Public Relations Education at the Crossroad: Trend and Realities
Abstract: This paper explores the issues of public
relations academics credentials on teaching public relations at undergraduate
level. Generally, most Asian universities look to the United States education
system as the ideal model in developing their own curricula, and frequently
invite American professors as visiting fellows to help set up their programmes.
In addition, Asian universities, including those in Malaysia and Indonesia still
harbour the view that the US offers the best public relations education and
practices, and therefore follow the US model regarding any matters related to
curriculum, study materials, teaching modules, learning resources and the
structure of exam papers. Whilst seeming efficient, as the US leads the fields
of public relations, it appears to be done blindly without considering such
variables as the encompassing political, economic, legal, media and cultural
factors of the society adapting these curricula that should determine the roles
and functions of public relations practitioners in any given country. This
paper concludes that US still offers the best public relations education in
comparison to any Asian universities due to lack of academic credentials.
Author: Jamilah Hj. Ahmad
FIPR, PhD; & and I Gusti Ngurah Putra, M
Journal Code: jpkomunikasigg080005
