Media Literacy Activity: What’s Happening Now in the Public Relations Industry?

Introduction

Activity Objective

In this activity, you will apply the critical process to help you discover the most recent developments in the public relations industry. You’ll also begin to become familiar with industry trade sources—the same sources that media professionals use.

Let’s get started! Use the previous and next links to navigate through the slides. You may also use the Outline menu to skip directly to a slide. Students must complete the slides in order.

Reviewing the Critical Process

Developing a media-literate critical perspective involves mastering five overlapping stages that build on one another. Let’s review the critical process you’ll be using below:

  1. 1. Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study
  2. 2. Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage
  3. 3. Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings
  4. 4. Evaluation: arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages
  5. 5. Engagement: taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment

Description

  1. Read these industry trade journals to get a sense of the most recent news about the public relations (PR) industry. (Your school’s reference librarians should be able to help you access industry trade sources.)
  2. Look at the Web sites of industry trade associations and professional societies like:
  3. Take notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the current year.

Use the text box provided to answer the following question.

Analysis

Next, look for a topic or issue that has received significant attention on trade sites and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend or pattern in the news about public relations.

Use the text box provided to answer the following question.

Interpretation

Using the following questions, let’s dig deeper into that trend you identified to interpret your findings in relation to the public relations industry.

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Evaluation

Next, assess the trends and forecast of the public relations industry as good, bad, or both.

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Engagement

Let’s take action! Moving forward, use what you have learned to engage with the public relations industry. Here are a few suggestions to get involved:

  • Consider posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting PR professionals to see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going to a PRSA or PRSSA event if any are held nearby.
  • If your college or university has a PRSSA chapter, go to a meeting and consider joining the chapter.

Use the text box provided to answer the following question.