SAGE Journal Articles

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Journal Article 6.1: Blyler, N. R. (1992). Shared meaning and public relations writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 22(3), 301-318.

Abstract: Public relations writing has been neglected as a research topic in professional communication. This article uses rhetorical theory from a number of fields to examine a topic of recent concern--shared, or negotiated, meaning--in relation to two very different samples of public relations writing: the public relations texts produced by political-advocacy organizations involved in the midwestern farm crisis of the 1980s and an entry from an organizational newsletter. More specifically, the article studies the role of four rhetorical elements--exophoric and intertextual references, metaphors, and narratives--in generating a shared meaning. In doing so, the article develops the thesis that narratives were particularly important to this public relations writing because they provided a comprehensive, compelling framework for belief and thus contributed greatly to the shared meaning created by writers and readers.

Journal Article 6.2: Johnson, E. A., & Sallot, L. M. (2006). The gatekeeper interview assignment: Teaching public relations students how to write for the news media and to conduct media relations effectively. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 61(2), 165-178.

Abstract: This study analyzes the results of two focus group discussions, and telephone and email interviews with 33 former students who had completed “gatekeeper interviews” in public relations writing courses to judge the pedagogical value of the assignment. The gatekeeper interview requires students to go into the newsroom to interview working journalists who make decisions about using news information from public relations practitioners. The former students reported the assignment was beneficial in preparing them for real-life writing for media and media relations.