Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations II, 2nd Edition (Routledge Communication Series)

RHETORICAL AND

CRITICAL APPROACHES TO

PUBLIC RELATIONS II

This volume illustrates the application of rhetorical theory and critical perspectives

to explain public relations practices. It provides a systematic and coherent state￾ment of the crucial guidelines and philosophical underpinnings of public relations.

Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations II addresses the rhetorical/

critical tradition’s contribution to the definition of public relations and PR prac￾tice; explores the role of PR in creating shared meaning in support of publicity and

promotional organizational efforts; considers the tradition’s contributions to risk,

crisis, and issues dimensions of public relations; and highlights ethics, character,

and responsible advocacy. It uses a rhetorical lens to provide practitioners with

a sense of how their PR campaigns make a contribution to the organizational

bottom line.

Robert L. Heath, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Communication at the

University of Houston. He has published 17 books, and has contributed chap￾ters and articles on issues management, public relations, crisis communication,

risk communication, environmental communication, emergency management,

rhetorical criticism, and communication theory.

Elizabeth L. Toth, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of

Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has published

books, journal articles, and book chapters on gender and public relations.

Damion Waymer, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Communication at

Virginia Tech. His teaching and research interests include public relations and

organizational rhetoric, and he has published his work in scholarly communication

journals.

COMMUNICATION SERIES

Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors

Selected titles in public relations (James E. Grunig, Advisory Editor) include:

STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT

Planning and Managing Effective Communication Programs, Second Edition

Austin/Pinkleton

GAINING INFLUENCE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Role of Resistance in Practice

Berger/Reber

PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY II

Botan/Hazleton

MANAGER’S GUIDE TO EXCELLENCE IN

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

Dozier/Grunig/Grunig

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS

A Casebook Approach, Third Edition

Fearn-Banks

EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND

COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

Grunig

APPLIED PUBLIC RELATIONS

Cases in Stakeholder Management

Lamb/McKee

THE FUTURE OF EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC

RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

Challenges for the Next Generation

Toth

RHETORICAL

AND CRITICAL

APPROACHES TO

PUBLIC RELATIONS II

Edited by

Robert L. Heath

Elizabeth L. Toth

Damion Waymer

First published 2009

by Routledge

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Simultaneously published in the UK

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2009 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or

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invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any

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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or

registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and

explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Rhetorical and critical approaches to public relations II/edited

by Robert L. Heath, Elizabeth L. Toth, and Damion Waymer.—2nd ed.

p. cm. — (Communication series)

Public relations—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Communication in marketing.

3. Corporations—Public relations—Moral and ethical aspects.

I. Heath, Robert L. (Robert Lawrence), 1941–

II. Toth, Elizabeth L. III. Waymer, Damion.

HM1221.R44 2008

659.2—dc22

2008031872

ISBN 10: 0–8058–6423–7 (hbk)

ISBN 10: 0–8058–6424–5 (pbk)

ISBN 10: 0–203–87492–7 (ebk)

ISBN 13: 978–0–8058–6423–6 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978–0–8058–6424–3 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978–0–203–87492–9 (ebk)

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s

collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

ISBN 0-203-87492-7 Master e-book ISBN

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations vii

Notes on Contributors viii

Introduction 1

ROBERT L. HEATH

SECTION ONE

Rhetorical Heritage and Critical Tradition 13

1 The Rhetorical Tradition: Wrangle in the Marketplace 17

ROBERT L. HEATH

2 The Case for Pluralistic Studies of Public Relations:

Rhetorical, Critical, and Excellence Perspectives 48

ELIZABETH L. TOTH

3 Theoretical Black Holes: A Partial A to Z of Missing Critical

Thought in Public Relations 61

DAVID MCKIE AND DEBASHISH MUNSHI

4 Civil Society as a Rhetorical Public Relations Process 76

MAUREEN TAYLOR

5 Perspectives on Public Relations History 92

RON PEARSON

6 Feminist Criticism in Public Relations: How Gender Can

Impact Public Relations Texts and Contexts 110

LINDA ALDOORY

SECTION TWO

Creating Shared Meaning through Ethical Public Relations

Promotion and Publicity 125

7 Public Relations and the Strategic Use of Transparency:

Consistency, Hypocrisy, and Corporate Change 129

LARS THØGER CHRISTENSEN AND ROY LANGER

8 756*: The Legitimacy of a Baseball Number 154

JOSH BOYD

9 The Devil in Disguise: Vioxx, Drug Safety, and the FDA 170

JANE STUART BAKER, CHARLES CONRAD, CHRIS CUDAHY,

AND JENNIFER WILLYARD

10 Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive:

