http://www.mlkent.com/PDFs/PRRTowardTheoryDialoguePR.pdf

Toward a dialogic theory of public relations

Communicating about corporate social responsibility: A comparative study of CSR reporting in Australia and Slovenia

The literature on mass communication is now dominated by \"objective sociological \"approaches. What makes the work of Stephenson so unusual is his starting points: his frank willingness to adopt a \"subjective \"and \"psychological \"approach to the study of mass communication. In short, this is an internal analysis of how communication processes are absorbed by individuals. The theory of play is not a doctrine of frivolity, but rather a way in which Stephenson gets at such sensitive areas of communication theory as what is screened out and why. Without a notion of the play element in communication one would be led to imagine that every televised docudrama would be immediately lived out by every adolescent. Clearly, this is not the case. People can distinguish quite well between imaginary and real events in mass communication contexts. \"The Play Theory of Mass Communication \"is a work that studies subjective play, how communication serves the cause of self-enhancement and personal pleasure, and the role of entertainment as an end in itself. In short, for those who are tired of cliche-ridden volumes on the political hidden messages and meanings of communication, or the economic management of media decisions, this volume will come as a refreshment, a piece of entertainment as well as instruction. But with all the emphasis \"on \"aspects, Stephenson's volume is shrewdly political. He takes up themes ranging from the reduction! of international tensions to the happily alienated worker to such pedestrian events as the reporting of foreign Soviet dignitaries in their visits to democratic cultures. This is, in short, an urbane, wise book--sophisticated in its methodology and critical in its theorizing.

The Play Theory of Mass Communication

Differences between public relations and corporate social responsibility: An analysis

Researchers and practitioners are challenged to understand what can move our study, teaching, and practice (for postmodernism's contributions to these ends, see Toth, 2002). In this endeavor, our work can productively rest on systems theory, the rhetorical heritage (including a humanistic and social scientific interest in persuasion as a way of understanding how people make decisions and engage in social influence), and premises espoused by social exchange theory that guide our understanding of relationships. A rhetorical perspective is vital (or for some, a European sociological perspective) because we must have a theory-based systematic way to understand, research, and critique the role of public relations in forming and responding to ideas—competing and convergent shared social realities that can broadly be interpreted as zones of meaning. In public relations, communication is about something; ideas and meaning count.

Onward Into More Fog: Thoughts on Public Relations' Research Directions

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

Public Relations and Community: A Reconstructed Theory

Public relations and community: A reconstructed theory revisited

Two sets of questions animate this discussion: (1) What is corporate social responsibility? Why is it desirable? How can it be assessed? (2) Why should public relations practitioners be interested in corporate social responsibility?can public relations do to promote corporate social responsibility globally? Drawing on a variety of literature, the authors argue that corporations out of their own self‐interest must embrace a global approach in fulfilling their social responsibility and that public relations professionals have an obligation to carry out that responsibility by recognising in their practices that the most important “corporate” stakeholder is society itself.

Ethical obligations of public relations in an era of globalisation

Public relations and community: A persistent covenant

(1989). Using Role Theory to Study Cross Perceptions of Journalists and Public Relations Practitioners. Public Relations Research Annual: Vol. 1, No. 1-4, pp. 125-139.

Kenneth Starck

Papers

Public Relations and Community: A Reconstructed Theory

Public relations and community: A reconstructed theory revisited

Ethical obligations of public relations in an era of globalisation

Public relations and community: A persistent covenant

Using Role Theory to Study Cross Perceptions of Journalists and Public Relations Practitioners