2011 Center for Global Public Relations March 15, 2011
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Research Conference
UNCC Charlotte
Internationalizing Public Relations at a Small University
Keith Cannon, Ph.D., and Kara Presnell, Ph.D., Wingate University
]
Abstract In a globalized economy and an increasingly interconnected world, an international focus is essential in teaching future U.S. public relations practitioners. Limited faculty resources and facilities can present challenges to providing this needed worldwide perspective to students in mass media/communication studies programs at small universities. Using the existing literature and the experience of faculty members at Wingate University as a basis for discussion, this paper will examine strategies for internationalizing public relations courses and cocurricular activities to benefit public relations students at small universities. The paper will examine this topic from three major aspects: (1) how international educational and professional experiences in public relations enhance the teaching of faculty members; (2) the value to students of taking public relations courses in international settings; and (3) the role of internships and student-led organizations in enhancing the international experience.
Internationalizing a Public Relations Curriculum at a Small University Introduction “Teaching is the occupation that is the most reflected upon, cherished, praised, rejoiced and canonized, and at our deathbeds, possibly the most remembered aside from our dear ones.” ~ Benjamin Franklin “The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.” ~ Mark Twain When Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain penned those words more than 200 years ago, the terms “public” and “relations” had yet to be joined. In fact, it wasn’t until 1882 when Dorman B. Eaton addressed the graduating class of the Yale University Law School that the two words are believed to have been joined publicly into one phrase (Lattimore, Baskin, Heiman & Toth, 2009, p. 23). At the time, the idea of cultivating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with groups known as “publics” or even with individuals, or “stakeholders,” was nonexistent as was the idea of teaching this “thing” that would become public relations. Today, public relations courses and programs can be found at colleges and universities worldwide, and, as Parkinson and Ekachai (2006) note, “the practice of using communication to influence the opinions of publics has developed all over the world,”( p. 1). This development has led to the recognition that the practice of public relations can no longer be limited to one perspective, as Wilcox and Cameron (2012) acknowledge, “Public relations…is not just an American activity. It is a worldwide activity,” (p. 4). The globalization or internationalization of public relations is now so inherent in the industry that public relations executive Dan Dowd, president of Dan Dowd Communications, notes, “the professional worldwide public relations executive must understand global cultures if he or she is going to play a significant role in future business and government decisions.” Wingate University, a small, private, independent institution in North Carolina, is by no means unique in its efforts to provide well-rounded mass communications and media studies curricula with an available public relations emphasis. Like many small universities, Wingate University must often battle limited faculty resources and facilities in its endeavors to provide both a quality education and a much-needed worldwide perspective to students enrolled in its mass media/communication studies programs. This paper will examine strategies in three areas for internationalizing public relations courses and co-curricular activities to benefit public relations students at small universities by exploring (1) how international educational and professional experiences in public relations enhance the teaching of faculty members; (2) the value to students of taking public relations courses in international settings; and (3) the role of internships and student-led organizations in enhancing the international experience. Review of Literature The Development of Public Relations The practice of public relations-like components, or “the forerunner to modern-day public relations practice” (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 20), can be traced to the days of Plato and Aristotle in their roles as rhetoricians and their use of “persuasive skills…used to influence the public and public opinion,” (p. 20). Following in their esteemed footsteps, historians trace the
growth of public relations to the American Revolution and the promotions of Samuel Adams through the press agentry era of P. T. Barnum and to the early endeavors of President Theodore Roosevelt (Wilcox & Cameron, 2012, p. 38-45; Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 20-23; Bobbitt & Sullivan, 2005, p. 2-4). Public relations historians and scholars traditionally identify the first official opening of a public relations-specific business as the 1900 establishment of the Publicity Bureau of Boston by George V. S. Michaelis in the United States (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 23). A number of factors impacted the growth of public relations in the United States including a growing recognition of the power of public opinion, competition among institutions that rely on public support, and the development and technological advances of media (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 19). Other factors, according to public relations scholars, include the maturing of a democratic society, an influx of immigrants, the growth of the middle class, the Industrial Revolution and a change in relationships between the government, business and the public (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 22; Seitel, 2007). Guth