A Case Study of Frederick Douglass’ “Fourth of July Address” 195

ROBERT L. HEATH AND DAMION WAYMER

11 Connecting Organizations and their Employee Publics: The

Rhetorical Analysis of Employee–Organization Relationships (EOR) 216

DAMION WAYMER AND LAN NI

SECTION THREE

Activism, Issues, Crisis, and Risk: Rhetorical Heavy Lifting 233

12 Crisis, Crisis Communication, Reputation, and Rhetoric 237

W. TIMOTHY COOMBS

13 Dialogue, Discourse Ethics, and Disney 253

REBECCA J. MEISENBACH AND SARAH BONEWITS FELDNER

14 Secret Persuaders: Ethical and Rhetorical Perspectives on the

Use of Public Relations Front Groups 272

MICHAEL J. PALENCHAR AND KATHY R. FITZPATRICK

15 Inter-organizational Crisis Communication: Exploring Source

and Stakeholder Communication in the Roman Catholic

Clergy Sex Abuse Case 290

SUZANNE BOYS

SECTION FOUR

Character, Ethics, and Legitimacy in the Practice of Public Relations 311

16 Character and the Practice of Public Relations:

Arthur W. Page and John W. Hill 315

KAREN MILLER RUSSELL

17 Outlaw Discourse as Postmodern Public Relations 328

JOSH BOYD AND SARAH HAGEDORN VANSLETTE

18 Documentary as an Activist Medium: The Wal-Mart Movie 343

ASHLI QUESINBERRY STOKES AND RACHEL L. HOLLOWAY

19 Good Environmental Citizens? The Green Rhetoric of Corporate

Social Responsibility 360

ØYVIND IHLEN

Index 375

vi CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures

7.1 Organizational Transparency Directions 134

7.2 Transformations in Organizational Transparency 141

Tables

12.1 Post-crisis Response Strategies 244

12.2 Crisis Types by Attribution of Crisis Responsibility 247

12.3 Attribution Theory-based Crisis Communication Best Practices 248

13.1 Steps of Discourse Ethics for the Save Disney Campaign 262

15.1 Items Introduced by SNAP in 2004 304

CONTRIBUTORS

Linda Aldoory, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Communication and Affiliate

Faculty of Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. She

is also editor of the Journal of Public Relations Research. Aldoory’s research

focuses on gender, power, and diversity in public relations and in health

communication. In addition to her research and teaching, Aldoory consults

for various health and social service agencies, including the U.S. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland

Security.

Jane Stuart Baker is a graduate student in the Department of Communication at

Texas A&M University.

Josh Boyd (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Associate Professor of Communication

at Purdue University. He studies organizational rhetoric in contexts such as cor￾porate and sports discourse, and he is thankful to have published research with

his father and with his former graduate students.

Suzanne Boys, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati. She received

a Bachelor of Science in speech-language pathology from the University of

Cincinnati in 1996; a Masters of Arts in communication from the University

of Cincinnati in 2002, writing a thesis on the discursive construction of the

teacher role by international graduate students; and a Ph.D. in communica￾tion from Texas A&M University in 2007. Her dissertation research on the

Roman Catholic clergy sex abuse crisis developed a dialogical model for

understanding crisis communication. Boys’s research interests include pub￾lic relations, crisis communication, non-profit organizing, dialogue, and the

functions of silence in organizational communication. The courses she teaches

include Communication in Organizations; Organizational Image, Identity, and

Issues Management; Public Relations Case Studies; Crisis Communication;

Organizational Cultures, and Organizational Diversity.

Lars Thøger Christensen (Ph.D., Odense University, 1993) is Professor

of Communication at the Department of Marketing and Management,

the University of Southern Denmark. Also, he is Adjunct Professor at the

Copenhagen Business School where he established the CBS Center for

Corporate Communication. His research and teaching interests include critical

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix

and postmodern approaches to the broad fields of organizational and corporate

communications. In addition to six books, his research appears in Organization

Studies, European Journal of Marketing, The New Handbook of Organizational

Communication, The Handbook of Public Relations, Communication Yearbook,

and elsewhere.

