Public Interest Communications: Foundation, Influence, and Importance

by Brigitta R. Brunner (Editor), Kelly Chernin (Editor)

Overview

This edited volume serves as an introduction to the emerging field of public interest communication, establishing a solid vision for the interdisciplinary foundations of the field.

Public interest communication, rooted within strategic communication, utilizes research from a variety of disciplines to establish communications strategies that seek to better the human condition and last beyond a single campaign. As society grapples with astronomical issues such as climate change, economic and racial inequality, war, and the rise of authoritarianism, this approach seeks to communicate with the various stakeholders within these arenas.

While PIC began on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, the War on Poverty, protests against the Vietnam War, the Women's Movement, the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Stonewall Riots, and other monumental moves toward societal change for the public good, it has likely always existed – we just didn't have a name for it. Covering a range of relevant topics – journalism, politics, advocacy, ethics – that not only provide an essential historical context, but reference contemporary issues. Ultimately, this volume highlights the intersections of the field with other disciplines, thus creating a concrete vision for the interdisciplinary foundations of the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666972054
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/08/2026
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Brigitta R. Brunner is Associate School Director and Professor in the School of Communication & Journalism at Auburn University, USA.

Kelly Chernin is Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the Department of Communication at Appalachian State University, USA.

Table of Contents

About the Contributors

Introduction: Situating public interest communication foundation, application, and practice
Brigitta R. Brunner (Auburn University, USA) and Kelly Chernin (Appalachian State University, USA)

Intersections and Foundations
1. From public relations to public interest communication: A continuum tracing the location of the public interest in Communication practice
Brigitta R. Brunner and Amber M. K. Smallwood
2. Going beyond “mainstream” versus “activist” journalism: Re-conceptualizing journalism through a public interest communication lens
Summer Harlow (University of Texas at Austin, USA), Andrea Otáñez (University of Washington, USA), and Gina Baleria (Sonoma State University, USA)
3. “The government cannot create hurricanes:” Addressing contemporary public information communication challenges through rhetoric
Ashli Q. Stokes (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)
4. Ethics in public interest communication: Theories, challenges, and case studies
Tor Bang (BI Norwegian Business School, Norway)
5. Can we do it differengly? Political communication through the lens of the public interest
Barbara Myslik (Sacramento State University, USA)
6. Language and culture: Situating meaning in context for public interest communication
Joseph Radice (University of Florida, USA)

Application of Public Interest Communication Tenets
7. “Hey! Dr. Kat, epidemiologist:” Self-identified experts' efforts to correct COVD-19 misinformation and disinformation campaigns on social media
Carrie Reif-Stice (Augusta University, USA)
8. Privacy, politics, and public interest communication: The case of the removal of higher-education student data from Virginia's FOIA
Corey A. Hickerson (James Madison University, USA)
9. Social justice, business, and public interest communication
Candice L. Edrington (University of South Carolina, USA), Ajia Meux (University of Florida, Howard University, University of Oklahoma, USA), and Natalie T. J. Tindall (University of Texas at Austin, USA)
10. Crystallizing public malcontent: Examining the use of grassroots strategic communication to facilitate and challenge book bans in the United States
Christopher J. McCollough (Jacksonville State University, USA)
11. Danger or asset? On the importance of CEO sociopolitical advocacy to public interest communication
Anja Fessmann (Universität of Passau, Germany) and Jasper Fessmann (University of Memphis, USA)
12. The cost of marriage
Dean Mundy (University of Oregon, USA)
13. The role of PIC in today's increasingly turbulent globalized world
Marina Vujnovic (Monmouth University, USA) and Dean Kruckeberg (University of North Carolina Charlotte, USA)

Research, practice, and an emerging field
14. A brief history of public interest communication: PIC's early development and influence of its founding figures
Jasper Fessmann, Brigitta R. Brunner, and Anja Fessmann
15. Bridging academic silos for better science communication: The importance of collaborative research in public interest communication
Kelly Chernin and Mitchell Chernin (Bucknell University, USA)
16. The essential role of practitioners in public communications
Cody Hays (Arizona State University, USA)
17. The responsibilities of public interest communication practitioners
Cody Hays
Conclusion: Sustaining ourselves through sustainable work
Kelly Chernin, Cody Hays, and Brigitta R. Brunner

Index