Public Relations: Concepts, Practice, Critique

Citation

Edwards, L. (2009), "Public Relations: Concepts, Practice, Critique", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 92-93. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540910931418

Jacquie L'Etang's textbook opens up new avenues for public relations scholars, students and practitioners. The subtitle “Concepts, Practice, Critique” anticipates a publication structured differently to standard texts, with less of an emphasis on tasks and skills and more on reflection. It is a welcome addition to the current choices available to teachers of public relations, as well as to practitioners endeavouring to understand their profession in greater depth.

The book's great strength is the range of literature that L'Etang draws upon to explain and contextualise public relations (PR). Psychology, sociology, cultural studies, subaltern studies, critical management and organisational communications theorists are all present; the proliferation of perspectives serves to illustrate exactly how “creole” (to draw on L'Etang's language) public relations really is. The structure of the book is also an advantage; it offers a non‐linear journey through different aspects of PR practice and research, keeping readers on their toes and demanding they make connections between concepts that appear at different stages in the book.

The book begins by setting the scene for readers and outlining expectations. One is warned that self‐reflection, as much as reflection on practice, is an integral part of reading and learning from the book. A scholar known for her position on the “edge” of mainstream scholarship in the field, L'Etang continues with a gentle but firm critique of received wisdom about PR, and throughout the book, offers a range of alternative lenses through which the profession might be viewed, from management and military perspectives to cultural and interpersonal understandings of PR work.

This critique notwithstanding, L'Etang does not neglect the key areas that shape PR practice and scholarship. Reputation, image and impression management make their debut in chapter three, for example, and are unpacked and examined to a greater degree that is the case in many other texts. The complexity of reputation, image and self‐management processes is highlighted here; the implications for PR as a profession underpinned by assumptions that these are relatively easily controlled are discussed. Similarly, risk, ethics and the relationships between PR, management and organisations are addressed in a way that illustrates the dilemmas facing practitioners who work in political and emotional environments. This is a much more useful way of understanding and analysing PR's role than a functional approach that assumes a completely neutral – but also completely fictitious – context.

Other areas that rarely receive substantial attention from PR textbooks are acknowledged and given space: a media studies perspective of PR and the media environment is a useful chapter, for example. In another, views of PR as a culturally‐embedded discipline are presented, while PR's role in our “promotional culture” is explored in a third. The text also discusses concepts that are fundamental to the survival of the profession in the twenty‐first century. These include: the nature of the public sphere and PR's role within it; the nature of globalisation and PR's potential to influence globalising processes; and, more generally, an awareness of the need to acknowledge PR's darker sides as a powerful tool used by powerful individuals, in order to meet and engage with popular critiques of the profession.

Pedagogically, the book is self‐conscious in its aim to produce a thinking reader. “Critical reflection” exercises make a regular appearance, prompting the reader to continually apply the learning points from the chapter to personal and professional contexts. The reader is told what outcomes to anticipate from each chapter and the conclusions succinctly reiterate what has been discussed. All this helps keep the reader actively engaged with the text as they progress through it. An added bonus is the number of case examples from non‐corporate and non‐Western sources, which again serves to illustrate the reality of public relations as it moves into the next century.

Ironically, the strengths of the book also generate some of the areas in which it could be improved. The extent of the literature included in each chapter means that significant issues such as ethics can receive limited or fragmented attention. Moreover, for undergraduate students or practitioners without a broad academic training, some of the concepts introduced in the book are treated too briefly to be understood and applied effectively. The desire to contextualise PR using as much (previously neglected) material as possible may leave them reaching for a core sociological or critical management text to back up the whistle stop tour that this 260‐page book offers.

The volume of material also results in occasional sections that are reminiscent of lists more than discussions. Gaps in progression from one idea to the next may leave less experienced readers in need of more guidance about how different points link together and about their implications for PR. While postgraduate students will find this an appropriate challenge for their level, at undergraduate level teaching staff will need to supplement reading assignments with exercises to test students' understanding.

The advantage of these limitations is, of course, that one is left wanting more. Perhaps the best option for Jacquie L'Etang would be to be more ambitious in her offering, rather than less, and extend the discussion she initiates here over two volumes rather than one. The current edition sows the seeds for a new type of “PR studies” textbook, in the mould of media studies' approach to journalism. It would be a great achievement if we saw a fully‐fledged version on our shelves in the next few years.