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Journal Article 13.1: Carden, A. R. (2005). How public relations puts the kicks in route 6 – and still is. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 12(2), 130-141.

Abstract: This article presents the many ways public relations has been used to assist the goals of one tourist destination during an extended period of time. Using Grunig’s and Hunt’s four models of public relations, the article identifies the various ways Route 66 has utilized public relations from 1926 to the present. The models not only characterize periods of public relations history, but also the evolving way that organizations communicate with their publics, which leads to a discussion about the communication role the various models should play in today’s travel and tourism industry.

Journal Article 13.2: de Haan, D., Osborne, A., & Sherry, E. (2014). Satire or send-up? Paddy power and blind football: A case for managing public relations for disability sport. Communication & Sport, 3(4), 411-433.

Abstract: In 2010, a television advertisement aired in the lead up to the 2010 World Blind Football Championships featuring the English Blind Football Team and a cat became the most controversial advert of the year. This article uses a case study approach to examine the public relations (PR) and communications activities that followed in the fallout from the advert’s broadcast. It shows how the sport organization’s approach to PR can be characterized by a symbolic interaction approach to PR, developed post hoc, and concerned with creating a favorable impression of the organization through the manipulation of messaging and argues that this method had questionable ameliorative impact. It further argues that for a niche sport, a more appropriate approach to PR is found in a relationship management approach to PR and communications, as this approach embeds PR at a strategic level and is an effective method for organizations seeking to take strategic control of the communications about their sport. The adoption of strategic relationship management principles to PR offers opportunities to engender a more sophisticated public understanding of disability in sport, increase its popularity, and ensure that elite athletes with a disability are able to attract sponsors and vital funds.

Journal Article 13.3: Fitch, K. (2017). Seeing ‘the unseen hand’: Celebrity, promotion and public relations. Public Relations Inquiry, 6(2), 157-169.

Abstract: Public relations scholars have largely neglected celebrity public relations. The aim of this article is to explore public relations activity associated with celebrity, in order to better understand day-to-day public relations work and its influence on contemporary culture. Positioning public relations in terms of its cultural intermediary role, this article considers the work of celebrity publicists and public relations agencies that work closely with celebrities. It identifies the increased visibility of public relations in contemporary society, the links between public relations and promotional culture, and public relations’ role in media production and consumption. The findings point to the need to reconceptualize public relations as a promotional practice and call for a renewed focus on the societal impact of public relations activity.

Journal Article 13.4: Hopkins, S. (2017). UN celebrity ‘It’ girls as public relations-ised humanitarianism. International Communication Gazette, 0(0), 1-20.

Abstract: This article combines framing analysis and critical textual analysis in a qualitative investigation of the ways in which popular culture texts, in particular articles in Australian women's magazines, frame transnational celebrity activism. Using three recent case studies of commercial representations of popular female celebrities--Nicole Kidman in Marie Claire (Australia), Angelina Jolie in Vogue (Australia), and Emma Watson in Cleo (Australia)--this study dissects framing devices to reveal the discursive tensions which lie beneath textual constructions of celebrity humanitarianism. Through a focus on United Nations Women's Goodwill Ambassadors, and their exemplary performances of popular humanitarianism, I argue that feminist celebrity activists may inadvertently contradict the cause of global gender equality by operating within the limits of celebrity publicity images and discourses. Moreover, the deployment of celebrity women, who have built their vast wealth and global influence through the commodification of Western ideals of beauty and femininity, betrays an approach to humanitarianism, which is grounded in the intersection of neocolonial global capitalism, liberal feminism, and the ethics of competitive individualism.