There’s an interesting discussion about the need for mainstream press taking place in the comments on Vinny Warren’s post about the Chicago Tribune’s lack of a clue when it comes to reporting on the city’s advertising business.
“I have a hard time believing in the old model where we lean on the press to reach our public. We reach our public directly today,” I contend. Of course, there is room for both the direct reach and the reach around.
And according to BusinessWeek, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is trying to get business schools to take a more serious approach to teaching MBA students the art of corporate communication and reputation management.
Starting next year five business schools will participate in a pilot program spearheaded by the PRSA. Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business will be one of the five schools participating; the other four schools have not yet been named.
Paul Argenti, a Tuck professor and author of the textbook Corporate Communication, is developing the curriculum for the pilot, which can be adapted for full-semester, mini-semester, or seminar-format courses. The class will include lessons on communication strategy, media relations, international corporate responsibility, reputation management, crisis communications and investor relations.
