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Scholars have analyzed public relations' role in democracy via proxy concepts like the public sphere and civil society. However, some have critiqued the public sphere on grounds of equal access and portrayed civil society as a guise for first-world imperialism. These critiques have implications for the role of public relations in the public sphere and civil society. This article suggests the normative role of public relations in democracy is best perceived as creating the social capital that facilitates access to spheres of public discussion and in maintaining relationships among those organizations that check state power. To that end, the paper argues that social capital does much to advance public relations theory and prescribe the role of public relations in democracy. Several implications for public relations from a social capital perspective are offered, including the creation of generalized societal trust, the building of cross-cutting or "weak" ties, the engagement of media on behalf of subaltern counterpublics, and the (re)creation of community or a fully functioning society.

Organizational scholarship has increasingly focused its attention to how nonprofit, for-profit, and government agencies develop their unique organizational identity through their strategic communication efforts. As social media continues to become more prominent in communication campaigns due to the high levels of public usage and public involvement with organizations on social media sites, it is important to examine these social media messages as they relate to organizational identity. YouTube videos increasingly are being used by organizations to educate and inform just as much as they are to entertain. Through a content analysis of the most viewed videos on the top 100 official nonprofit YouTube channels, this study found that nonprofit organizations primarily use their YouTube videos to inform and educate viewers about their missions, programs, and services. While the videos also occasionally discuss the organizations' advocacy, volunteering, and fundraising efforts, nonprofit organizations were not living up to their potential in terms of engagement through direct appeals for involvement. Additionally, the organizations were more likely to use outsiders' words and stories to build the videos' narratives rather than using internal stakeholders. The benchmark numbers provided by this study reiterate key rules that are stressed in practitioner-oriented work on video production for branding and identity-building efforts.

Organizational scholarship has increasingly focused its attention to how nonprofit, for-profit, and government agencies develop their unique organizational identity through their strategic communication efforts. As social media continues to become more prominent in communication campaigns due to the high levels of public usage and public involvement with organizations on social media sites, it is important to examine these social media messages as they relate to organizational identity. YouTube videos increasingly are being used by organizations to educate and inform just as much as they are to entertain. Through a content analysis of the most viewed videos on the top 100 official nonprofit YouTube channels, this study found that nonprofit organizations primarily use their YouTube videos to inform and educate viewers about their missions, programs, and services. While the videos also occasionally discuss the organizations' advocacy, volunteering, and fundraising efforts, nonprofit organizations were not living up to their potential in terms of engagement through direct appeals for involvement. Additionally, the organizations were more likely to use outsiders' words and stories to build the videos' narratives rather than using internal stakeholders. The benchmark numbers provided by this study reiterate key rules that are stressed in practitioner-oriented work on video production for branding and identity-building efforts.

This study examines what drives organizational adoption and use of social media through a model built around four key factors - strategy, capacity, governance and environment. Using Twitter, Facebook, and other data on 100 large US nonprofit organizations, the model is employed to examine the determinants of three key facets of social media utilization: (1) adoption, (2) frequency of use and (3) dialogue. We find that organizational strategies, capacities, governance features and external pressures all play a part in these social media adoption and utilization outcomes. Through its integrated, multi-disciplinary theoretical perspective, this study thus helps foster understanding of which types of organizations are able and willing to adopt and juggle multiple social media accounts, to use those accounts to communicate more frequently with their external publics, and to build relationships with those publics through the sending of dialogic messages.

This study examines what drives organizational adoption and use of social media through a model built around four key factors - strategy, capacity, governance and environment. Using Twitter, Facebook, and other data on 100 large US nonprofit organizations, the model is employed to examine the determinants of three key facets of social media utilization: (1) adoption, (2) frequency of use and (3) dialogue. We find that organizational strategies, capacities, governance features and external pressures all play a part in these social media adoption and utilization outcomes. Through its integrated, multi-disciplinary theoretical perspective, this study thus helps foster understanding of which types of organizations are able and willing to adopt and juggle multiple social media accounts, to use those accounts to communicate more frequently with their external publics, and to build relationships with those publics through the sending of dialogic messages.

