Sandra Boone
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boonesk.bsky.social
Sandra Boone
@boonesk.bsky.social
190 followers 270 following 39 posts
Strategic, values-driven communicator turned PhD candidate at @uosojc.bsky.social examining equity/responsibility concerns for PR practitioners, focusing on power in/of language. Misplaced Minnesotan (she/her)
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boonesk.bsky.social
My first article as a Ph.D. candidate has been published in a peer-reviewed journal: “New Code Needed for New Conversations: A Critical Textual Analysis of the PRSA Code of Ethics and Practitioners’ Responsibility to the Public Good.” instituteforpr.org/prj-vol-18-i... #PR #PublicRelations
Screenshot of the website for the Public Relations Journal, "New Code Needed for New Conversations: A Critical Textual Analysis of the PRSA Code of Ethics and Practitioners’ Responsibility to the Public Good.”
October 24, 2025 at 5:20 AM
boonesk.bsky.social
FB memories are often superfluous, but sometimes, they show big things. I didn't know it, but receiving these textbooks as I prepared for the fall of the 2nd year of my professional strat comm MA was one. I knew I had questions that went past the strategies & tactics focus of my MA. #PR #StratComm
A row of books fanned out on the ground. The first 5 books address language, race, and education. The others discuss policy and brand strategy.
August 27, 2025 at 2:48 AM
boonesk.bsky.social
Are you a public relations or strategic communication professional with 5+ years of experience? I'm doing interviews to discuss language & professional responsibility. $15 giftcard available. Interested? Message or email me #PublicRelations #StrategicCommunication #PR #StratComm #CriticalPR
Text stating: Seeking interview participants for doctoral dissertation. There are many assumptions and suspicions about what public relations practitioners think and do with language, but what is the truth? Interviews occurring August-November: 55-minute Zoom interviews In-person* or email options available * In-person interviews can occur in Minnesota (Aug-Sept. ) or Oregon (Oct.-Nov.). Text stating: Eligibility requirements To participate in this study, individuals must meet the following criteria: Have 5+ years of experience working in public relations, strategic communication, or a related professional communication function Have held at least one role with a substantial writing component (past or present) Complete the majority their work in English (multilingual practitioners are welcome) Reside in the U.S. and work primarily for U.S.-based organizations or clients 18 years of age or older I am interested in the ways practitioners think about language and professional responsibility across all settings, work arrangements, sectors, and positions. Text stating: Who is doing this research? This dissertation research is being done by Sandra Boone, a 4th-year Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oregon. I worked for 15 years as a professional communicator in higher education, nonprofit, and political settings. This research comes from questions I had when working, so I’d love to learn from you! Plus, you can receive a $15 gift card as a thank you. Email me at sboone5@uoregon.edu and include "PR language interviews" in the subject line. Learn more about me at boonesk.com.
August 21, 2025 at 9:15 PM
boonesk.bsky.social
Yesterday, I shared my dissertation plan with the Critical Language Awareness Collective convened by Dr. Shawna Shapiro. I hope more #PRProf will join me in considering PR ed beyond technical mastery, genre replication, & strategy maximization. #PublicRelations #StrategicCommunication #JPRE #PRProf
PowerPoint slide that states, “Examining public relations practitioners as a speech community of language workers. Generating critical reflection through attention to language, resulting in a more responsible field.” It also includes several book covers from business communication, technical and professional communications, education, PR, and sociolinguistics.
July 15, 2025 at 11:17 PM
boonesk.bsky.social
Dr. Lee Edwards wrote about the same questions I’ve encountered in exploring language. How can we challenge students and practitioners to think more deeply about the words, language, rhetoric, and stories they put into the world? #PRProfs #CritPR
Screenshot stating: “Practitioners spend long hours framing ideas, composing messages, writing content, checking phrases and words, all to ensure the discourses that end up circulating across audiences are the ‘right’ kinds of discourse, communicating messages that align with their objectives. Yet the importance of language formulation as a form of public relations practice is underplayed in empirical research, which has tended to focus on practitioner experiences and power rather than technical practices such as writing. As a result, there are still many unanswered questions about how practitioners understand and use discourse as a tool of their trade. We know little about how they work with language, how they make choices about the ways they craft texts, the roles of text and visual language, particularly in multimedia environments, and the degree to which their use of language is instinctive rather than conscious, a form of practice that has been absorbed through the rules of the occupational ‘game’ they have bought into” (p. 46).
June 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
boonesk.bsky.social
To conclude year three at @uosojc.bsky.social, I successfully defended my PhD prospectus, “What’s right in what we write? Exploring the metalinguistic norms, language ideologies, and writing practices of the public relations industry.” #PublicRelations #GradLife
A PowerPoint slide with the text "What’s right in what we write? Exploring the metalinguistic norms, language ideologies, and writing practices of the public relations industry; Sandra Boone, Dissertation Prospectus; June 2025." Next to it is a drawing of people working on laptops, shown from above.
June 8, 2025 at 11:18 PM