Journal of Public Relations Research

Hon, Linda

2015 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2015.1027771

This study examined the digital media ecosystem that developed during the Justice for Trayvon campaign prior to the arrest of Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman. Research literature in public relations, social advocacy, and digital communication, as well as content relevant to the campaign in Lexis/Nexis and on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were used to develop a theoretical model of digital social advocacy within the context of public relations management.

Bourne, Clea D.

2015 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2015.1027772

Thought leadership has become an important means of building trust in global markets. The term, used to describe the intellectual firepower assembled and published by organisations, is frequently linked with public relations (PR) activity. This article examines Goldman Sachs’ highly-successful campaign to promote the BRICs concept, exploring the firm's use of thought leadership as a trust production strategy. It is concluded that trust production is a shared performance by a range of experts, including PR practitioners. This shared performance helps promote certainty in companies’ skill and experience, paving the way for new products and processes, market expansion, and company profits.

Paquette, Michael

2015 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2015.1060130

This case study provides insights into how a community of organizations communicates during a crisis by examining how challenges to collective bargaining laws in Wisconsin and Ohio provoked a dramatic response by education unions and the labor sector as a whole. Using the theoretical frameworks of reflective management and the discourse of renewal, this insider account of the response found that these pivotal events were a cause for change in how the education unions and their partners communicated. These events resulted in increased collaboration between partners, embracing an organic response of members, and the rearticulation of organization values. In addition to the presentation of crisis communication beyond the traditional narrow-focus of the response of a single organization, the results of this study also challenge the concept of what constitutes reflection and renewal after a crisis.

Lee Jenni, Grace D.; Peterson, M. Nils; Katz Jameson, Jessica; Cubbage, Fred W.

2015 Journal of Public Relations Research

doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2015.1027770

Environmental management decisions on United States military lands are becoming increasingly important. We used qualitative methods to explore military perceptions on building and maintaining relationships with their local communities related to environmental issues. Informants believed that 2-way public relations (PR) were effective ways to build, improve, and manage relationships, but practiced 1-way PR. Perceived barriers to 2-way PR included lack of public interest, leadership turnover, and security concerns, which were considered unique to military contexts. We highlight how these findings contribute to scholarship on environmental public participation and relational models of PR, and offer recommendations for improving military conservation efforts and the relationships between installations and communities.