Editor's Corner
Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA

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Title: Is It Still Just a Women's Issue? A Study of Work-Life Balance Among Men and Women in Public Relations

Authors: Linda Aldoory, Hua Jiang, Elizabeth L. Toth and Bey-Ling Sha

Abstract: This study examined how work-life balance is perceived by male and female public relations professionals. Eight focus groups were conducted. Findings revealed a fluid and complex work-personal continuum affected by such factors as societal norms;organizational contradictions; new technology; professional identity; and parenthood. Practitioners expressed blame and guilt narratives. Several challenges to work-life balance were discussed, and various strategies for attaining balance were detailed.

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Title: Comprising or Compromising Credibility? : Use of Spokesperson Quotations in News Releases Issued by Major Health Agencies

Authors: Elizabeth Johnson Avery & Sora Kim

Abstract: As audiences may increasingly question source credibility during crisis following situations following recent misinforming efforts such as FEMA's staged press conference, the use of spokesperson quotations in press releases deserves greater scrutiny, particularly in the context of relaying health information. This study analyzes use of direct quotations in avian flu press releases issued by leading health agencies to reveal the nature of quotes and use of sources. Findings reveal unique considerations with respect to issuing public directives, communicating unknowns while quelling uncertainty, and balancing use of sources external and internal to the organization, all while preserving spokesperson and organizational credibility.

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Title: Employee Newspapers and Mixed Messages: A Case Study of Discordant Culture Production

Author: Phillip J. Hutchinson

Abstract: This research employs a narrative analysis to examine potentially troublesome mixed messages implicit in an Air Force installation newspaper over time. The author demonstrates how such internal information products create meaning at two levels: through the intended messages in the newspaper's discursive content, and through the discourses implicit in the social performance of the newspaper as it reflects organizational culture. The case study demonstrates that these impulses are not necessarily harmonious. Accordingly, it identifies a problematic situation in which the newspapers overtly emphasize values of "mission," "team," and "quality," yet implicitly enact discourses related to hierarchy and control.

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Title: The CEO as Celebrity Blogger: Is There a Ghost or Ghostwriter in the Machine?

Authors: Samuel A. Terilli and Liney Inga Arnorsdottir

Abstract: By virtue of their high-profile, corporate positions, CEO bloggers raise the interest level in, as well as interesting legal and ethical questions about, their blogs. CEO bloggers and other corporate bloggers exist in a legal world in which the speech of corporations is generally deemed commercial speech that receives diluted First Amendment protection. Therefore, a business must pay particular attention to the communications, including blogs, of its associated executives, particularly high-profile CEOs. This article examines a sample of significant CEO blogs to determine whether those CEOs have attempted to distance their blogs from their businesses or have in fact embraced their corporate or business status and used the blogs not for their individual or personal expression, but as acknowledged and thus transparently business-oriented communications tools. The article concludes the latter has occurred far more often than the former and that this result bodes well both for corporate credibility in blog-facilitated communication and for the growth of CEO and similar blogs.

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Title: From Communication to Action: The Use of Core Framing Tasks in Public Relations Messages on Activist Organizations' Web Sites

Authors:  Lynn M. Zoch, Erik L. Collins and Hilary Fussell Sisco

Abstract: This exploratory research asks whether the public relations messages created by activist organizations and published in an unfiltered medium - their own Web sites - fit Snow and Benford's framing processes (Benford & Snow, 2000). These authors suggest that issue-related messages from activist organizations be structured to include their core framing tasks to help inform and motivate individuals seeking information about a particular issue. The findings indicate that only 18% of the Web sites in the study contained issue-related public relations messages that included all of the framing tasks. These results suggest that activist groups represented in this study may not be making the most efficient use of their Web sites as a means of advancing their interests. 

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