Headshot of Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson

Associate Professor of Strategic Communications

Department: Strategic Communications

Office and address: Schar Hall- Communications Bld, office 214C 2850 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Phone number: (336) 278-5670

Professional Expertise

Advertising, Public Relations, Sports, Health

Brief Biography

Published in Journalism Mass Communications Monographs, Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journalism History, and has presented numerous papers at various conferences. Interested in studying and teaching about the use of symbols in mass communication. Previously taught at the University of Scranton and Louisiana State University. Came to Elon in 2015.

Worked in advertising and public relations in New York City and Atlanta for agencies, non-profit organizations, and corporations. 

    Education

    B.A., Augusta State University; M.A., University of Georgia; Ph.D., University of Georgia.

    Employment History

    WIKA Instruments (manufacturer of presure gauges) 

    UPS (Fortune 500 company) 

    GCI Health (largest health PR agency in the nation)  

    MSL Worldwide (one of largest PR agencies in nation) 

    Blattner Brunner (advertising agency) 

    Sawyer Riley Compton (advertising agency) 

    Courses Taught

    COM 100 Communications in a Global Age

    COM/STC 252 Public Relations & Civic Responsibility

    COM 330 International Communications

    COM/STC 362 Strategic Research Methods

    COM/STC 452 Strategic Campaigns

    COM 552 Corporate Communication Capstone

    COM 653 Corporate Presentation and Writing

    COM 654 Global and Intercultural Communication

    Leadership Positions

    Inaugural chair, Strategic Communications Department

    Chair, Religious & Spiritual Life Committee

    Chair, Search Committee, Speech/Health Communications Lecturer position

    Chair, Teacher/Scholar Committee

    Chair, Ad hoc Leadership & Service Committee

    Faculty Advisor, American Advertising Federation

     

    Current Projects

    Studying the history of how social hygiene (euphemism for sex education) was promoted in the early 20th century. 

    Publications

    1. Anderson, W. B. (2020 – in press). “I paid my income tax today”: How the U.S. government used public relations to persuade its citizens to accept a mass tax during World War II. Public Relations Review, 46.
    2. Anderson, W. B. (2020). A cultural-economic examination of public relations measurement in the 1920s and its implications for contemporary practice. Corporate Communications: an International Journal, 25, 669-685.
    3. Anderson, W. B. (2019). How to Keep Rosie the Riveter from contracting VD: A case study of how U.S. social reformers used public relations during World War II. Public Relations Review, 45, 1-7.
    4. Anderson, W. B. (2019). Public relations and social morality as national identity: A cultural-economic examination of the U.S. government’s fight against venereal disease in the 1920s. Journal of Public Relations Research, 5-6, 184-201.
    5. Anderson, W. B. (2018). Counter framing: Implications for public relations. Public Relations Inquiry, 7, 111-126.
    6. Anderson, W. B. (2018). “The next great plague to go”:  How the U.S. Surgeon General used public relations to fight venereal disease during the Great Depression. Journalism History, 44, 62-68.
    7. Anderson, W. B. (2017). The great war against venereal disease: How the government used public relations to wage an anti-vice campaign. Public Relations Review, 43, 507-516.
    8. Anderson, W. B. (2017). Labor’s denial: A case study of how labor used the media and public relations to block the first NBA-ABA merger attempt. International Journal of Sport Communication, 10, 105-123.
    9. Anderson, W. B. (2017). Social movements and public relations in the early twentieth century: How one group used PR to curtail venereal disease rates. Journal of Public Relations Research, 29, 3-15.  
    10. Anderson, B. (2016). What Gramsci can tell sport communication scholars about how civic leaders sell sports to their communities: A look at the Braves’ move to Atlanta. International Journal of Sport Communication, 9, 261-277.

    At other academic institutions

    11. Anderson, W. B. (2008). Pete Rozelle: An historical review of how the NFL Commissioner used public relations. Public Relations Review, 34, 151-155.

    12. Anderson, W. B. & Lowery, W. (2007). What factors influence control over work in the journalism/public relations dynamic? An application of theory from the sociology of occupations. Mass Communication and Society, 10, 385-402.

    13. Anderson, W. B. (2007). Speaking the language of management: Applying the performance prism to public relations assessment. The Atlantic Journal of Communication, 15, 120-133.

    14. Anderson, W. B. (2006). American Football League v. National Football League: Using public relations to “win” a war against a monopoly. Public Relations Review, 32, 53-57.

    15. Lowery, W. & Anderson, W. B. (2005). The journalist behind the curtain: Participatory functions on the Internet and their impact on perceptions of the work of journalism. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3). http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/lowrey.html

    16.  Lowery, W. & Anderson, W. B. (2004). The impact of Internet use on the public perception of physicians: A perspective from the sociology of professions literature. Health Communication, 19, 125-131.

    17. Anderson, W. B. (2004). Major League Baseball under investigation: How the industry used public relations to promote its past to save its present. Public Relations Review, 30, 439-445.

    18. Anderson, W. B. (2003). “We can do it!”: A study of the Women’s Field Army public relations efforts. Public Relations Review, 30, 187-196.

    19. Anderson, W. B. (2003). Crafting the national pastime’s image: The history of Major League Baseball public relations. Journalism & Mass Communication Monographs, 5(1). 

    20. Anderson, W. B. (2001). Saving the national pastime’s image: Crisis management during the 1919 black sox scandal. Journalism History, 27, 105-111.

    21. Anderson, W. B. (2001). Does the cheerleading ever stop?: Major League Baseball and sports journalism. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 78, 355-382.

