Is a picture worth a thousand words? Using films and television shows to teach public relations

Please cite this article inpress as: Hutton,J. G., &Mak,A.K.Y.Is a picture wortha thousand words? Usingfilms and television

shows to teach public relations. Public Relations Review (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.03.003

ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model

PUBREL-1277; No. of Pages10

Public Relations Review xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

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Public Relations Review

Is a picture worth a thousand words? Using films and

television shows to teach public relations

James G. Huttona,∗, A.K.Y. Mak b,1

a Marketing and Communications, Silberman College of Business, 1000 River Road, H-DH2-06, Fairleigh Dickinson University,

Teaneck, NJ 07666, USA b School of Applied Media and Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, 903 Building, Monash University, Berwick Campus, VIC 3806, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 6 December 2013

Received in revised form 3 March 2014

Accepted 5 March 2014

Keywords:

Public relations

Films

Movies

Television

Pedagogy

Instructional technology

a b s t r a c t

While a number of studies have looked at the image of public relations practitioners as

portrayed in films and other media, few if any of those studies have focused primarily on

the pedagogical perspective of using films. Therefore, a benchmark international survey of

public relations educators was undertaken to answer questions about how (or whether)

to use films as a teaching tool. Among other things, the findings of the study shed light on

how often PR instructors use films in the classroom;the value that films provide; why some

professors decline to use them; which specific films and television shows are being used;

and guidelines for utilizing movies and television programs as an effective pedagogical

technique.

© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

A number of studies have looked at the image of PR practitioners as portrayed by movies and television shows. However,

few, if any, have focused primarily on how films and TV programs illustrate public relations principles and practice –

especially good PR practice. It is a critical distinction, for at least two reasons: (1) many on-screen stories that illustrate PR

practice do not actually involve PR practitioners; and (2) public relations lessons portrayed in such stories often are not even

identified as being related to PR. So, while the on-screen images of PR practitioners sometimes illustrate PR principles and

practice, they ignore a wealth of potential other material that may be useful in understanding PR.

In addition, some observers of how PR is portrayed in mass media (be it feature films, TV shows or other channels) have

concluded that such images tend to be caricatures, at best, and serious distortions and clichés, at worst, whose value as a

legitimate educational tool may be limited, and perhaps more negative than positive.

It is worth noting, too, that previous studies in the public relations field have done very little to answer questions

related to decisions about whether or how PR teachers should use movies and TV shows as a pedagogical tool. Anecdotal

evidence suggests that public relations teachers often use excerpts and even entire films and TV episodes to teach various

PR principles and to illustrate best (and worst) practices. Yet there has been little in the literature to provide information

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 973 256 1680; fax: +1 201 692 7241.

E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (J.G. Hutton), [email protected] (A.K.Y. Mak).

1 Tel.: +61 3 990 47244.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.03.003

0363-8111/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.