In the second edition of their award-winning book, W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. Holladay provide a broad and thorough look at the field of public relations in the world today and assess its positive and negative impact on society's values, knowledge, and perceptions. * Uses a range of global, contemporary examples, from multi-national corporations through to the non-profit sector * Updated to include discussion of new issues, such as the role and limitations of social media; the emergence of Issues Management; how private politics is shaping corporate behavior; and the rise of global activism and the complications of working in a global world * Covers the search within the profession for a definition of PR, including the Melbourne Mandate and Barcelona Principles * Balanced, well organized, and clearly written by two leading scholars