Dr. Doug Swanson is an accredited public relations practitioner, teacher, and consultant. He earned his doctorate at Oklahoma State University, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Eastern New Mexico University. He began his professional career as a radio announcer, although his first media job at age 11 involved delivering newspapers and selling subscriptions. He has worked in a number of capacities for radio stations, newspapers, and in TV news. He has worked in a public relations firm, and as an independent public relations consultant. He began teaching at the college level in 1990. Dr. Swanson has published numerous absorbing but mostly unnoticed journal articles and presented a variety of fascinating but sparsely attended conference presentations – all of which live in posterity, here on the Internet. He is the author of several eloquent chapters in dusty back shelf books on issues related to the media and media professions. He is not the Doug Swanson, famous professional bicyclist or Doug Swanson, the detective novel writer, and sadly, he receives no royalties from their work. Skilled in diverse trades, he is a ‘has been’ truck driver, door-to-door salesman, store clerk, janitor, and seasoned paddlewheel steamboat deckhand/ waiter. An avid traveler, he has visited all 50 states, many of them in an overloaded RV. A thrill seeker, he has ridden in a hot air balloon and been chased by a tornado (on different occasions). A social misfit, he did not join Facebook until 2012, after it was predicted that Facebook's popularity would soon decline. He is immensely proud of his wife, and his adult children who serve their nation in vastly different but important careers. He is protective of his Boston Terrier, and over-indulgent of his charming and intelligent granddaughters, Emma and Grace. He believes, as Art Buchwald once said, “the best things in life aren’t things.”
Academic/ Scholarly Articles
From ‘Hour of Power’ to ‘Days of Demise’: Media Portrayals of Crisis and Fractured Social Order within Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral Ministry, Case Studies in Strategic Communication (2012)
The purpose of this case study is to illustrate the importance of organizations in crisis...
The beginning of the end of Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral Ministry: A towering failure in crisis management as reflected through media narratives of financial crisis, family conflict, and follower dissent, The Social Science Journal (2012)
In 2010-2011, the Crystal Cathedral Ministry, one of the world’s most respected Christian megachurches (Frankl,...
Public relations practitioners’ use of reverse mentoring in the development of powerful professional relationships, PRism: Exploring Power and Public Relations (2012)
In the quest to create powerful professional relationships, the new, non-traditional disbursement of knowledge is...
Answering to God, or to Senator Grassley?: How Leading Christian Health and Wealth Ministries' Website Content Portrayed Social Order and Financial Accountability Following a Federal Investigation, Journal of Media and Religion (2012)
This research deals with six renewalist evangelical Christian ministries that were subject to a three-year...
Tuning in and hanging out: A preliminary study of college students’ use of podcasts for information, entertainment, and socializing, The Social Science Journal (2012)
Millions of listeners tune in to Internet-based audio-on-demand programming (commonly known as audio podcasts). College...
Academic Conference Proceedings
Narratives of Job Satisfaction Offered by the ‘100 Best Companies to Work for in America’, Western Social Science Association, Annual Meeting (2013)
This research analyzes narratives of employee job satisfaction offered by the 2012 CNN Money/ Fortune...
Fostering development of mentoring and reverse mentoring skills among public relations undergraduates (with Betsy A. Hays M.A., APR and Julie Henderson Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA), Public Relations Society of America International Conference / Educators Academy (2012)
Mentoring and reverse mentoring have gotten a lot of attention in the academic and professional...
Assessment of Student Learning in the Department of Communications: A Successful Faculty Collaboration, Institute on Program Performance Review and Assessment / California State University, Fullerton (2012)
As recently as 2010, our department was noted for its inability to operationalize a program...
Developing students’ research skills in the undergraduate public relations writing course: A framework for ‘real world’ success., Public Relations Society of America International Conference / Educators Academy / Research Roundtable Pedagogical Poster Session (2012)
Those of us who teach in higher education are in a time of continually diminishing...
Show Me, Help Me, Tell Me, Sell Me: Leading Christian Renewalist Ministries' Use of the World Wide Web for Evangelizing, Fundraising, and Merchandising, The 50th Annual Conference of the Western Social Science Association: Denver, CO (2008)
This research is an analysis of visual, operational, informational, fundraising, and merchandising content of World...
Popular Press
The Final Countdown to Y2K: Is Your Small Business Ready?, Water Conditioning & Purification (1999)
Spring Mall and Home Shows: Finding Your Competitive Edge at Smaller Retailer Events, Water Conditioning & Purification (1999)
Professional Development Seminars: Scouting Out Your Best Opportunities, Water Conditioning & Purification (1997)
Planning + Execution + Follow-Up = Great Trade Show Performance, Water Conditioning & Purification (1997)
Book Reviews
Unpublished Papers
Crisis Communication, Government/ Media Cooperation, and U.S. Military Public Affairs (2011)
This was the PowerPoint presentation that accompanied my remarks made to the Delegation of The...
Marketing/ Communications Campaign Action Plan, Presentation to the California Medical Association/ California Medical Society Membership Summit, Irvine, CA (2011)
Effective communication is about relationships more so than it is about “getting the word out...
High-performance communication: Writing for results in the business workplace [1], Writing skills workshop for management, S&S Cycle, Inc., Viola, Wisconsin (2006)
High-Performance Communication: Writing for Results in the Business Workplace (workshop)
High-performance communication: Writing for results in the business workplace [2], Writing skills workshop for management, S&S Cycle, Inc., Viola, Wisconsin (2006)
High-Performance Communication: Writing for Results in the Business Workplace (workshop)