writes, American public relations were born during… a time in which the nation reexamined and, to a certain extent, redefined itself. Modern American public relations developed as a means for coping with this change. (2000, p. 197) While the practice and advancement of public relations has had a storied past in the United States, Nessman (1995) asserts that public relations developed almost simultaneously in both the United States and Europe during the 19th century, though at the time efforts were directed more toward garnering publicity than actually cultivating relationships between organizations and their publics (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 22). However, within a few short years of the opening of Michaelis’ Publicity Bureau, the evolving public relations industry began to see a shift from a primary focus on publicity toward influencing the media, which was furthered heavily by the entrance of former journalists into this new arena of public relations (Nessman, 1995). Around 1904, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, a Princeton-educated journalist (Bobbitt & Sullivan, 2005, p. 4) began this new approach to public relations. In fact, Lee was lauded in the early 1900s for his public relations response to a Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck near the town of Gap, Pennsylvania. Lee, who “believed in absolute frankness with the press” (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 38) handled the situation in a manner that went against the very grain of the railroad industry’s approach to working with the news media, which was “to suppress all news” (Lattimore, et al, 2009, p. 38) in relation to any railroad accident or incident. Lee’s work with the media following the train wreck has been lauded by public relations practitioners the world over and is credited with ushering in the age of actively cultivating positive relationships with the media. Public relations leader Ed Newsom commented some decades later, This whole activity of which you and I are a part can probably be said to have its beginnings in when Ivy Lee persuaded the directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad that the press should be given all the facts on all railway accidents- even though the facts might place the blame on the railroad itself. (Public Relations Journal, 1963, p. 4) Eventually, Lee earned the unofficial title of “the father of public relations” for his work nurturing the then-fledgling profession, a profession that today has grown into a multi-billion dollar, worldwide industry (Wilcox & Cameron, 2012, p. 45; Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 23; Bobbitt & Sullivan, 2005, p. 4). Public relations in principle and in practice was further influenced by well- known practitioners and influentials including Edward L. Bernays, George Creel, Arthur W. Page, Leone Baxter, Moss Kendrix, Teddy Roosevelt and Harold Burson (Wilcox & Cameron,
2012, p. 47-51; Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 25-31; Bobbitt & Sullivan, 2005, p. 4-5). Thanks to the work of these aforementioned public relations practitioners and the work of many other influential figures over the last 1oo plus years, public relations today is much more than mere publicity and far more than simply attempts to influence the media. Today, the practice of public relations is viewed by many as crucial to long-term organizational success. Definition of Public Relations Approached early on as “gathering factual information about…clients for distribution to newspapers,” (Lattimore et al, 2009, p. 23), public relations is now generally viewed as an interdisciplinary field with ties to business, political science, psychology, sociology and media studies, among other areas. Definitions of public relations abound. In fact, in 1976, Rex Harlow, a public relations practitioner and scholar, compiled more than 470 different definitions for the field (Wilcox & Cameron, 2012, pg. 7; Curtin & Gaither, 2007, p. 4: Guth & Marsh, 2000, p. 5). As late as the mid-1990s, public relations was defined as a marketing communication function designed to execute programs that would led to understanding between an organization and the publics, both internal and external, that were important to its success (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1996; Cutlip, Center and Broom, 1985; Grunig and Hunt, 1984). Bobbitt and Sullivan define public relations as “the management function that uses twoway communication to receive information from and give information to an organization’s various publics” (2005, p. 2) while Lattimore et al(2009) describe public relations as a management function that helps define organizational philosophy and direction by maintaining communication within an organization and with outside forces and by monitoring and helping an organization adapt to significant public opinion (p. 4-5). Today, the definition has grown to include a focus on fostering open, two-way communication and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics as well as allowing the idea that an “organization- not just the target audience- changes its attitudes and behaviors in the process (Wilcox and Cameron, 2012, p. 7). As the definition of public relations began to solidify in the last decades of the 20th century, practitioners began to notice a new element to their public relations work: a growing need for attention paid to the world, because as Curtin and Gaither (2007) note, “in the new millennium public relations is blossoming from a U.S.-based industry into a global industrial phenomenon,” (p.1). Public relations practitioners of the 21 st century must now consider even more the issues of vastly different cultures, diverse economic and political systems, varied values and wide-ranging levels of development. Growth of International Public Relations Though public relations is currently most developed economically in the United States, it is also flourishing in a number of other places including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and several Latin and Central American countries. Curtin and Gaither (2007) note that though the United States “took the lead in the 20 th century in defining its practice and formalizing its structure” that has changed (p. 1). In the 21 st century, public relations is “coming of age around the world,” (Curtin & Gaither, 2007, p. 1). In 2009, public relations-related expenditures topped $3.7 billion, a nearly 3 percent increase over 2008 levels, and experts predict expenditures will top $8 billion by 2012 (Wilcox and Cameron, 2012, p. 4). As is evidenced by these numbers, the practice of public relations has become very much an
