Case Studies and Tips from the Field

Rebecca Hover does what most people only see on shows like CSI: for years, she's been listening to the police scanner and dashing off to crime scenes, first as a reporter for The Everett Herald and now as the public information officer for the Snohomish County Sheriff in Washington state.

Book publicists work with publishers, authors and the media. Most of the jobs are centered around publishing hubs like New York City and London, though there are freelance book publicists. Heather Drucker is an Associate Director of Publicity for HarperCollins based in New York City. She shares what it's like during an average day of a book...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a great case study in how to generate publicity that spreads a persuasive message around the world. Their PR campaigns are smart, viral and efficient, and we all can learn from what they're trying to persuade people to do and how they target, and reach, a global audience by using PR and the...

The animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is well-known for brilliant publicity stunts and street theater, often involving beautiful people baring it all. The groups is well known for supporters wearing lettuce bikinis -- or nothing at all -- to persuade people not to eat meat or wear fur. The news that PETA...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are masters of the publicity stunt. We can all learn from how they pull it off to reach a global audience. Even if you handed me a billion-dollar advertising budget, it'd be awfully tough to buy radio, TV and print ads that would reach six billion people. PETA reaches those six billion people...

Liam and Noel Gallagher are still brothers. That's about all the two rock stars and founders of Oasis agree on. A civil lawsuit is the last thing you'd guess two rockers would do to destroy their public image. But these aren't normal rockers. And this isn't a normal lawsuit. It's a massive, epic, world-class public relations failure.

LeBron James and the Miami Heat could have avoided the publicity disaster that happened when he switched from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat. First, by staying humble. Second, by delaying the media spotlight instead of encourage even more exposure. Third, by focusing on the team rather than highlighting James and the other two...

Free agency is normal. Athletes switch teams all the time. So why did LeBron James switching to the Miami Heat turn into such a public relations disaster, and what lessons can we learn from it?

Qaddafi and his state-owned PR machine forgot a crucial lesson of public relation and rhetoric: credibility matters most. It doesn't matter how many interview you give, TV stations you own or press conferences you hold if nobody believes you.

When 33 miners in Chile were trapped deep underground at the San Joe mine, all of the ingredients were there for a human tragedy -- and a public relations disaster. The mining company looked careless and heartless. The government that was supposed to regulate mines and enforce safety rules looked weak. So how did this tragedy and disaster turn...

Every new attempt from the Chinese authorities to kill the story of Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize only gave it new life. It turned what could have been a good story, about how China is modern and can tolerate dissent, into a public relations disaster that showed the world how thin-skinned and autocratic the regime can be. Reporters...

Press coverage -- and rumors -- can mean the difference between a star quarterback going from a first-round hopeful to being the 74th pick. The publicity a lesser known college player gets, say a middle linebacker at a small college, could determine whether a they get picked at all. And unlike corporations, college players can't rely on...

Why was it such a big deal when Yankees veteran Jorge Posada took himself out of a baseball game and talked to the press about it? Posada broke a few rules of sports and public relations. Actors, authors and politicians, they get to use words. They can use all three parts of rhetoric: ethos, pathos and logos. Professional athletes have to rely...

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal is the biggest threat ever to face to Rupert Murdoch's media empire. The damage this scandal is doing -- to his newspaper and TV holdings, to Tory Prime Minister David Cameron's government and to Murdoch's legacy itself -- seems to grow each day. So how did a comedian with a shaving-cream pie steal all...

News of the World, a British newspaper -- owned by media titan Rupert Murdoch -- is being investigated by the authorities for hacking into the phones of up to 4,000 people, including members of parliament, the royal family, and teenage murder victim and the families of 9/11 victims. Why is this scandal so damaging, and what can we learn from it?

There is a clear difference between being famous and infamous. Americans asked about public figures gave Betty White an 86 percent favorable rating, with 44 percent saying they'd be more likely to buy a product or do business with a company she endorsed. Most public relations pros would be happy if 86 percent of the American population simply...

Super Bowl XLV was the most-watched program in television history, with 162.9 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. All of those viewers leads to incredible media attention and synergy between different types of public relations (sports, entertainment and corporate) and the synergy between advertising and public relations,...