucky University
 
This website initially supported the public relations courses I taught at Northern Kentucky University. Now that I'm retired, it's become a supplementary "textbook" at scores of other schools and is often used by public relations practitioners who are preparing for professional accreditation or certification.

List of schools & organizations currently using this website as a resource.

The Annenberg Center has now joined the hubbub about artificial intelligence.

The Annenberg Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California publishes an annual Relevance Report which highlights the issues likely to impact society, business, and communication professionals each year. Given how much media time and attention was given to artificial intelligence this past year, it's not surprising Annenberg jumped on that band wagon.

WELCOME TO AI: The Relevance Report 2024 was published and released to the public completely free of charge in November 2023. Click here to read it online or download it.

"Everyone in communications is talking about AI," according to its foreword. "This was not the case in 2019 when the Center for PR surveyed professionals and found only 18% thought AI would be an important part of their future business. In 2023 ... that number grew to 80%. Six months later, AI is a topic at every conference, a debate at every agency, and the focus of this report."

There's far too much in the report to summarize here. -- Over 40 essays by a wide variety of experts and commentators. -- And, I wouldn't want to over-simplify them. I suggest you read them for yourself. And, it might be good to take notes. AI will undoubtedly be a key part of your future professional life.

I'm particularly intrigued by the editor's suggestion that we're facing what amounts to a "Hero's Quest."

"On a Hero’s journey, the main characters are swept up in a noble quest that will bring chaos into their ordinary lives (think Bilbo Baggins). Along the way, they will be guided by wizards and tested by demons. ... Sometimes they will prevail and sometimes they will fail. Eventually, they will learn the secrets of this new world and return home with the knowledge to enlighten others." He concluded: "For communicators, our AI journey ... will face tricky business issues, ... thorny ethical and legal concerns, ...(and) formidable obstacles... (which) will profoundly impact our efficiency, our creativity and our effectiveness."

Read the entire 2024 Relevance Report.     


Public relations
during a crisis

 



 
Covid-19 must now be
part of all PR plans.



 
Recent reads
in public relations




 
Online readings in
public relations



Strategic & tactical
PR planning

 



 
How-to tips
for public relations



 
Ethics in public relations

 

An updated "Playbook" for those starting to practice public relations

A few years ago I had effusive praise for Tom Hagley's Public Relations Playbook when it was published. Now, there's a new, revised and expanded edition that's even better.

I just wish it had a new cover design, or was a new color, or otherwise indicated it's substantially revised. As it is, you don't learn that until you open the book and begin exploring it in detail.

Some chapters from the first edition are completely gone from this one. Others were extensively re-written and moved to different sections of the book. And, several are new, including, not surprisingly, some dealing with artificial intelligence.

Like the earlier edition, this one is not meant to be a complete and comprehensive textbook. It does not tell readers all about public relations or how it evolved or even why it's an important profession. It doesn't have that kind of scope or theoretical perspective.

It is, as the term "playbook" suggests, intended to tell you how to perform some aspects of public relations. In an earlier time, before the term &qplaybook" migrated from the sports world, it might have been called a "handbook," or a "desktop reference," or a "field guide." As such, as its Introduction says, it's meant to be "a supplement that fills gaps in textbooks and lectures."

In many ways, it's similar to this website. Beyond filling gaps, it offers alternative perspectives on various topics and practices and may explain why some textbook practices and tactics don't always work. It may also suggest new step-by-step solutions and urge readers to be self-reflective about their personal view of public relations and how it's practiced.

One group to whom I strongly recommend it is interns embarking on their first on-the-job public relations experience. It may help them understand the situations they're likely to encounter and perform tasks they may be asked to complete.

Click for "Recent Reads," then scroll down to my review of the previous edition.     

NOTE TO PHONE USERS: This is the only page on this site formatted for easy reading on a phone-sized screen. The rest of the site is best viewed on a desktop or full-sized laptop.
Updated: 1/11/2024