Research
International Public Relations
Within the last few years, I have developed in conjunction with co-author Dr. Kenn Gaither (Elon University) a new theory of international public relations practice. This work employs a critical-cultural approach, using discourse analysis, to develop theory that encompasses all regions of the world and all forms of practice, not just Western corporate practice. We have articles in the Journal of Public Relations Research, a refereed book chapter in a forthcoming book on public relations theory to be published by Allyn & Bacon, and are currently under contract with Sage Publications to produce an approximately 350-page book outlining the theory and its applications.
Agenda Building
An ongoing thrust of my research is to determine the processes by which the media agenda is built; i.e., how journalists choose from among all events in the world, package their choices, and present them as "the news" each day. As previous media critics have noted, journalists approach these processes as if they were implicit, as if news events select themselves and news angles are inherent in events. Thus agenda building is a relatively recent area of study in mass communication research, and it is underdeveloped theoretically, lacking much predictive and explanatory power. The goal of my research into the cultural, economic, and social context of agenda building is to develop my model of the factors influencing the agenda-building function to serve as a basis for more robust theoretical development. Because empirical tests of agenda-setting theory have demonstrated that the media agenda is crucial in setting subsequent public and policy agendas, understanding how the media agenda is formed through agenda building is key to understanding how media function in our society.
Curriculum Development
A more applied research area focuses on determining the curriculum and pedagogical techniques necessary to produce not only skilled but thoughtful, ethical mass communicators. My work in this area is three-pronged: the transforming role of new technology, experiential learning, and theoretically based pedagogical techniques. In particular, I've explored the differences between internships and service-learning experiences from students' perspectives to determine if service-learning classes better meet curricular objectives and contribute substantially to students' ethical development. I've also studied which pedagogical approaches best prepare mass communication students and professional journalists to accurately and effectively use quantitative data in their work.
