Strategically Communicating

The 13 newest members of the University of Oregon Strategic Communication Master’s Program have been getting to know one another over the past two weeks, swapping stories and sharing their backgrounds, including experience in:

-> Science
-> Education
-> Environmental Stewardship
-> Healthcare
-> Journalism
-> Storytelling
-> Philanthropy

This is a solid group, set on using their diverse backgrounds and impressive professional experience to make the planet a better place.

It would be hard to find fault with these values, yet, there continues to be a perception problem in our field—at least in the area of public relations. In “Examining Modern Media Relations: An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Twitter on the Public Relations – Journalist Relationship,” Wilson, D. and Supa, D. (2013) document the discrepancy between the way public relations professionals perceive themselves (as pointed out in Table 1: Journalists and Practitioners Relationship Views) and how they are perceived in the eyes of journalists; more often, journalists think PR pros can be pests.

Do you think this perception problem is limited to public relations professionals and journalists, or that it also exists for other communications roles, like public information officers and communications directors? How can it be challenged?

Pictured above, from left to right, are the 2013 students of the University of Oregon Strategic Communication Master’s Program and two faculty: Jamie Schaub, Professor Kim Sheehan, Melissa De Lyser, Lori Howell, Kevin Hartman, Lindsey Newkirk, Kevin Gaboury, Michael Plett, Katherine Pokrass, Joel Arellano, Emily Priebe, Scott Anderson, Natalie Henry Bennon, Stephen Wheeler, and Professor Donna Davis. Photo courtesy of Kellee Weinhold, University of Oregon.

Learn more about the students at uoregon.edu http://journalism.uoregon.edu/graduate/current-strat-comm-students