international phenomena characterized by increased interaction among organizations and publics around the world. Seitel (2007) asserts that the growth of public relations around the world lies in the roots of democracy “where people have freedom to debate and to make decisions—in the community, the marketplace, the home, the workplace, and the voting booth.” The growing number of democracies worldwide, the global expansion of businesses, advances in technology, travel and educational opportunities and endeavors to unite people around the globe in the pursuit of common goals have allowed trade and information flows to become borderless and almost simultaneous. As a result, public relations practitioners today face an increasingly global world in which practitioners are called upon to work on multinational public relations campaigns for global companies as Seitel admonishes, “Private and public organizations depend on good relations with groups and individuals whose opinions, decisions, and actions affect their vitality and survival,”(2007). In order to stay competitive, future practitioners must be prepared to work in a global environment, even if they never leave their home country. Currently, The International Public Relations Association, which was founded in 1955, has members in 95 countries, and the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management, which was established in 2000, links 75,000 practitioners around the world. In the 21st century, the field of public relations has continued its expansion into a global arena with a continued focus on the importance of the international components of creating trust and harmony, building consensus and understanding, articulating and influencing public opinion, anticipating conflicts and resolving disputes with a large focus on cultural awareness and sensitivity (Nessman, 1995). Public relations practitioners and educators have long realized the importance of globalization on the practice of public relations and of the establishment of an international public relations curriculum is at the forefront of discussions for many colleges and universities around the world as Taylor acknowledges, “International public relations has an exciting future and there is a need to study and redefine our understanding of the social role of public relations” (2000, p. 4). Creating an effective international public relations curriculum involves many factors, and as Walmsley (1998) notes educators, institutions of higher learning and public relations practitioners must Do more than choose the appropriate venue for visiting customers, they must speak to them in their own languages, take part in international business discussions and intimately understand the global, cultural context and socio-economic negotiations. Of prime importance, scholars agree, is the inclusion of the study of both the theory behind and the practice of public relations in different cultures throughout various countries. Additionally, as Kruckeberg (1993) notes, is the need for specificity. He writes “public relations scholars and practitioners alike oftentimes conclude that public relations practice may be socially/culturally/geopolitically specific” (p. 25). Important to the study of public relations in all its facets and particularly to its international context is the understanding that the practice of public relations around the world shares the common goal of communicating with a targeted audience, known as publics, with the intent to inform, educate or persuade those audiences in an international way. In the best circumstances, public relations seeks to be culturally specific. George (2003), who suggests
strategies for teaching international public relations, argues that in an increasingly global environment, even practitioners operating in one country face culturally diverse constituencies. A number of scholars have argued for curricular changes that incorporate international public relations, preparing students to work in an international and culturally diverse mediascape (Bardhan, 2003; Taylor, 2001). These changes can either be made by adding a course in international public relations, or by incorporating or “internationalizing” existing courses through the addition of assignments that address the global nature of PR. Methodology There is a wealth of scholarly articles that examine a variety of aspects of mass communication and media studies curricula including specific studies of public relations and international public relations, but there are relatively few articles that examine the internationalization of the public relations curriculum at small universities. A qualitative design was chosen for this research, a choice that is supported by the assertion that qualitative designs work best during the initial exploratory stage of an inquiry (Padgett, 1998) because qualitative methodologies allow the researcher to “inductively and holistically understand human experience and constructed meanings in context-specific settings” (Patton, 1990). Qualitative methodologies used in this study include interviews with five students and the personal observations and experiences of two of