Charles Conrad is Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University

and former editor of Management Communication Quarterly. He teaches

classes in Organizational Communication, Organizational Rhetoric, and

Communication, Power, and Politics. His research currently focuses on the

symbolic processes through which organizations influence popular attitudes

and public policies. He currently is working on a book manuscript that develops

a “close comparison” of the communication-organization-health policy nexus

in Canada and in the U.S.A.

W. Timothy Coombs is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies

at Eastern Illinois University and the 2002 recipient of the Jackson Jackson

and Wagner Behavioral Science Prize for his crisis research. He has published

in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Journal

of Public Affairs, Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Business

Communication, Journal of Communication Management, and Corporate

Reputation Review. He has written or co-authored four books including

Ongoing Crisis Communication and It’s Not Just Public Relations.

Chris Cudahy is at Atlantic Baptist University, Moncton, New Brunswick,

Canada.

Sarah Bonewits Feldner (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2002) is an Assistant

Professor in the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University.

Her primary area of teaching and research is organizational communication

with an emphasis on organizational rhetoric. Her work largely focuses on issues

of organizational mission, legitimacy, and identity. Some of her recent work has

appeared in Communication Studies and the International Journal of Strategic

Communication.

Kathy R. Fitzpatrick is Professor of Public Relations at Quinnipiac University

in Hamden, Connecticut. A licensed attorney and accredited public relations

professional, she has been teaching, writing, and counseling on matters related

to public relations, law, and ethics for more than 20 years. Fitzpatrick is the co￾author of Public Relations Ethics and Journalism Ethics (with Philip Seib) and

the lead editor of Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy. Her current

research focuses on U.S. public diplomacy.

Robert L. Heath, Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of

Houston, has published 17 books including Terrorism: Communication and

Rhetorical Perspectives (2008), Today’s Public Relations (2006), Encyclopedia of

Public Relations (2005), Responding to Crisis: A Rhetorical Approach to Crisis

Communication (2004), and Handbook of Public Relations (2001). Heath also

recently co-edited Communication and the Media (2005), volume 3 of the

x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

series Community Preparedness and Response to Terrorism, and Rhetorical

and Critical Approaches to Public Relations (1992). He has contributed chap￾ters and articles on issues management, public relations, crisis communication,

risk communication, environmental communication, emergency management,

rhetorical criticism, and communication theory. He is co-editor of the forth￾coming Handbook of Crisis and Risk Communication.

Rachel L. Holloway is an Associate Professor and head of the Department of

Communication at Virginia Tech. Her scholarly work on political rhetoric

includes multiple articles, book chapters, and two books: In the Matter of J.

Robert Oppenheimer: Politics, Rhetoric and Self-Defense (1993) and The Clinton

Presidency: Images, Issues, and Communication Strategies (1996) (with Robert

E. Denton, Jr.). Holloway is a past chair of the Public Relations Division of the

National Communication Association.

Øyvind Ihlen is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Media

and Communication, University of Oslo; and Associate Professor at Hedmark

College, both in Norway. He has published in journals such as Public Relations

Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Communication

Management, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Corporate

Communications: An International Journal, Journal of Public Affairs, and

Business Strategy and the Environment.

Roy Langer (Ph.D., Copenhagen Business School, 2000) is Professor of Corporate

Communication in the Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus,

Denmark. Langer has produced extensive research on stealth and undercover

marketing at the crossroads between PR and marketing and in related areas; and

he has published his research in journals such as Corporate Communications,

Psychology & Marketing, Corporate Reputation Review, Publizistik, Qualitative

Market Research, and more. He is serving as an editorial board member for a

number of international journals and an active member of research communi￾ties within media, communication, and marketing studies.

David McKie is a Professor at Waikato Management School. He has published

three books, over 20 book chapters, and over 40 journal articles. He is cur￾rently working on three books: on Influencing Israel, on Leadership, and on

Action Inquiry and Workplace Creativity. As CEO of RAM (Results by Action

Management) International Consulting, David also works as a change, leader￾ship, and strategic communication consultant in private and public sectors in

Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S.A.

Rebecca J. Meisenbach (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2004) is an Assistant Professor

in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Her research focuses on intersections among identity, ethics, and rhetoric,

with particular attention to non-profit and gendered organizing. She cur￾rently is studying the negotiation of stigma and occupational identities among

fund raisers. Her recent work has appeared in Communication Monographs,

Communication Yearbook, Management Communication Quarterly, and the

International Journal of Strategic Communication.

