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Phoenix666 writes:

Blurred boundaries between advertising and public relations professions due to new roles in social media raise the question of whether educators can adequately prepare their students for a career in those growing fields, according to a Baylor study.

"Educators need to address the deficiencies identified in this study and find ways to build these skills and competencies in their courses," said Marlene S. Neill, Ph.D., assistant professor of journalism, public relations and new media in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.

The study—"Gaps in Advertising and Public Relations Education: Perspectives of Agency Leaders "—is published in the Journal of Advertising Education.

"In the study, we have provided some specific and practical recommendations for advertising and public relations educators," Neill said.

Recommendations include:

        --Business literacy: Have advertising and public relations students read and analyze investment reports and financial statements, as well as take current events quizzes from business and trade publications.
        --Math: Require advertising and public relations students to take a statistics course.
        --Online community management: Have advertising and public relations students conduct social listening/social media audit and develop evaluation reports using social media analytics; advertising students should consider taking electives in public relations to learn about crisis and issues management.
        --Media planning/buying: PR students should consider taking advertising electives to learn about paid media strategies.

The reaction of people polled on this issue is this?

Original Submission