Global Alliance, USC to partner on first ongoing global study of public relations practice

New longitudinal study will be based on USC's successful GAP Study

LUGANO, Switzerland, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The world's first ongoing global study of public relations and communication management practice was announced today following the signing of a partnership agreement between the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA) and the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center at the University of Southern California's (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Based on the longstanding GAP (Generally Accepted Practices) Study conducted every two years in the United States since 2002, the global survey will analyse current practice, trends and new developments in the profession, providing country data and comparative analysis of the practice between countries and continents.

"The public relations profession is growing and changing, and the Global Alliance believes that we must understand this evolution in order to promote high standards and be effective advocates for the value of PR to organisations – and to society," said Global Alliance chair Daniel Tisch. "This ambitious survey will provide global benchmark data that can help us chart our profession's development in the years to come."

"With GAP VIII to be fielded in the fall of this year the GAP study has established itself as a leading source of actionable U.S.-centric data of use to practitioners and scholars alike. Now, in keeping with the globalization of the discipline, the time has come to take a world-centric view of how it is evolving in different settings. We'll gradually roll-out the concept with the ultimate goal of establishing a truly global, cooperative research network," said Professor Jerry Swerling, Director of the Strategic Communication and PR Center at the Annenberg School at USC.

The GA and USC will announce the first participating countries in the next few weeks, and expect to begin the research later this year.

"The GA-USC partnership is a perfect combination of expertise and resources," said Professor Anne Gregory, Global Alliance chair-elect and chair of the GA's Research and Education Committee, who led the initiative with USC colleagues. "GA members can provide access to the world's largest pool of public relations practitioners, and USC has the expertise to conduct a study of this scale and sophistication. We expect this survey to develop into the most important reference point for the profession in the coming years and look forward to working with USC and our partners in countries across the globe."

The survey will contain a range of common questions to provide this benchmark information, but also can be customised by each participating country so that they can obtain specific information for their own purposes.

About the Global Alliance
The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (www.globalalliancepr.org) is the confederation of the world's major public relations and communication management associations and institutions, representing 160,000 practitioners and academics around the globe. The Global Alliance's mission is to unify the public relations profession, raise professional standards all over the world, share knowledge for the benefit of its members and be the global voice for public relations in the public interest.

The Global Alliance is the convener of the World Public Relations Forum, to be held next in Madrid, Spain, in September 2014.

About the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center
Created in 2002 with the mission of advancing the study, practice and value of the public relations discipline by means of applied research conducted in partnership with other visionary organizations, the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center is located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (annenberg.usc.edu).

USC Annenberg is a national leader in education and scholarship in the fields of public relations, communication, journalism, and public diplomacy. With an enrollment of more than 2,200 students, USC Annenberg offers doctoral, graduate and undergraduate degree programs, as well as continuing development programs for working professionals across a broad scope of academic inquiry. The school's comprehensive curriculum emphasizes the core skills of leadership, innovation, service and entrepreneurship and draws upon the resources of a networked university located in the media capital of the world.

Contacts:
Daniel Tisch, APR, FCPRS, Global Alliance Chair 
[email protected] 
Anne Gregory, FCIPR, Global Alliance Chair-Elect
[email protected]
Jerry Swerling, Director, Strategic Communication & PR Center, USC Annenberg
[email protected]

SOURCE University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism