Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics 12th Edition

Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics offers a readable, comprehensive, up-to-date look at public relations that instructors and students alike have praised for over 30 years. You'll find the numerous charts, photos and real-world case studies and examples to be engaging. And the authors' emphasis on ethical responsibility and references to landmark studies and time-honored PR techniques will help you understand the field.

The 12th Edition offers a revised chapter structure that provides more continuity between key concepts. An expanded chapter on social media reflects its dominant role in any public relations program or campaign. And a new chapter on careers in public relations encourages you to consider issues from the perspective of a working PR practitioner.

About our authors

Dennis L. Wilcox, PhD, is professor emeritus of public relations and former director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University. He is the lead author of 3 textbooks published by Pearson Education: Public Relations: Strategies & Tactics, Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques and THINK: Public Relations. The Strategies textbook is published in several languages, including Spanish, Serbian, Georgian, Russian, Chinese and Greek. There is also an India edition published in English.

He is an accredited (APR) member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and in the organization's College of Fellows, recognizing his many contributions to the profession. Wilcox is also former chair of the PRSA Educator's Academy and the public relations division (PRD) of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication (AEJMC). He has funded the Wilcox awards for the top 3 research and teaching papers in the division since 2011.

Among his awards is PRSA's “educator of the year,” the Xifra-Heras Award from the University of Girona (Spain), an award of excellence from the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bucharest (Romania) honoring his many contributions to global public relations education and the development of the profession.

Wilcox has been a Fulbright professor at the University of Botswana and a visiting professor at Queensland University of Technology (Australia), Rhodes University (South Africa), and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand). In addition, he has given invited presentations to students and professionals in such diverse nations as Latvia, Estonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Chile, Argentina, India and Costa Rica. His most recent work was several US State Department grants to do media research and train communication professionals in the Republic of Georgia.

Wilcox has a PhD from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, a MS from the University of Iowa, and a BA from the University of Denver. In previous years, he was an active member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a group of senior public relations executives from major corporations and the public relations industry. He and his wife, Marianne, now travel extensively, and his favorite quote is attributed to St. Augustine: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” He can be reached at dennis.wilcox@sjsu.edu or at denniswilcox@msn.com. He is also on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Dr. Bryan H. Reber is C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and former head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia. He holds a PhD in journalism from the University of Missouri, a MS in journalism from the University of Kansas, and a BA in speech and drama from Bethel College, Kansas.

Dr. Reber's research focuses on public relations, crisis communication and health communication. He has published more than 50 journal articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on public relations topics. He is co-author of the book Gaining Influence in Public Relations: The Role of Resistance in Practice, which was based on interviews with and surveys of hundreds of public relations practitioners.

His undergraduate teaching includes introduction to public relations, crisis communication, public relations writing and public relations management. He teaches persuasion, campaign research, public opinion and PR management on the graduate level. He is co-author of 3 top-selling public relations textbooks: THINK: Public Relations, Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics and Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques.

Dr. Reber is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and serves on the board of directors of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at the University of Alabama. He is also Research Director for the Plank Center. He taught at the University of Alabama immediately prior to joining the University of Georgia faculty. Prior to joining the academic ranks, Dr. Reber worked in public relations at Bethel College, Kansas, for 15 years.

Jae-Hwa Shin, PhD, MPH, APR, is professor of public relations in the School of Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. She has served as public relations sequence head and currently is serving as the strategic communication program lead. She is a faculty adviser for the USM PRSSA Chapter. She holds a doctorate from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and her research focuses on public relations from a strategic conflict management perspective across cultural settings in social media environments.

Dr. Shin's publications include numerous journal articles and book chapters. She has co-authored books that include the widely used textbooks Public Relations Today: Managing Conflict and Competition and THINK: Public Relations. Her latest publication, Public Relations Theory: Capabilities and Competencies, co-authored with Robert Heath, received the 2021 PRIDE award from the National Communication Association. She is also a member of the editorial board of Journal of Public Relations Research.

Before her academic career, Dr. Shin was the communication director for Korea Economic Research Institute and Center for Free Enterprise of the Federation of Korean Industries, which was founded in 1961 by multinational corporate members such as Samsung, LG, SK and other industry leaders.

Glen T. Cameron, PhD, is professor emeritus and former Gregory Chair in Journalism Research and founder of the Health Communication Research Center at the University of Missouri. Dr. Cameron has authored more than 300 articles, chapters and award-winning conference papers on public relations topics. In addition to being coauthor of Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics, he is also coauthor of THINK: Public Relations and Public Relations Today: Managing Competition and Conflict.

A popular lecturer internationally, Dr. Cameron has received the Baskett-Moss and Pathfinder awards for career achievement. Dr. Cameron gains ongoing public relations experience by managing over $42 million in external funding of health public relations projects for sources such as NIH, NCI, Missouri Foundation for Health, USDA, CDC, the US Department of Defense and Monsanto. He can be reached at Camerong@missouri.edu.