Significance of the General Public for Public Relations:
A Study of the Blogosphere's Impact on the October 2006 Edelman/Wal-Mart Crisis
This is my thesis for a Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies from the Unviersity of Northern Iowa.
I will appreciate any feedback on this study. If you'd like to share your opinion, please feel free to leave comments on my blog or contact me personally. All the data used in this study is available here. You may also download a pdf version of the entire thesis.
Copyright notice: You may make copies of part or all of this thesis for personal or classroom use. Republishing and abstracting with credit is permitted.
Full citation: Golitsinski, S. (2007). Significance of the general public for public relations: A study of the blogosphere's impact on the October 2006 Edelman/Wal-Mart crisis. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA.
Table of Contents
- The Concept of a Public
- Relationship-Building Approach in Public Relations
- Segmenting the Public
- Public Relations and the General Public
- Public Relations and Community
- Public Relations and Communication
- Summary of Reviewed Literature
- Quantitative Analysis of Blogs
- Chronological Analysis of the Conversation in Blogs and Mainstream Media
- Qualitative Analysis of Blog Posts and Mainstream Media Articles
- Selecting the Top Blogs
- Analysis of Negative Themes in Blogs and Mainstream Media
- Summary of Results
- Summary of the Case
- Summary of Negative Consequences
- The Blogosphere as the Primary Cause of Negative Consequences
- Identities of the Most Influential Bloggers
- Mapping the Bloggers to Publics
- Implications of the Results for Existing Theory
APPENDIX A: SCREENSHOT OF THE WALL-MARTING ACROSS AMERICA BLOG
- The Concept of a Public
- Relationship-Building Approach in Public Relations
- Segmenting the Public
- Public Relations and the General Public
- Public Relations and Community
- Public Relations and Communication
- Summary of Reviewed Literature
- Quantitative Analysis of Blogs
- Chronological Analysis of the Conversation in Blogs and Mainstream Media
- Qualitative Analysis of Blog Posts and Mainstream Media Articles
- Selecting the Top Blogs
- Analysis of Negative Themes in Blogs and Mainstream Media
- Summary of Results
- Summary of the Case
- Summary of Negative Consequences
- The Blogosphere as the Primary Cause of Negative Consequences
- Identities of the Most Influential Bloggers
- Mapping the Bloggers to Publics
- Implications of the Results for Existing Theory
APPENDIX A: SCREENSHOT OF THE WALL-MARTING ACROSS AMERICA BLOG
