Public Interest Communications

Strategy for Changemakers

Ann Searight Christiano, Angela Bradbery

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English

Routledge
01 May 2025

Communication studies; Sales & marketing management; Advertising; Public relations

Written by two practitioners with deep professional experience, this book introduces readers to public interest communications, which takes an evidence-based approach to using strategic communications to drive positive social change.

Each chapter includes accessible, applicable insights, exercises and real-world examples undergirded by theories and research from a range of academic disciplines: social and cognitive science, communications, systems thinking and human-centered design. The authors provide step-by-step frameworks for practicing public interest communications and illustrate each framework with multiple perspectives through practitioner interviews. Through a focus on fairness and ethics, the book helps readers acquire the mindset of a public interest communicator.

This book is an ideal resource for students in strategic communications, health and environmental communications, public relations, journalism, social entrepreneurship, political science and advertising, and in public interest communication courses specifically, who wish to promote lasting change on issues that advance the greater good.

Accompanying online materials include worksheets and links to further resources such as videos and podcasts. Please visit www.routledge.com/9781032531915.

By: Ann Searight Christiano, Angela Bradbery
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781032531915
ISBN 10: 1032531916
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 01 May 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Acknowledgments 1. What’s Public Interest Communications? 2. The Six Spheres of Influence – The building blocks of strategy 3. The Power of Policy 4. The Power of Activism 5. Activating Media 6. The Market and Industry Sphere: The Role of For-profit Companies and Industry in Social Change 7. Issue Shapers: Communities of Influence 8. Using Social Norms to Drive Change 9. Using the Six Spheres to Create Your Theory of Change 10. Back-of-the-Envelope Strategy 11. What Do You Want to Be True That Isn’t True Right Now? 12. Who Must Act for That to Happen? 13. What would they believe if they were taking action? Connecting to your actors’ values with meaningful messages, stories and calls to action 14. How Will We Connect With Them? 15. Measuring What Matters Glossary

Ann Searight Christiano is the founder and director of the Center for Public Interest Communications and a clinical professor in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, USA. The Center works with organizations around the world to bring a public interest communications approach to complex communications challenges. Searight Christiano developed the first-ever curriculum in public interest communications and completed a 10-year term as the inaugural Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications in 2020. Before coming to the University of Florida in 2010, Searight was a senior communications officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, directing communications for programs that address social factors like housing, education and mental health that drive health and wellbeing. Angela Bradbery is the Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, USA. Before joining the university in 2020, she was communications director at Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest advocacy organization where she developed and implemented communications strategies at the national, state and local levels and led coalition communications efforts. Bradbery also co-founded Smokefree DC, a volunteer-run advocacy organization that achieved the passage of smokefree workplace legislation in Washington, D.C., in 2006. Prior to that, she was a reporter for The Palm Beach Post, the Sun Sentinel and the Chicago Tribune. She earned a bachelor of science degree in journalism from UF in 1986.

Reviews for Public Interest Communications: Strategy for Changemakers

“Public interest communication demands that we have solid strategies to do work that matters to human and community wellbeing. This book gives professionals, academics, and students a useful model and a connected set of questions to help with strategy, so that our work is focused, effective, and measurable.” Jacqueline Lambiase, Texas Christian University, USA “This textbook offers a much-needed resource for teaching public interest communication with its emphasis on applied communication strategy and campaign planning. Ann Christiano and Angela Bradbery bring a wealth of bona fides to this project. They have the relevant expertise, research-grounded knowledge, and classroom-tested approaches to help students, practitioners, and educators not just understand theory but also put it into action. For educators and students passionate about creating meaningful, issue-driven change, this book is an essential classroom resource.” Natalie Tindall, University of Texas at Austin, USA