Handbook of Public Relations

NEW IN PAPERBACK! ‘This handbook provides a comprehensive examination and review of the theory, academic research, and professional practices of the public relations discipline. Ninety leading scholars and practitioners from around the world provide insights into the historical and changing role of public relations in building relationships with “organizations, markets, audiences and publics”…The extensive bibliography includes more than 2000 references, some multidisciplinary, which serve to enhance understanding of public relations. The detailed index is user-friendly. A must for academic collections serving scholars, practitioners and students, upper-level undergraduate and graduate’ – Choice The Handbook of Public Relations is a comprehensive and detailed examination of the field, it synthesizes current literature and is divided into five sections: Part One defines the field, explaining the role of public relations in society; Part Two examines the state of the practice by looking at cutting-edge issues in management, ethics, gender, evaluation, public relations, education and media; Part Three challenges academics and practitioners to identify best practices; Part Four looks at the challenges raised by new communication technologies; Part Five takes a global view, examining theories in international public relations and the trends in practice that will shape the field in the coming years.

Author Biography

Robert L. Heath, professor emeritus of communication at the University of Houston, is an internationally recognized authority on public relations, crisis communication, issues management, risk communication, and business-to-business communication. He has published many award-winning books, including The SAGE Handbook of Public Relations (2010), Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication (2009), Strategic Issues Management (2nd ed., 2009), Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations II (2009), and Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives (2008). Heath has 3 decades’ experience in corporate communication and positioning research. He has conducted research on risks related to various hazards, including those associated with chemical manufacturing and community right-to-know-key themes in community relations. In addition, he has published more than 100 chapters and articles and serves on the editorial and reviewer panels of several premier academic journals. He has received many honors from public relations professionals and academic associations and has lectured nationally and internationally on a wide array of topics.