On-line Readings in Public Relations by Michael Turney
	An explanatory note about: Public relations practitioners in Greater Cincinnati
	©1995 Michael Turney	Table of contents	PR class home page	About the author

It's fall 1998 as this profile is being posted to the World Wide Web, but it was originally written in spring 1995 for inclusion in a new public relations textbook. At that time, the most recent surveys and statistical data about Cincinnati communicators were only 18 months old. Today, that same data is more than five years old, but it's still the most recent broad survey data available.

Between 1991 and 1993, the Cincinnati Editors Association and the local Cincinnati chapters of the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators all conducted separate surveys of their members. PRSA also did an additional companion survey of an almost-equal number of communication professionals who were not PRSA members in hopes of identifying and comparing the differences between members and non-members. Except for the two PRSA surveys which asked essentially identical questions of two different groups, these surveys were more different than they were similar, and their timing was purely coincidental. However, beyond their surface differences, they covered many of the same topics.

The profile presented here represents a good faith attempt to compress and compile the findings of these different surveys insofar as it was possible to do so. The survey data itself was supplemented by reviewing the membership rosters of these and other professional organizations frequented by Cincinnati area communicators and by interviewing more than two dozen local public relations professionals, including several who were board members of IABC, PRSA, WICI, and other organizations. But remember, this was done in 1995.

Some parts of the profile could have been updated before posting to the Web, -- e.g., Current membership numbers and a few isolated pieces of data such as the current number of APR and ABC accredited practitioners could have been inserted. -- but they weren't for fear that combining such new data with the older survey information would further skew and confuse any generalizations that might be drawn. The profile was intentionally left as a 1995 snapshot and was not "retouched" to make it appear more current.

The final composite is meant to be representative, but makes no claim to statistical validity. Any errors of interpretation are mine and should not be attributed to the CEA, IABC, or PRSA.

Michael Turney, Ph.D., ABC
Professor of Communication
Northern Kentucky University