the University’s professors. Findings As noted earlier, this paper examines the internationalization of a public relations curriculum through the employment of three particular strategies. The first strategy addresses how international educational and professional experiences in public relations enhance the teaching of faculty members. Badley (2000) cites “globally competent” university teachers as a critical factor in successful academic endeavors in establishing an international public relations curriculum. According to Badley, two specific aspects of international experience that are important for educators are transformative benefits and democratic benefits, both of which result from adopting an ethnographic stance in teaching and learning, or, in other words, approaching teaching and learning both as being aware of one’s own perceptions and preconceived notions about the world at large and also deliberately engaging with and attempting to understand the perceptions and preconceived notions of “others.” At Wingate University, the institution both employees faculty with international educational and professional experience as well as provides opportunities for undertaking additional educational and professional experiences. International opportunities for faculty and students include the W’International program and the WINGS and WINGS-F grants. The WInternational program is a semester-long seminar that meets once per week and includes a corresponding 10-day international trip. It is available to students of junior standing with a minimum grade point average of 2.0. The program is described as a “study-tour” that includes “a general orientation to international travel and an in-depth study of the culture and history of the appropriate destination,” (Wingate, 2010-2011, p. 56). The WINGS, available to students, and WINGS-F, open to faculty, grants “provide funds for semester or shorter term study abroad” opportunities (Wingate, 2010-2011, p. 56). Additionally, the university offers international study opportunities through the Council on International Education Exchange
(CIEE), the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), Hong Kong Baptist University, an Internships in London program and a Spanish Immersion program (Wingate, 2010-2011, p. 55-56) Currently, the University’s associate professor of communication/journalism has developed and led a semester-study abroad program in London that incorporated the study of public relations in an international setting as one of its primary components as well as conducted several W’International seminars with a focus on media studies, including public relations. The assistant professor of communication/public relations earned a master’s degree in public relations from Bond University in Queensland, Australia. Additionally, the professor taught a six-week course of study in international public relations in Florence and Rome, Italy, in 2008 to a group of university students from universities in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. The course focused on exposing students to the practice of public relations in an international setting. As part of the course requirements, the students had to create public relations campaigns that incorporated culture-specific sites, symbols, language and values. Most recently, this professor developed and taught a W’International seminar that included a 10-day trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, during which time the students put into practice the AP writing skills, which are heavily utilized in public relations writing, they learned during the semester. Personal Observations, Reflections and Experiences of an International Scholar and Educator “G’day, mate! How ya going?” (Presnell, 1998, p. 2A). Those were the first words I (the assistant professor of communications/public relations) wrote as I began a journal for my employer, the Hickory Daily Record, chronicling my year living abroad in Australia while studying to earn a master’s degree in public relations. That first journal entry, entitled Record Reporter Writes From Gold Coast, detailed the many changes I encountered in my first weeks in a country half a world away. I wrote, “living in another country for a lengthy period of time and adjusting to new lingo and customs can prove challenging even when learning a foreign language isn’t involved,” (p. 2A). The article chronicles the differences in lingo, slang and culture between America and Australia. Other articles chronicle differences in clothing styles and even spelling. Australian spelling favors the traditional English spelling of words like “colour,” “favour” and “labour,” a dilemma that I noted “makes for some difficulties in writing papers” (Presnell, Explorer, April 12, 1998, p. 2A). Experiences such as these on the part of faculty members in professional and academic settings abroad provide valuable insights into the way institutions – for example, the news media – work in other nations, regions and cultures. Even notions of a free and independent media, and the distinctions between ethical and unethical behavior in news media, may differ in some of these settings. Other conventions of public relations/media interaction may also differ. For example, in Japan, contact with the news media is made through “press clubs” maintained separately by each industry or in press rooms maintained by each government ministry. Press club secretaries decide whether to issue press releases, call press conferences or do nothing. The imprimatur of these clubs often affects press coverage. Cultural norms, such as attitudes toward criticism and negative publicity, also often affect crisis communications plans. (Lattimore, et al., 2009; Newsom, et al, 2007). These personalized international experiences may be passed along to students as part of the instructor’s narrative and may also inform the way students are taught to approach assignments.
