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The paper seeks to outline the theory and practice of an action research program, which is aimed at redesigning and implementing a communications strategy that will effectively deliver an authentic environmental message to the stakeholders of the Yalumba Wine Company.

The paper uses recent communications literature to contextualise Yalumba's needs. The proposed action research is essentially, though not exclusively, an environmental strategic analysis of the wine company's current environmental communications efforts.

The Yalumba Wine Company has been operating in the rural environment for over 150 years, making it the oldest family‐owned wine company in Australia. It is committed to excellence across all its activities, from the vineyard to the consumer's table. By addressing those activities that have a significant environmental impact Yalumba ensures its employees and other stakeholders a healthy and productive life in an environment that is safe, aesthetically pleasing and ecologically functional. At Yalumba environment‐friendly sustainable activities are recognised as an intrinsic aspect of wine quality, and in order to progress this belief it must develop an environmental message that reflects authenticity, due diligence, product safety and credible environmental management.

Yalumba's commitment to sustainable winemaking can be more effective, sustainable and significant if environmental communications are employed effectively to convey to the organisation's stakeholders the corporate philosophy that expresses its corporate culture. In adopting this approach, context is critical and communication competence must be perceived in terms of action‐and‐reflection.

The Studies in Communications book series presents contemporary scholarship on the central dynamic of society – communications. Theoretically grounded empirical studies drawn from the social sciences focus on the institutional patterns, media, and the dynamic process of meaning construction. Incorporating communications, mass media and communications, sociological and critical theories, comparative and historical analysis, with combinations of qualitative and quantitative research provide compelling themes for each volume of the series. Volume 6 develops the “Human Rights and Media” theme. The collective rights associated with age, class, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and disability are framed by the media. The studies in this volume explore the connections and discourse of media and human rights, through media production, social policies and responsibilities, human rights violation and the social, institutional, and global contexts of social movements for human rights protections and about human rights violations.

The Internet has brought about change in the way that public relations is practised. Not only has it provided another channel of communication, but the communication dynamic itself has changed because of the Internet’s unique combination of characteristics. Much public relations practice is still posited on dated theories of the system of communication along the linear lines of sender, channel, receiver (with feedback). The public relations professional is there to transmit a message with the purpose of persuading publics to the point of view being promulgated. There have been suggestions that a new model of communication is required in order to explain the Internet medium. This paper re‐examines three of the older communication systems models to establish whether there are elements within them that can be helpful in explaining the dynamics of Internet‐based communication. The authors use the three models, in turn, to examine this medium by focusing on the message sender, the channel itself and the user of the Internet. The conclusion is that together they can throw valuable light on Internet‐based communication and that there are lessons to be drawn from these models that are useful for the contemporary public relations practitioner.

This paper examines the potential uses of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to create a new, multi‐faceted phase of globalization. It goes beyond traditional explanations of ICTs and globalization, which concentrate on the cultural imperialism of mass communications or technology management. It is argued here that the “any‐to‐any” architecture of the Internet creates a hugely unstable political landscape, in which social, economic and political alliances become both more global and more local, but always more specialized. The paper concludes by asking how states might choose to strike a balance between the benefits to individual freedom brought about by the Internet and the diminished intermediary role for state, religious and other national cultural institutions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mass media play a vital role in containing the outbreak of the virus by quickly and effectively delivering risk communication messages to the public. This research examines the effects of risk communication exposure on public understanding and risk perception of COVID-19 and public compliance with health preventive measures.

Data from Vietnam during COVID-19 social distancing and path analysis model are used for empirical analysis.

This analysis finds that exposure to risk communication in mass media encourages public compliance directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of public understanding and risk perception. Further investigations also find that exposure to risk communication in both online media and traditional media facilitates public compliance. In addition, exposure to risk communication in online media only raises public risk perception, whereas exposure to risk communication in traditional media only raises public understanding.

This research implies that traditional and online media should be combined to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government risk communication work.

This research is among the first attempts that examine the role of mass media (both traditional and online) in enhancing public compliance with preventive measures directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of public risk perception and understanding.

In the March/April issue of Consumer Affairs which reported the EEC Symposium of Food, Food Technology and Nutrition Labelling held in London earlier this year, John McKenzie is quoted as saying, ‘Food habits are changing: for economic reasons, (improved capacity to buy the foods the individual wants), because society is constantly changing (parenthood, changing jobs or houses stimulate change), and because of the changing trends in food imagery.’ Professor McKenzie said he omitted nutrition education and advertising as factors, because of his primary thesis: ‘If food consumption patterns change, they usually change because the consumer wants them to. This is very different from persuasion to change because nutritionists, government agricultural economists or legislators want them to change.’ And here I would add food manufacturers using mass media advertising.

The proliferation of the internet and world wide web (WWW) in recent years has resulted in the creation of new social and marketing spaces, and a new form of interaction and identity formation. This paper aims to investigate this phenomenon.

Whilst cost benefits and profit derivation from the internet and other hypermedia mediated communication environments have been the focus of much research, the majority of these assessments have left many assumptions unarticulated. Questions of how contemporary communication content and interactivity is different from the singular “one‐to‐many” communication models have been avoided in this research. This paper investigates these deficiencies and goes on to suggest how academics and practitioners can realign their thinking in the light of these findings.

Computer mediated marketing environments provide organisations with a medium that can be used to deliver content in a variety of ways to consumers. This capability highlights the distinction between the information in marketing communication and the vehicle used to deliver the information: that is, content differs from communication.

The paper highlights how versatility of the internet as an instrument for mediated communication means that organisations can integrate different modalities of marketing communications into a strategy that combines on‐line and off‐line tactics to meet strategic objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to observe the investor relations (IR) process from the perspective of media sociologists.

The focus of the piece is the changing role of the financial news media in equities markets. It is based on two lengthy periods of research into the part played by communications in investment in the London Stock Exchange. The research looked at three sets of participants and three stages of the communications process: financial public/IR and the IR function, financial journalists and news reporting, and professional investors and their evaluation processes. Much of the work involved semi‐structured interviews with over 100 high‐level participants.

The findings suggest a slow decline in the importance of financial news media in the investment process. However, financial news also continues to play a significant role in trading in the city and can, at times, still have a powerful impact on investment patterns. Consequently, all sides – companies, IR practitioners, analysts and investment managers – continue to target and consume it.

The paper introduces readers to theories and research methods used in the adjacent research field of media and communications.