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As a learning process wherein we ask questions to enhance knowledge, "media literacy" offers a powerful lens for examining how people practice communication across diverse applied contexts such as professional communicators shaping messages about COVID-19. Borrowing a page from Renee Hobbs' (1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2021) media literacy education research, we sought to compare/contrast media content creators' (journalism, advertising, public relations, marketing communication) information-seeking behaviors during the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic for both their paid work and unpaid volunteer work, as well as for their own and family edification. Blending the media literacy lens with social construction theory (Berger & Luckmann, 1967), our survey findings collected at the height of the COVID19 pandemic in 2021 suggest that professional communicators (N=174) relied more frequently on "media sources" (64.9%) for COVID-19 information for work (paid and unpaid) and on "people" such as medical professionals (51.5%) as sources for COVID-19 information for their own personal and family use. Other findings detail professional communicators' use of media literacy learning processes of accessing, analyzing, creating, reflecting, and taking action.

This study analyzes public diplomacy research in public relations scholarship through a content analysis of published articles between 1990 and 2022. It aims to understand the status of public diplomacy research and identify future research directions in the public relations field. Findings suggest that the field of public relations has the potential to contribute to the intellectual and practical development of public diplomacy. Relationship management theory was frequently applied to public diplomacy research and conceptual convergence of two disciplines was the most frequently researched category in the public relations field. This study also suggests that it might be time for scholars to move beyond normative theories of public relations and apply critical and postmodern theoretical approaches of public relations to inform public diplomacy practices. Findings also indicated how the public relations field can inform public diplomacy research through a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodologies. Future research recommendations are also offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This bibliometric analysis examines the evolution of digital public relations research over a 27-year span and assesses its academic trajectory. This study seeks to clarify 1) the prominent contributors to the field, 2) key articles shaping the field of digital public relations, and 3) the predominant research themes explored longitudinally. The data, encompassing citations in six public relations journals from the inception of digital public relations until 2022, allow us to conclude that the growth and popularity of digital public relations is steady in the scholarship. Our findings offer a comprehensive overview of the current research and highlight the integral facets that have consistently underpinned digital public relations research. • This study reviews digital public relations research from 1995 to 2022. • It looks for: 1) top contributors; 2) key articles; and 3) main research topics. • We see steady growth in digital public relations research. • Our findings give a clear understanding of the core elements of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]