Observations of Students Who Have Studied Public Relations Abroad The second aspect of this paper explores the value to students of taking public relations courses in international settings. A ready-made platform for internationalizing a public relations curriculum is, as previously described, any international study program in which a college or university may already be participating. In Wingate University’s case, a semester-long program led by a different faculty member each fall provided an opportunity to teach a variety of disciplines from an international perspective. In the fall of 2008, the associate professor of communication/journalism, one of the author’s of this paper, taught a public relations class in London. As part of class requirements, students were divided into groups to conduct a public relations campaign from an international perspective. The class visited several public relations agencies, one with its headquarters in the United Kingdom and the other (Burson-Marsteller) a U.S.-based agency with a worldwide presence. And other assignments, including the preparation of written materials such as news releases, were prepared with international audiences in mind. Interviews with some of the students in the class reveal several significant themes in their responses about the value of the international setting in their academic experience with public relations. All comments are from interviews conducted in person or via Facebook and e-mail in December 2010-January 2011. (1) Comparison of PR practice in the U.S. and other nations. One student compared her visit in another class to a Charlotte-area firm dealing with leisure industry, especially NASCAR, clients to the class’ London visit to the Burson-Marsteller offices and other media outlets. “….Being American, I have predispositions about NASCAR that unfortunately made me disengage during the Charlotte visit. While in Europe, I had a larger focus on what the actual firm structure was and what it did because I wasn't distracted by their clients. As far as cultural differences, I generally feel that Americans care a lot less about what’s going on in the world than Europeans do, and we were surely reminded of that when we visited NBC. (2) Seeing PR principles and problems in the cultural and social context of another country. Another student reported that learning about PR in another country was good experience in framing a PR problem in terms that might be understandable abroad, but not in the U.S. “….What I found interesting about taking a PR class in an international setting was having to use references from English culture rather than American. For example, when my group was making PR campaign about the dangers of smoking, we utilized a soccer team to gain support for our campaign. Since we were not in America, we had to understand what was popular over there (England), which may not be at all popular over here.” (3) Applying communications principles to interactions with people of a different nation and culture. The same student remarked on how the group’s lengthy (3-1/2 months) stay in another country allowed them to observe differences in personal interactions which had implications for the PR practitioner.
“….Being in another country for several months, we picked up on differences in verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, common words and slang words were often different in England than America. Also, it was less common for strangers to have a conversation or even to smile at a stranger on the Underground or a bus in England than it is in America.” Another student came to the same insight about the non-verbal aspect of communication, and showed how concepts learned in coursework back home can come to life in a very real way in another country. “I remember using what I learned in Non-Verbal Communications to be very helpful skills in Europe--body language, tone of voice and personal space stand out in my mind. Having people invade my "personal space" on the Tube and on the bus took me some time to get used to. I realized the need for space differs depending on culture and the situation. Noticing people's postures and gestures helped me determine if they would be willing to help answer a question for me.” The final strategy discussed in this paper is that of the role of internships and studentled organizations in enhancing the international experience. (4) Comparison of general workplace practices and office cultures between the United States and other countries. Students with internship opportunities had an additional valuable opportunity, as they learned how to interact with employees in a professional setting. One Wingate student interned with Global Radio News, a journalism organization which finds stringers for news outlets in various parts of the world. She noted that the values of self-reliance and the ability to understand the workplace were as important as the communication skills she exercised. “…It was a great place to get a taste for what life outside college will be like. You were responsible for yourself. If the Underground was down, you were in trouble and you had to find your own way to get to work. I thought the British work lifestyle was way different from here. They were more relaxed about a lot of things, and I don’t think they valued promptness the way we do.” (5) First-hand experience with a world in which globalization is a fact of life. The same student noted: “…Especially with all the social networking tools, it’s a smaller world. I probably could have gotten the same kind of experience over here, but it was more meaningful because it was overseas. I think it made me a more well-rounded person.” These personalized international perspectives were just one aspect of the benefits of studying public relations abroad. Other significant benefits to the student from this type of experience would be the opportunity to make international connections, always valuable in a field where networking is critical to getting jobs and furthering one’s career; exposure to academic standards and teaching styles in another country (this was not applicable in our public relations and journalism classes, taught by one of the authors, but is a part of Wingate’s overall program in London – courses in drama, geography and history taught by English academics were included in the students’ course load. These provided helpful social and cultural context.) Wingate students who participated in this program became part of an alumni network that extends across a variety of disciplines. Their experiences provide a point of commonality that can be helpful in future job searches.
