Experiencing Public Relations

'What a great idea this book is. It presents thorough soul-searching by seasoned scholars to reveal an interesting array of flipsides of concepts and practice of public relations as they are not commonly known by students, teachers, professionals or anyone else interested in the world of public relations.'

Betteke van Ruler, Professor of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

‘Drawing from real-life, if "inappropriate," creativity, practice theorised as "dirty work," fictional police communicators in the age of Instagram, and Buber philosophising about a tree, this collection’s chapters are enlightening and enlivening. Fun and serious, diverse and internationally informed, their authors bring fresh air and insight into previously-neglected arenas of PR experience.’

David McKie, Professor of Strategic Leadership and Transformation, Waikato Management School, New Zealand

‘The book offers a valuable introduction into a range of marginalised worlds in public relations theory and practice, with a refreshing range of analytical approaches, authors and sites of practice that have global relevance. The chapters incorporate the lived experience of PR, revealing the marginalised voices of people who are actually at the centre of practice, doing the ‘dirty work’, as well as new theoretical worlds that open doors to alternative thinking. In the process, the chapters challenge us to consider the robustness of existing links between the academy and the actually existing world of PR in countries across the globe, and find ways to strengthen them. The various contributions show that the sanitised and idealised world of theory and industry narratives do not always address the complexity of public relations in different regions, cultural contexts and organisations. By introducing a range of non-public relations theories to the field, from visual communication, sociologies of work and the professions, postcolonial theory and subversion to popular culture, the chapters allow the reader to interrogate taken-for-granted identities and concepts, including the ‘practitioner’, ‘client’, and ‘spokesperson’, as well as ‘image’ and ‘truth’ to reveal the complex agency that these concepts have, the role they play in (mis)shaping practice, and the different ways in which they are enacted in changing contexts.This is a valuable text for students and researchers who want to explore public relations in ways that go beyond its function in organisations.'

Lee Edwards, Associate Professor, Communication Studies and PR, University of Leeds, UK

'This book is a refreshing addition to the body of knowledge. Its uniqueness lies in its attempt to portray "the hidden" side of public relations – the side that perhaps the field itself wants to keep from the public. Public relations practice and scholarship will benefit from such thoughtful introspection by contributors with decades of experience in practicing, and theorizing about, public relations.'

Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Professor, Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, USA