Maltese to address PR conference in UK

The serious study of public relations theory has been given a boost with a new conference on academic public relations in the UK to be attended by over 50 academics and practitioners.

Organised by the Institute of Public Relations and supported by the Bournemouth Media School and Henry Stewart Publications, the conference will be held at Bournemouth University on April 10-12.

A former Maltese student on the M.Sc. in Public Relations at Stirling University, Laura Mifsud-Bonnici, will deliver her paper "The influence of inter-personal communication in strategic public relations in Malta".

Ms Mifsud Bonnici, a respected PR practitioner with over 11 years' experience, received a University of Malta scholarship to study with the University of Stirling, Scotland, two years ago. She is currently communications officer at the Malta University and also practises on a freelance basis.

Entitled "Current Debates and Issues in Public Relations Research and Practice", the conference brings together the latest scholarship and research in public relations. Presentations are based on the conference theme and sub-divided into three categories: PR history and culture, PR methods and PR channels. The conference also showcases international perspectives from Ireland, South Africa, and Australia, discussing aspects of how communications and reputation management are practiced in other countries.

This conference will demonstrate that academic public relations has moved on from being a technical subject. In the past, PR was situated in schools of journalism and mass communications.

Now it is academically varied and robust, drawing from other heavyweight disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, business management and corporate strategy.