European Communication Monitor is the largest longitudinal research project in public
relations practice in the world. Data collected annually from 2007 to 2014 show that
practitioners perceive five issues as the most important for their work: linking business
strategy and communication, coping with the digital evolution and social web, building and
maintaining trust, dealing with the demand for more transparency and active audiences, and
dealing with the speed and volume of information flow. Perception of the importance of
various issues for the practice of public relations is largely dependent on the gender,
geography (division between Northern and Western vs. Southern and Eastern Europe), and
sector in which a practitioner works (corporate, government, NGO or agency). While gender
and sectorial differences studied in academic public relations literature, divisions in public
relations practice between North-Western and South-Eastern Europe are largely ignored.