Highly publicized incidents of police misconduct have adverse effects not only on the victims of abuse but also on public perceptions of the police departments implicated in the incident. Yet the magnitude and longevity of such effects have rarely been investigated. This article examines the impact of several celebrated incidents of perceived police misconduct in Los Angeles and New York City over a fairly lengthy time span, including the most recent scandal involving the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the killings of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond in New York City. The analysis tracks public attitudes toward the police before and after each incident, and examines similarities and differences in the opinions of Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics. The often dramatic increase in unfavorable attitudes toward the police in the wake of highly publicized events suggests that such incidents have a pronounced effect on public opinion. Policy implications are discussed, drawing on citizens' attitudes toward measures that might prevent or reduce the frequency of future incidents of misconduct

Yahoo! Finance to stream LIVE coverage of the Facebook IPO today starting at 10:45 am. WATCH IT LIVE HERE! In case you have not heard, Facebook (FB) goes public today and its initial public offering makes it the most valuable company at the time of its offering to ever go public.

The rapid diffusion of "microblogging" services such as Twitter is ushering in a new era of possibilities for organizations to communicate with and engage their core stakeholders and the general public. To enhance understanding of the communicative functions microblogging serves for organizations, this study examines the Twitter utilization practices of the 100 largest nonprofit organizations in the United States. The analysis reveals there are three key functions of microblogging updates-"information,""community," and "action." Though the informational use of microblogging is extensive, nonprofit organizations are better at using Twitter to strategically engage their stakeholders via dialogic and community-building practices than they have been with traditional websites. The adoption of social media appears to have engendered new paradigms of public engagement.

In the United States, people living in low-income neighborhoods frequently do not have access to affordable healthy food venues, such as supermarkets. Instead, those living in "food deserts" must rely on convenience stores and small neighborhood stores that offer few, if any, healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened a two-day workshop on January 26-27, 2009, to provide input into a Congressionally-mandated food deserts study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The workshop, summarized in this volume, provided a forum in which to discuss the public health effects of food deserts.

In cemeteries, we do not remember our dead privately or quietly, as for example, in prayers. Instead, we do so publicly and visibly, so that what we do (or do not do) can be noticed by the public. But how do we remember and commemorate our dead at public cemeteries? Based on mixed-methods analyses of the markers for the dead at cemeteries in a religiously relatively homogeneous (namely, Catholic) region, three recent socio-cultural evolutions are identified and analyzed: (1) the construction of idiosyncratic markers and the accompanying emergence of individualized identities, (2) the emphasis on embodied modes of remembrance, and (3) the increasing visibility of voluntary social commitments and strong ties. Overall, the findings presented here point to the growing diversification of our ways of publicly remembering and commemorating the dead.

In cemeteries, we do not remember our dead privately or quietly, as for example, in prayers. Instead, we do so publicly and visibly, so that what we do (or do not do) can be noticed by the public. But how do we remember and commemorate our dead at public cemeteries? Based on mixed-methods analyses of the markers for the dead at cemeteries in a religiously relatively homogeneous (namely, Catholic) region, three recent socio-cultural evolutions are identified and analyzed: (1) the construction of idiosyncratic markers and the accompanying emergence of individualized identities, (2) the emphasis on embodied modes of remembrance, and (3) the increasing visibility of voluntary social commitments and strong ties. Overall, the findings presented here point to the growing diversification of our ways of publicly remembering and commemorating the dead.

What, if any, changes have occurred in the nation' s police departments 21 years after the Rodney King beating? To answer this question, this study examined findings provided by the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP). An additional goal of this study was to examine how the public generally perceive police and how race and racism shape this discourse. To answer this secondary question, we examined narratives provided by 36 contributors to the NPMSRP site. The following two questions were foundational to this study: (1) What do findings from the NPMSRP suggest about the rate of police brutality in America? (2) How do individuals perceive the police department, and what implications do these perceptions hold for Black men in America? In general, fatalities at the hands of police are higher than they are for the general public.Grounded theory analysis of the data revealed that individuals perceive members of law enforcement in the following ways: (a) contempt for law enforcement, (b) suspicion of law enforcement, (c) law enforcement as agents of brutality, and (d) respect for law enforcement. Supporting qualitative data are presented in connection with each of the aforementioned themes.

Managers of local government cemeteries should balance social and cultural expectations with fiscal responsibility and when they do so they demonstrate death competence in cemetery management. This study reviews the cultural and social equity aspects of the consumption of cemetery services and develops tools to take into account social equity and cultural concerns for public sector cemetery managers. Cemetery demand and pricing models are developed and applied to the case of Austin, Texas. These models enhance the estimation of demand by taking into account cultural factors and contextualize pricing in terms of social equity concerns.

Managers of local government cemeteries should balance social and cultural expectations with fiscal responsibility and when they do so they demonstrate death competence in cemetery management. This study reviews the cultural and social equity aspects of the consumption of cemetery services and develops tools to take into account social equity and cultural concerns for public sector cemetery managers. Cemetery demand and pricing models are developed and applied to the case of Austin, Texas. These models enhance the estimation of demand by taking into account cultural factors and contextualize pricing in terms of social equity concerns.