    22. Anderson, W. B. (2001). The media battle between Celebrex and Vioxx: Influencing media coverage but not content. Public Relations Preview, 27, 449-460.

    23. Anderson, W. B. (2001). The 1939 Major League Baseball centennial celebration: How Steve Hannagan & Associates helped tie business to Americana. Public Relations Review, 27, 353-366.

    24. Anderson, W. B. (2001). Celebrating Jackie Robinson?: Major League Baseball sees the limitations of promotions. Journal of Promotion Management 7, 215-224.

    25.  Anderson, W. B. (2001). Creating the national pastime: The antecedents of Major League Baseball public relations. Media History Monographs 4(2). Retrieved from http://www.elon.edu/dcopeland/mhm/volume4.htm

    26. Anderson, W. B. (2000). Sports page boosterism: Atlanta and its newspapers accomplish the unprecedented. American Journalism, 17, 89-106.

    27. Becker, L.; Lowery, W.; Claussen, D. & Anderson, W. B. (2000). Why does the beat goes on? Newspaper Research Journal, 21, 2-16.

    Presentations

    1. Anderson, W. B. (2020, June 23-25). Can public relations overcome anti-Semitism?: A case study of War Refugee Board public relations during World War II. Presentation to be conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2020, Boston, MA. Conference canceled.
    2. Anderson, W. B. (2019, June 26-28). The first public relations measurement?: How social reformers measured their communication materials in the 1920s. Presentation conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2019, Bournemouth, UK.
    3. Anderson, W. B. (2018, July 11-12). “I paid my income tax today”: How the U.S. government used public relations to ensure public acceptance of a personal income tax. Presentation conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2018, Bournemouth, UK.
    4. Anderson, W. B. (2018, July 11-12). How to keep Rosie the Riveter from contracting VD: A case study of how U.S. social reformers used public relations during World War II. Presentation conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2018, Bournemouth, UK.
    5. Anderson, W. B. (2017, July 5-6). Keeping fit: How the U.S. government used public relations to fight venereal disease after World War I. Presentation conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2017, Bournemouth, UK.
    6. Anderson, W. B. (2017, July 5-6). “The next great plague to go”: How the U.S. government used public relations to fight venereal disease during the Great Depression. Presentation conducted at the International History of Public Relations Conference 2017, Bournemouth, UK.
    7. Anderson, W.B. (2016, August 4-7). Labor’s Rejection: How the National Basketball Players Association blocked management before Congress. Presentation conducted at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication National Convention, Minneapolis, Minn.

    At other academic institutions

    8. Anderson, W.B. (2006, August 2-5). Pete Rozelle: How the commissioner used public relations to promote the NFL. Presentation conducted at the National Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, San Francisco, Calif.

    9. Anderson, W.B. (2005, August 9-12). Beating the odds: How the American Football League used public relations to “win” a war against a monopoly. Presentation conducted at the National Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, San Antonio, Texas.

    10. Anderson, W.B. (2005, March 3-5). American Football League v. National Football League: Using public relations to “win” a war against a monopoly. Presentation conducted at the History Division, Southeast Colloquium of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Athens, Ga.

    11. Lowrey, W. & Anderson, W. B. (2002, August 7-10). Bypassing the middleman: The impact of web use on the public perception of physicians. Presentation conducted to the Mass Communication and Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Miami, Fla.

    12. Anderson, W. B. (2001, March 9). Does the cheerleading ever stop?: Major League Baseball and sports journalism: newspaper coverage of Major League Baseball labor disputes in 1890 and 1975-76. Panel conducted at The Many Faces of Sport: A Cultural Perspective in Communication panel, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication – Southeast Colloquium, Columbia, S.C.

    13. Anderson, W. B. (2000, August 9-12). Selling the national pastime: The formation of Major League Baseball public relations. Presentation conducted at the History Division, National Convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Phoenix, Ariz.

    14. Anderson, W. B. (2000, March 31). The formation of Major League Baseball public relations. Presentation conducted at the Baseball: Looking Back, Looking Forward Symposium, Georgia Perimeter College, Atlanta, Ga.

    15. Anderson, W. B. (2000, February 11-12). The formation of Major League Baseball public relations. Presentation conducted at Southeast Symposium of the American Journalism Historians Association, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

    16. Anderson, W. B. (1999, August 3-7). In search of identity: A comparison of the early black press with the oral tradition. Presentation conducted at the History Division, National Convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, New Orleans, La.

    17. Claussen, D. S.; Lowrey, W.; Anderson, W. B.; & Becker, L. B. (1999, March 4-6). Newsroom structure: Why does the beat go on? Presentation conducted at the Newspaper Division, Southeast Colloquium of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Lexington, Ky.

    18. Anderson, W. B. (1999, January 30). An examination of the early black press through the class prism. Presentation conducted at the Southeast Symposium of the American Journalism Historians Association, Milledgeville, Ga.

    19. Anderson, W. B. & Miller, K. S. (1998, October 23-24). Suicide in the news: Press coverage of James Forrestal, 1949. Presentation conducted at the National Convention of the American Journalism Historians Association, Louisville, Ky.

    20. Anderson, W. B. (1998, March 12-14). Employee's right to e-mail privacy. Presentation conducted at th Law Division, Southeast Colloquium of the Association for Education in Mass Communication, New Orleans, La. Winner of "Outstanding Student Research Paper in Law Division."

    21. Anderson, W.B. (1998, February 6-7). The print media's treatment of the Braves' move to Atlanta. Presentation conducted at the Southeast Symposium of the American Journalism Historians Association, Gadsden, Ala.