The 11th edition of "Effective Public Relations," the industry’s leading textbook, will hit shelves this summer.
Scott Cutlip and Allen Center introduced the first edition of "Effective Public Relations" in 1952 and it quickly became the gold standard of public relations textbooks worldwide.
Cutlip and Center co-authored the first five editions, and San Diego State Professor Emeritus Glen Broom has continued their legacy since then.
It was in the early 1980s, while Broom was a relatively new faculty member at SDSU, when Cutlip and Center asked him to author the next edition. Broom said it was not only an honor, but also a huge surprise.
“It changed everything,” Broom said. “Out of everything I have done, this book has had the biggest impact on my professional life.”
"Effective Public Relations" has been published in nine languages and distributed in many countries — something that has given Broom the opportunity to travel and meet people from around the globe that use his text.
The Future
For the 11th edition, SDSU Professor Bey-Ling Sha joined Broom as a co-author. She is only the fourth co-author in the 60-year history of the text.
"Carrying on this legacy is both exciting and terrifying,” Sha said. “I'm excited and honored to contribute to one of the world's most respected textbooks in public relations. But I'm also terrified of not living up to the legacy."
About 20 percent of the latest edition of "Effective Public Relations" is new content and includes more in-depth coverage of legal issues, diversity and measurement. Considerations of social media and other new media are also incorporated into the text.
The Legacy
Scott Cutlip enjoyed a long career as both a practitioner and academic. Cutlip was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1974, then the dean of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia from 1976 to 1983. Cutlip passed away in 2000.
Allen Center had a long career as a public relations practitioner, including 20 years as corporate vice president of Motorola, before becoming a lecturer at SDSU. Center taught public relations students from 1976-1987 and was named a “Distinguished Resident Lecturer.” He passed away in San Diego in 2005.