In discussing the importance of public health anxieties within the birth of modern forms of governmentality, Foucault frequently mentions, but does not develop, the questions that arose about the appropriate disposal of the dead. In this paper, I explore the spatial rationalities of the modern cemetery in England in the mid-nineteenth century. As an illustrative example, I provide a detailed analysis of John Claudius Loudon's proposals for cemeteries. Loudon, a horticultural writer and designer who campaigned vigorously for cemetery reform, became crucial in the reconfiguration of the cemetery. I use Loudon's ideas as a dispositif, a material space that also provides a method of analysis for illuminating the operation of various inter-related governmental spatialisations and techniques. Specifically, I illustrate how the cemetery captures the diversification and widening of dispositional techniques of institutions and, at the same time, integrates hygienic imperatives, aesthetic-moral registers and an array of educational-civic functions. I argue that the cemetery, in real and ideal terms, manifests and intensifies a variety of rural and urban spaces and, paradoxically, generates a model milieu for the living.

In discussing the importance of public health anxieties within the birth of modern forms of governmentality, Foucault frequently mentions, but does not develop, the questions that arose about the appropriate disposal of the dead. In this paper, I explore the spatial rationalities of the modern cemetery in England in the mid-nineteenth century. As an illustrative example, I provide a detailed analysis of John Claudius Loudon's proposals for cemeteries. Loudon, a horticultural writer and designer who campaigned vigorously for cemetery reform, became crucial in the reconfiguration of the cemetery. I use Loudon's ideas as a dispositif, a material space that also provides a method of analysis for illuminating the operation of various inter-related governmental spatialisations and techniques. Specifically, I illustrate how the cemetery captures the diversification and widening of dispositional techniques of institutions and, at the same time, integrates hygienic imperatives, aesthetic-moral registers and an array of educational-civic functions. I argue that the cemetery, in real and ideal terms, manifests and intensifies a variety of rural and urban spaces and, paradoxically, generates a model milieu for the living.

Cemeteries garner considerable academic attention as anthropologists, landscapers, archaeologists, sociologists, geographers and historians examine their layout, purpose and use. Emerging from these studies is a body of literature that considers cemetery and burial ground design, memorialisation, mourning behaviour and 'dark tourism'. Beyond interdisciplinary journals such as Mortality and edited multi-disciplinary books however, the insight generated in this literature can be fragmented through publication in discipline specific periodicals. As a result cemeteries are often analysed and presented as places that contain, for example, design or tourism and heritage or emotion and mourning. Framed by concerns over the sustainability of cemeteries nationwide, this paper considers the contemporary English cemetery as a simultaneous space of emotion, commerce and community. Using data from an ethnographic case study of a cemetery in East London, it illustrates the contestation that can result from these concurrent contrasting interpretations. The paper concludes that care needs to be taken when implementing initiatives and policy to balance the varying demands and expectations of a cemetery's purpose and use.

Cemeteries garner considerable academic attention as anthropologists, landscapers, archaeologists, sociologists, geographers and historians examine their layout, purpose and use. Emerging from these studies is a body of literature that considers cemetery and burial ground design, memorialisation, mourning behaviour and 'dark tourism'. Beyond interdisciplinary journals such as Mortality and edited multi-disciplinary books however, the insight generated in this literature can be fragmented through publication in discipline specific periodicals. As a result cemeteries are often analysed and presented as places that contain, for example, design or tourism and heritage or emotion and mourning. Framed by concerns over the sustainability of cemeteries nationwide, this paper considers the contemporary English cemetery as a simultaneous space of emotion, commerce and community. Using data from an ethnographic case study of a cemetery in East London, it illustrates the contestation that can result from these concurrent contrasting interpretations. The paper concludes that care needs to be taken when implementing initiatives and policy to balance the varying demands and expectations of a cemetery's purpose and use.

This article chronicles a movement to restore Shippensburg, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Cemetery, a historic African-American burial ground. The cemetery faced persistent troubles exacerbated by changing demographics in the surrounding neighborhood, its caretakers' limited resources, and the community's history of racial discrimination. Beginning in 2003, Shippensburg University applied history students assisted with research, grant writing, and interpretative materials. By 2005, a community coalition formed that built on the students' efforts, ultimately mobilizing the resources needed to finish the restoration. This case study illustrates the complex dynamics of a community preservation campaign and ways Public History programs can support such efforts.