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xi

Debashish Munshi is Chairperson and Associate Professor of Management

Communication at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. He is a journal￾ist-turned-academic whose research brings theoretical perspectives from such

other disciplines as cultural studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, and

subaltern studies into the study of management in organizations. He is (with

David McKie) co-author of Reconfiguring Public Relations: Ecology, Equity,

and Enterprise (2007).

Lan Ni (Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park) is an Assistant Professor

in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston.

Her research focuses on strategic management of public relations, relationship

management, identification of publics, and intercultural communication. Her

work has been accepted for publication in Public Relations Review, Journal of

Communication Management, and Journal of Public Relations Research.

Michael J. Palenchar is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee’s

School of Advertising and Public Relations. He has more than 20 years of

academic and professional experience, and his research has been published in

among others the Journal of Public Relations Research and Public Relations

Review. His first book, Strategic Issues Management (2nd ed.), is co-authored

with Robert L. Heath, and he is the co-recipient of the 2000 and 2007 National

Communication Association’s Pride Award for top published article in public

relations.

Ron Pearson was a Professor at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova

Scotia, Canada, until his death in 1990. His rhetorical and critical scholarship

in public relations inspired us all. We miss his brilliant challenges to the public

relations profession and its body of knowledge.

Karen Miller Russell is Associate Professor at the Grady College of Journalism

and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She conducts research

on the history of public relations, and was awarded the Nafziger-White Award

from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

for best dissertation, in 1995, and the Pathfinder Award, made annually by the

Institute for Public Relations in recognition of the best public relations research

program, in 2001.

Ashli Quesinberry Stokes is an Assistant Professor at the University of North

Carolina at Charlotte. She pursues a wide variety of research in public relations

and rhetoric, specializing in rhetorical approaches to analyzing public relations

controversies. Most recently, Dr. Stokes co-authored a textbook about inter￾national public relations. She has also published in Public Relations Review,

the Southern Communication Journal, Studies in Communication Sciences, the

Encyclopedia of Public Relations, and has authored several book chapters.

Maureen Taylor is the Gaylord Family Chair of Strategic Communication in the

Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of

Oklahoma. She earned a Ph.D. in Public Affairs and Issues Management from

Purdue University in 1996. Taylor’s research interest is in international public

xii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

relations, nation building, and civil society campaigns. Taylor has conducted

civil society research in Malaysia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia, Jordan, and

Sudan.

Elizabeth L. Toth, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of

Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has published

Women in Public Relations: How Gender Influences Practice; Public Relations:

The Profession and the Practice; The Future of Excellence in Public Relations and

Communication Management: Challenges for the Next Generation; The Gender

Challenge in Media: Voices from the Field; and Rhetorical and Critical Approaches

to Public Relations. She has also published numerous articles and book chapters

on gender and public relations.

Sarah Hagedorn VanSlette is an Assistant Professor in the Department of

Communication and Theatre Arts at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Her research interests include organizational rhetoric, rhetorical approaches to

public relations, and international public relations. VanSlette received her M.A.

and Ph.D. from Purdue University, where Josh Boyd was her advisor. She would

like to thank him for his continued guidance and support, especially on their

co-authored line of research on outlaw discourse.

Damion Waymer, Assistant Professor of Communication at Virginia Tech, earned

his B.A. at the College of Charleston and earned both his M.A. and Ph.D. at

Purdue University. His teaching and research interests include, generally, public

relations and organizational rhetoric. More specifically, his research uses public

relations and communication theories to explore the ways that marginalized

or underrepresented publics can and do gain access to voice, as well as what

strategies are available to them to challenge various issues they might encoun￾ter. Some of his work along this line of inquiry is published in scholarly journals

such as the Journal of Applied Communication Research, the Journal of Family

Communication, and Qualitative Inquiry.

Jennifer Willyard received her Ph.D. in Communication from Texas A&M

University. She specializes on the intersection of organizational and political

rhetoric and currently works in Austin, Texas, as an independent consultant.