The Value of Internships While Wingate University no longer offers a semester-long classroom experience in London, individual students may still take advantage of more lengthy stays in locales like Denmark and Hong Kong, as described previously in this paper. And a summer program in London is now available for students specifically seeking internship opportunities. This program connects our students with a variety of employers, including news organizations and public relations agencies. As noted in the interview with the Wingate student in the previous section, internships allow students the opportunity to think globally, placing their work experience in the context of their previous knowledge of the world, while acting locally to learn how to navigate a working environment in another country. These are valuable opportunities to gain awareness across cultures before being faced with these same issues in their first full-time professional positions. Wingate students may also take advantage of opportunities offered by the 10-day W’International short courses on specific topics ranging from business to science to literature. The aspiring public relations professional needs awareness of a broad range of issues, which are provided by this two-semester hour course, followed by the 10-day study trip abroad. Opportunities are available to experience another culture at a higher level than sightseeing, and in some cases, the topics are related to communications and put the students together with PR and media professionals from other countries and American PR and media professionals working abroad. Conclusions Prior research has found that public relations scholars and practitioners agree that public relations education should foster both a “global and multicultural” perspective (Walker, 2000, p. 39). Graduates from public relations educational programs should appreciate “global cultures” and “cultural and gender diversity” (Commission on Public Relations Education, 1999) as well as gain an understanding of “the societal context in which public relations operates” (Turner, 2003, p. 6). Pincas (2001) notes that globalization is “producing two contradictory phenomena for the individual: standardization and diversification (p. 42). The goal, then is to create, develop and educate public relations practitioners who understand the role of culture in public relations, can appreciate a variety of perspectives in approaching any given public relations issue, can compile, analyze and evaluate information from different social, cultural and political contexts and, finally, be able to develop appropriate goals, objectives, strategies and tactics in a public relations context. Public relations in the 21st century is far different from the public relations practices of the late 19th and early 20 centuries when people merely sought to gain publicity or promote propaganda. Today’s world is smaller and more complex than the world of early public relations practitioners with a more global-centered than national-centered focus. As the world’s companies continue to expand across borders, they must be sensitive to local customs and people and public relations plays a critical role in maintaining those relationships. Stated another way, organizations desperately need professional communicators to navigate through this “brave new world” of instantaneous communication.
These conclusions, in addition to the anecdotal data on which they are based are, as noted earlier in this paper, qualitative in nature. But these results suggest possibilities for more formal, quantitative research in the area of globalizing a public relations curriculum. A larger sample of students who have taken public relations courses abroad could be surveyed to determine which public relations principles and communications skills were conveyed effectively in the international setting, and to determine what the students learned about persuasion and other communications principles through their international experiences. A similar survey could be administered to professors who have taught public relations courses or worked in public relations/media in other nations, to determine what teaching methods and assignments are most effective in communicating the global nature of public relations, and what their international working experiences have added to their teaching.
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