Journal of Professional Communication

The pandemic has demonstrated the core value of communications management

Alex Sevigny — 2020-12-31

In this editorial for issue two of volume six of the Journal of Professional Communication, the author discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting period of sheltering in place and economic lockdown has demonstrated the how the rapid shift to working from home has highlighted the essential strategic value of communications management in an organizational context. The editorial also contains a summary of each article in this issue of JPC, as well as acknowledgement of peer reviewers and JPC staff.

Leveraging corporate philanthropy and community partnerships to maximize earned media

Michèle Newton — 2021-01-01

Relationships between corporations and community-based not-for-profit organizations have evolved over the years from just donations and sponsorships, to integrated partnerships and collaborations known as strategic philanthropy. When details of these philanthropic relationships and activities are covered by traditional media or shared organically on social media, the coverage is known as earned media. Earned media has the potential to influence stakeholders’ awareness, perceptions, and actions toward an organization because an organization’s publics regard this coverage as highly credible and reliable. Effectively leveraging earned media provides an important benefit to both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. This article explores the literature, case studies, and interviews to understand earned media in terms of the philanthropic relationships and partnerships behind it, the methods and approaches that generate it, and its impact on corporations and not-for-profits.

10 Tips for managing stress as a social media communicator

Alex Sévigny — 2021-01-01

This practical paper enumerates 10 tips for managing stress as as social media communicator. Professional communicators have very stressful lives, in fact some say that public relations and communications management ranks among the most stressful professions. This anecdotal and personal collection of tips comes from the experience of the authors as professional communicators, educators and advisors who have worked in the field with hundreds of students and practitioners.

A History lesson on the future of cities

Mary Taws — 2020-12-31

In this book review, the author explores key lessons from Anthony M. Townsend’s Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. Although Smart Cities was published in 2013, the author suggests that it contains rich and timely wisdom for professional communicators seeking to integrate data science into their practice. Through the history of urban development and technology, Smart Cities highlights how thoughtful data collection, measurement and analysis can enhance stakeholder engagement.

The Columbo method—A rhetoric of inquiry practiced across professions

Christyne Eva Berzsenyi — 2021-01-01

The increasing numbers of trade articles about the almost trademark “Columbo Method” evidences a growing phenomenon. As demonstrated by the fictional television detective of Columbo 1968-2003, the method is an approach to investigation characterized by rhetorical inquiry (system of questions and timing), an antipotent persona (nonauthoritative, unassuming Everyman), and tenacity in overcoming a responder’s resistance to collaboration or influence. The essay provides a theoretical analysis of Columbo’s informed but indirect questioning, pretense of ignorance, solicitation of help, folksy congeniality, and the false exit. A literature review presents applications of the Columbo Method by professionals to describe effective workplace interaction with resistant responders (conflicting values or allegiances, lifestyle and demographic differences, shyness, anxiety, fear of change, etc.). Third, the theory is applied in an in-depth rhetorical analysis of cases of communication in academia. Most importantly, the work strives to make an impact in ethical approaches to communication with implications for developing rhetorical pedagogy.

How Influencer Relations Works

Shannon Gallagher — 2021-01-01

Where should the role of influencer relations reside within a communication department? The results of this study suggest that that influencer relations is most at home under the public relations (PR) umbrella. To help explain why PR professionals are best positioned to manage the influencer relations functions this author has proposed the JIM (Journalism, Influencer, Marketing) Disclosure Approval Continuum. In addition, this author proposes a conceptual model for understanding the ideal influencer relations work flow (brand to influencer) and non-ideal (agency-mediated). Finally, this author proposes a 12-phase for effective influencer campaigns. The stated goal of this authors research to help communicators and influencers come to understand the role of influencer relations or what she calls “Influencer Logic”. By finding mutual understanding of the rules of engagement influencers and brands will have more harmonious relationships with each other and ideally achieve more mutually beneficial results.

Brands vs. babies: Paid content and authenticity in Canadian mommy blogs

Donna J. Lindell — 2021-01-01

This study examines the influencers with the specific interest of parenting during a specific period in early 2017 when what were then called ‘Mommy Bloggers’ were charging public relations firms and the brands they represent upwards of $2,000 per blog post to write favourable product reviews. Findings revealed their business model and ability to continue selling their audience as a commodity was in jeopardy as audience trust in bloggers was on the decline compared to any other information source about brands; new, albeit vague, regulations (not laws) required the blogger to disclose any commercial relationship; and qualitative studies revealed audience negative opinion of the takeover of commercial content and resulting lost sense of community. Using determinants of authenticity as a measure of a blogger’s ability to maintain her audience with a personal narrative, a quantitative content analysis of 290 blog posts published by 30 of the top parenting bloggers in Canada was used to demonstrate with correlations that paid content was threatening authenticity and that a blogger’s legitimacy as an influencer was being weakened by commercial content.

Prose and cons of scholarly articles: How readability tests expose poor knowledge mobilization in academic publications

Peter J. McDonald — 2021-01-01

Current literature shows that poor and unclear writing is a significant barrier for non-academic audiences. Readability research is a growing interest among STEM and health science fields; however, the humanities and social science disciplines are neglected. To address this gap, articles from the humanities and social science disciplines were analyzed using the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and the Gunning FOG Index (GFI) readability tests. Results show that the FRE mean score for all analyzed articles is 29.04, and the total GFI mean score is 18.02, meaning they are extremely difficult to read and often require a post-secondary education for adequate comprehension. Empirically driven, quantitative articles had no significant difference in readability than sense-making, qualitive articles. Results also show that the humanities and social sciences have readability similar or equivalent to STEM and health science fields.