ABSTRACT
Public relations struggles with an identity crisis that grows out of long-standing dissensus in the field about what public relations is, who it serves, what its roles and responsibilities are, and what it means to do the right thing in practice. Of course, individual practitioners know what they do and can explain their role on a micro level. However, as evidenced in the chapter-opening quotations, practitioners hold divergent views about their professional responsibilities. To others in their organizations and the public at large, what the profession is and does is even less clear because it has come to mean many things and operate under numerous labels.
