Hacks or Flacks?
Roles Played by Religion Communicators in the United States
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v4i2.168Keywords:
journalism, public relations, religion communication, role enactmentAbstract
This project surveyed members of the Religion Communicators Council in 2006 and 2007. A second survey in 2008 sought responses to similar questions from faith group leaders who supervised respondents to the 2006–2007 survey. Answers from religion communicators were compared to those of their supervisors and secular practitioners in earlier studies. Comparisons showed that religion communicators in this study were a distinct subgroup of US public relations practitioners. RCC members worked primarily as communication technicians, not managers. That made them different from practitioners in the 327 secular organizations studied by Grunig, Grunig and Dozier (2002). Religion communicators did not know what their supervisors expected from them. Faith group leaders said they wanted communicators to be managers more than technicians. Top executives were looking for expert prescribers and problem-solving facilitators. Religion communicators were not filling those roles.
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References
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Tilson, D. J. 2001. “Religious Tourism, Public Relations and Church-state Partnerships,” Public Relations Quarterly, 46.3, 35–39.
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—2006. “Public Relations,” in D. A. Stout ed. Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication and Media. New York: Routledge, 362–66.
Wilbur, M. C. 1969. “The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Church Public Relations,” in J. C. Suggs ed. Handbook on Church Public Relations. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 1–4.
—1982. “The Art of Public Relations,” in C. DeVries ed. Religious Public Relations Handbook. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 1–4.
Black, R. D., 2002. “Highlights of Membership Survey,” Counselor (Spring), 8.
Botan, C. H., and V. Hazelton eds. 2006. Public Relations Theory II. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brice, J. 1986. “Guiding Lights,” Public Relations Journal, 42.1, 20–25.
Broom, G. M. 1982. “A Comparison of Sex Roles in Public Relations,” Public Relations Review, 8.3, 17–22. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(82)80028-3
Broom, G. M., and D. M. Dozier. 1986. “Advancement for Public Relations Role Models,” Public Relations Review, 12.1, 37–56. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(86)80039-X
Broom, G. M., and G. D. Smith. 1979. “Testing the Practitioner’s Impact on Clients,” Public Relations Review, 5.3, 47–59. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(79)80027-2
“Campaign for Church Advertising and Publicity.” 1916. Current Opinion, 61.3 (September), 184–85.
Case, F. H. 1921. Handbook of Church Advertising. New York: Abingdon Press.
Craig, F. A. 1988. “The Challenge of Religious Public Relations,” in J. H. Steele ed. Religious Public Relations Handbook. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 2–6.
Curtis, S. 2001. A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
Cutlip, S. M. 1994. The Unseen Power: Public Relations. A History. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cutlip, S. M., and A. H. Center. 1952. Effective Public Relations. New York: Prentice-Hall.
—1958. Effective Public Relations, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
—1964. Effective Public Relations, 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
—1971. Effective Public Relations, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
—1978. Effective Public Relations, 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Cutlip, S. M., A. H. Center and G. M. Broom. 1985. Effective Public Relations, 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
—1994. Effective Public Relations, 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
—2000. Effective Public Relations, 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
De Vries, C. 1976. “Put Public Relations to Work for Your Congregation,” in W. C. Fields ed. Religious Public Relations Handbook. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 1–3.
Dozier, D. M. 1983. “Toward a Reconciliation of ‘Role Conflict’ in Public Relations Research,” Paper presented at the meeting of the Western Communication Education Conference, Fullerton, CA, November.
—1984. “Program Evaluation and Roles of Practitioners,” Public Relations Review, 10.2, 13–21. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(84)80002-8
—1992. “The Organizational Roles of Communication and Public Relations Practitioners,” in J. E. Grunig ed. Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 327–56.
Dozier, D. M., and G. M. Broom, 1995. “Evolution of the Manager Role in Public Relations Practice,” Journal of Public Relations Research, 7, 3–26. doi:10.1207/s1532754xjprr0701_02
Dozier, D. M., L. A. Grunig and J. E. Grunig. 1995. Manager’s Guide to Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dugan, G., C. H. Nannes and R. M. Stross. 1979. RPRC: A 50–Year Reflection. New York: Religious Public Relations Council.
Grunig, J. E., ed. 1992. Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grunig, L. A., J. E. Grunig and D. M. Dozier. 2002. Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
“Integrity in Religious Public Relations Stressed.” 1987. RPRC Counselor (Fall), 3.
Leech, N. L., K. C. Barrett and G. A. Morgan. 2008. SPSS for Intermediate Statistics: Use and Interpretation, 3rd ed. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Manual 1930–1931. 1930. New York: Religious Publicity Council.
“Members Agree to Change Name.” 1998. Counselor (Summer), 1.
Miller, T., ed. 2008. US Religious Landscape Survey 2008. Washington: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Moore, R. L. 1994. Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
“Name Change.” 1998. RPRC Counselor (Spring), 6.
Newsom, D., J. V. Turk and D. Kruckeberg. 2007. This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations, 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Pritchett, T. K., and B. M. Pritchett. 1999. “How the Use of the Historical Perspective could Benefit the Study of Church Marketing.” <http://www.saber.uca.edu/research/sma/ 1999/09.pdf> (accessed June 4, 2007).
Reisner, C. F. 1913. Church Publicity: The Modern Way to Compel Them to Come in. New York: Methodist Book Concern.
“RPRC People.” 1982. RPRC Counselor (Summer), 7.
Stelzle, C. 1908. Principles of Successful Church Advertising. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co.
Stoody, R. 1959. A Handbook of Church Public Relations. New York: Abingdon Press.
Struchen, S. W. 1998. “Much to Do, Celebrate,” RPRC Counselor (Fall), 2.
Tilson, D. J. 2001. “Religious Tourism, Public Relations and Church-state Partnerships,” Public Relations Quarterly, 46.3, 35–39.
—2004. “Strategic Communication: Promoting your Faith Community in Good Faith,” in J. R. Peck ed. Speaking Faith: The Essential Handbook for Religion Communicators, 7th ed. Dallas: UMR Communications, 83–111.
—2006. “Public Relations,” in D. A. Stout ed. Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication and Media. New York: Routledge, 362–66.
Wilbur, M. C. 1969. “The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Church Public Relations,” in J. C. Suggs ed. Handbook on Church Public Relations. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 1–4.
—1982. “The Art of Public Relations,” in C. DeVries ed. Religious Public Relations Handbook. New York: Religious Public Relations Council, 1–4.
Published
2010-05-28
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Cannon, D. (2010). Hacks or Flacks? Roles Played by Religion Communicators in the United States. Fieldwork in Religion, 4(2), 168-190. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v4i2.168
