Public Relations and Community: A Reconstructed Theory

This slim volume hits hard at one major point: public relations practitoners need to abandon their dominant attitude of narrowly serving the needs of their clients and instead attempt to engender a broad-based sense of community. By approaching public relations from this broader perspective both the needs of the client and the community are served. Implicit in this theory is that a closer-knit community will retain more traditional family-based values and therefore comprise a more stable and appreciative economic unit for one's client. Canadian Journal of Communication Public relations is commonly viewed as using persuasive communications to achieve a client's vested goal. Kruckeberg and Starck challenge this oversimplified approach, asserting that public relations is a complex, multi-flow process that should--and can--affect society as a whole. In Part I, they examine critically the historical definition and practice of public relations, outlining the shortcomings of this narrow approach. Part II explores how the community itself has changed. Such issues as the shift from rural to urban life and the attempt to regain a sense of community are discussed. Part III attempts to reconcile the authors' new notion of public relations and community through an in-depth case-study. The results lead the authors to conclude that only if public relations is practiced as an active attempt to build a sense of community can it become a full partner in the communications milieu.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction The Quandary of Public Relations The Historical Foundation in Question The Problem of a Definition of Public Relations Conclusions about an Inconclusive Vocation A Framework of Community Relations A Theoretical Framework: The Chicago School of Social Thought A Sense of Community Sense of Community No Longer Common The Shift from Rural to Urban Life The Chicago School and the Search for Community Attempts to Regain Community The Chicago School's Application to Community Relations A Case Study Reconciling Public Relations and Community A Review of the Main Theory Sugar Creek as a Theory Test Site Public and Community Relations in Sugar Creek Lessons from the Chicago School and Sugar Creek Bibliography Index

About the Author :
DEAN KRUCKEBERG is Coordinator of the Public Relations degree program in the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Northern Iowa. KENNETH STARCK is a Professor in the University of Iowa's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.