What is civic professionalism in public relations? Practitioner perspectives—A pilot study

Please cite this article in press as: Brunner, B.R. What is civic professionalism in public relations? Practitioner

perspectives—A pilot study. Public Relations Review (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.07.010

ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model

PUBREL-1429; No. of Pages3

Public Relations Review xxx (2015) xxx–xxx

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Public Relations Review

Research in brief

What is civic professionalism in public relations? Practitioner

perspectives—A pilot study

Brigitta R. Brunner ∗

School of Communication & Journalim, 217 Tichenor, Auburn University, AL 36849, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 3 November 2014

Received in revised form 22 June 2015

Accepted 13 July 2015

Keywords:

Public relations

Civic professionalism

Public good

a b s t r a c t

This paper explores public relations’ fit with the concept of civic professionalism as a means

of engagement. Ten public relations practitioners were interviewed to gather their thoughts

on civic professionalism and public relations. Based on these interviews, the author of this

manuscript argues that civic professionalism may be a practical way for practitioners to

engage with community and explain the field’s contributions to society.

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing economies and new technology threaten the existence of communication in the public interest (Black, 2008;

Raboy, 2006).Itis no secretthatthemedia and public relations have had increasing problems with credibility (Lambeth, 1988)

due to a lack of focus on what is truly important as well as violations of ethical practice. The public increasingly perceives

that communicators are not providing information for the public good, but are instead more interested in soundbites,

mud-slinging, and gold digging (Black, 2008).

In light of these concerns, there have been many calls for a focus on ethics in communication. However, many of these

calls have focused on ethics as they relate to the way in which ones does his or her job, but teaching and scholarship related

to ethics should go beyond professional codes of ethics to include general morality and citizenship (Black, 2008).

Civic professionalism is a concept based on the work of Sullivan, Saltmarsh, and Peters. To borrow from Sullivan, civic pro￾fessionalism joins formal knowledge, professional inquiry, ethical exploration, and work for the public good. Sullivan (2004)

defines civic professionalism as a mutually beneficial relationship between the professional and the public that requires

ethical responsibility on the part of the professional to better serve the public good. It seems that civic professionalism

may be one way by which practitioners can not only build ethical, engaged, and socially responsible relationships, but also

demonstrate how public relations with a focus on public interest communication builds community as it contributes to the

common good.

1. Methodology

Convenience and snowball sampling methods were used to identify 10 communication practitioners who were willing

to participate in this study and discuss what civic professionalism is in public relations. Eight women and two men were

interviewed. Participants had a range of experience from two to 30 years. Participants were chosen, in part, by their jobs so

that a mix of agency, corporate and non-profit practitioners were interviewed to broaden the perspective.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.07.010

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