INTRODUCTION

Robert L. Heath

University of Houston

When the first volume of Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations

was published, compliments emphasized one point: We in public relations and

organizational rhetoric were slowly initiating the dawn of an era when meaning

and the ethical judgment that accompanied it had arrived with enthusiasm and

commitment. Most discussions of public relations prior to that time had focused

on social scientific constructs and theory building that emphasized the processes

of communication and relationships building. Many were saying, “but public

relations is also about meaning.” Many said, “perhaps public relations is primar￾ily about meaning.” That point is emphasized in spades in classic works such as

Unseen Power by Scott Cutlip (1994).

Even today, especially in U.S. based journals that attend to academic discus￾sions of public relations, most of the research features process in terms of variable

analytic discussions rather than judgments of meaning and the ways it is formed.

That trend is much less the case in such journals based outside of the United States.

Also, some of the U.S. based publications that have recently emerged are empha￾sizing more of a meaning approach using variously the assumptions and principles

of the rhetorical heritage, social constructionism, discourse analysis, and critical

theory. Other journals that do not include “public relations” in their titles provide

insightful discussions relevant to the practice and teaching of public relations as

being vital to the collective making of meaning that defines commercial trans￾actions and relationships between organizations, between them and individuals,

society, and their physical and social environments. Some of these address the role

that meaning plays in society and the way that organizational spokespersons work

constructively as well as unreflectively or self-interestedly to discuss the ways that

meaning is shaped which in turn influences marketplace activities and public policy

decisions. Some critiques suggest that organizations assume individuals targeted in

their campaigns are delusional and naively willing to accept corporate interpreta￾tions of very important matters.

Scope of our Study

For the wholeness, its total role in society, of public relations to be understood,

appreciated, and evaluatively guided and corrected, academics and practitioners

need constant and insightful discussions of the way meaning is socially constructed

2 R. L. HEATH

and enacted. What interests are served? Is the relationship between competing

and cooperating interests balanced and proactive? Is it narrowly self-interested and

reactive? Does it lead to enlightened choices, or clouded and even misled judg￾ments? As the challenge to solving this dialectic, one can imagine that instead of

merely helping one organization at a time to be effective, discourse needs to be

engaged and shaped in ways that take the scope and purpose of making society

more fully functioning.

Typically, scholarship and best principles address how to make individual prac￾titioners effective, and in doing so, to make organizations effective—and even

less ineffective. In this last approach, a substantial underpinning theme stresses

the reality that since organizations need resources held by others, they are wise to

mitigate conflict and to work to at least accommodate to others if not collaborate

with them to make meaningful changes. Having set that outline, however, the

question is what role does discourse play in conflict, promotion, image, reputa￾tion, relationship, and other factors of organizational success and the functioning

of society. And, even more powerfully, the thrust of rhetoric can help define the

organization, give it rationale, and set it in the context of society which is funda￾mentally all about meaning which provides insights and allows for enlightened

choice. Rhetoric can help participants in social dialogue, even combatants, define

conflict—the means for mitigation, accommodation, collaboration, and qualita￾tively superior relationships.

One of the central themes in public relations research, regardless of methodol￾ogy and heuristics, is how do individuals as part of society make choices? What

do they prefer? What do they oppose? Who do they like, and dislike? With which

organizations do they identify, and against which do they unite? What products and

services do they adopt as part of their lifestyle? What shapes their lifestyle? What

ethical standards guide individual, organizational, and societal decisions? Who or

what shapes these standards and sanctions their violation as well as rewards their

compliance? What identities do people adopt? Are these identities ones that lead to

individual and collective enrichment or alienation resulting from marginalization?

What is the rationale of power and control in a society? What hegemonies shape

individual and collective decisions and who benefits—or suffers—from these inter￾pretative frames of reference, points of view, themes, or narratives as each writer or

thinker might prefer to call them?

These and many other questions are explored in this book, as they are by other

thinkers in other publications. The goal here, however, is keenly focused on under￾standing, righting, and supporting various approaches to the teaching and practice

of public relations. We, as many others do, believe that since public relations is “an

unseen power,” its practitioners must be reflective and judicious in how they plan

and execute their professional skills. They must have character sufficient to the wise

management of their role in society. They must be substantial participants in strate￾gic decisions, not merely the pawns used to implement such decisions.

What’s in a title? As we created the first volume, we were worried that the word

rhetoric in the title would fuel the hostility of critics of the field. Way too many

people, and we find them teaching public relations as well, think of rhetoric as either

vacuous discourse or manipulative, button-pushing strategies to cloud judgment,