Public Relations Through a New Lens—Critical Praxis via the Excellence Theory

Abstract

The Excellence Theory (J.E. Grunig et al., 2002) was initially developed, and is continually tested, in order to demonstrate what makes for public relations practices that are both efficient and ethical for all parties involved. There has been criticism that states that such a normalizing theory is no longer relevant for current social, political, or corporate realities encountered by the public relations practitioner or researcher. This essay presents the Excellence Theory as a critical inquiry paradigm, allowing for the creation of spaces accessible by otherwise-marginalized publics by the public relations practitioner.