James E. Grunig

James E. Grunig is a noted public relations theorist.

Grunig has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Public Relations. He has published 250 articles, books, chapters, papers, and reports, and received awards and honors from the Public Relations Society of America and the Institute for Public Relations Research among others. Grunig received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1968 and is Professor Emeritus for the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland.

Grunig has helped to improve the Public Relations profession by adding new theories including the four models of Public Relations.[1]

Model Name	Type of Communication	Model Characteristics
Press agentry/publicity	One-way communication	Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audiences to behave as the organization desires
Public information model	One-way communication	Uses press releases and other one-way communication techniques to distribute organizational information. The public relations practitioner is often referred to as the in-house journalist
Two-way asymmetrical model	Two-way communication (imbalanced)	Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audiences to behave as the organization desires. Differs from the press agentry model through the use of research to find out how best to persuade stakeholders
Two-way symmetrical model	Two-way communication	Uses communication to negotiate with the public, resolve conflict and promote mutual understanding and respect between the organization and its stakeholders

A more thorough explanation of Grunig's public relations is available in The Handbook of Public Relations (2001).

Bibliography

• Managing Public Relations with Todd Hunt (1984)

External links

• Faculty bio - Department of Communication, University of Maryland
• Four Models of Public Relations - Interactive Media Lab, University of Florida
• Situational Theory of Publics - Wikipedia link