This article chronicles a movement to restore Shippensburg, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Cemetery, a historic African-American burial ground. The cemetery faced persistent troubles exacerbated by changing demographics in the surrounding neighborhood, its caretakers' limited resources, and the community's history of racial discrimination. Beginning in 2003, Shippensburg University applied history students assisted with research, grant writing, and interpretative materials. By 2005, a community coalition formed that built on the students' efforts, ultimately mobilizing the resources needed to finish the restoration. This case study illustrates the complex dynamics of a community preservation campaign and ways Public History programs can support such efforts.

FOR THE PAST SIXTEEN YEARS, the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC), the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation (ATHP), and Alabama Heritage magazine have joined forces to publicize historic places endangered by neglect, lack of funds, or demolition. This year's Places in Peril highlights ten significant properties dating from the late 1840s to the late 1940s, including a "modern" apartment complex, a theater, a railroad depot, a church and community center, a hardware store, a collection of citywide schools, a slave cemetery, a historic district, an entire community, and an antebellum house. Inspired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list, Places in Peril generates awareness of the threats facing Alabama's important historic resources.

FOR THE PAST SIXTEEN YEARS, the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC), the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation (ATHP), and Alabama Heritage magazine have joined forces to publicize historic places endangered by neglect, lack of funds, or demolition. This year's Places in Peril highlights ten significant properties dating from the late 1840s to the late 1940s, including a "modern" apartment complex, a theater, a railroad depot, a church and community center, a hardware store, a collection of citywide schools, a slave cemetery, a historic district, an entire community, and an antebellum house. Inspired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list, Places in Peril generates awareness of the threats facing Alabama's important historic resources.

This study examines how information and communication technologies - mobile phone, social networking websites, blogging, instant messaging, and photo sharing - are related to the diversity of people's social networks. We find that a limited set of technologies directly afford diversity, but many indirectly contribute to diversity by supporting participation in traditional settings such as neighborhoods, voluntary groups, religious institutions, and public spaces. Only one internet activity, social networking websites, was related to lower levels of participation in a traditional setting: neighborhoods. However, when direct effects were included, the total influence of social networking services on diversity was positive. We argue that a focus on affordances of new media for networked individualism fails to recognize the continued importance of place for the organization of personal networks: networks, that as a result of the persistent and pervasive nature of some new technologies, may be more diverse than at any time in recent history

This is the story of Galland's (The Bond Between Women: A Journey to Fierce Compassion) involvement in restoring a rural African American burial ground in east Texas. While researching black history in her hometown of Dallas, Galland became interested in slave cemeteries and heard about the abandoned Love Cemetery in Harrison County. Although black farmers had owned the surrounding land after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, whites effectively gained control of the area through such means as illegal seizure as payment for debts. Later, the logging industry took over the land and prevented descendants from visiting the gravesites. Galland brought together many volunteers of varying races, ages, and faiths to restore the cemetery in a series of cleanups. As a white woman, she became unsure of her role in leading the restoration but never gave up hope that the cemetery could be used to further racial reconciliation. Her book brings attention to the history of black Texans and demonstrates the importance of restoring slave cemeteries. Recommended for African American history collections in public libraries.--Kathryn Stewart SLIS student, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City

This is the story of Galland's (The Bond Between Women: A Journey to Fierce Compassion) involvement in restoring a rural African American burial ground in east Texas. While researching black history in her hometown of Dallas, Galland became interested in slave cemeteries and heard about the abandoned Love Cemetery in Harrison County. Although black farmers had owned the surrounding land after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, whites effectively gained control of the area through such means as illegal seizure as payment for debts. Later, the logging industry took over the land and prevented descendants from visiting the gravesites. Galland brought together many volunteers of varying races, ages, and faiths to restore the cemetery in a series of cleanups. As a white woman, she became unsure of her role in leading the restoration but never gave up hope that the cemetery could be used to further racial reconciliation. Her book brings attention to the history of black Texans and demonstrates the importance of restoring slave cemeteries. Recommended for African American history collections in public libraries.--Kathryn Stewart SLIS student, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City

The rapid diffusion of 'microblogging' services such as Twitter is ushering in a new era of possibilities for organizations to communicate with and engage their core stakeholders and the general public. To enhance understanding of the communicative functions microblogging serves for organizations, this study examines the Twitter utilization practices of the 100 largest nonprofit organizations in the United States. The analysis reveals there are three key functions of microblogging updates-'information,''community,' and 'action.' Though the informational use of microblogging is extensive, nonprofit organizations are better at using Twitter to strategically engage their stakeholders via dialogic and community-building practices than they have been with traditional websites. The adoption of social media appears to have engendered new paradigms of public engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] .