Book review
https://doi.org/10.47960/2712-0457.2026.S2.8.216
PR 4.0 AS AN INTERPRETIVE EXTENSION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS (Scientific synthesis and concluding review of the special issue of the South Eastern European Journal of Communication, Volume 8, 2026)
Đorđe Obradović
; University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The 2026 special issue of the South Eastern European Journal of Communication (SEEJC) devoted to PR 4.0 links the historical reconstruction of public relations with the theoretical development of meaning management and its implications for organizational management, ethics, the media, artificial intelligence, crisis communication, and the international environment. The aim of this concluding review is to synthesize the contributions of twelve papers and consider their collective value in shaping a PR 4.0 research program. A comparative conceptual synthesis is applied, focusing on the dominant problem, the object of management, the role of publics, interpretive mechanisms, and ethical prerequisites. Particular attention is given to the contribution of Zoran Tomić, who further develops the concept of PR 4.0 by linking the professional role of the manager of meaning with meaning management theory in public relations. The division into PR 1.0, PR 2.0, PR 3.0, and PR 4.0 is interpreted as a cumulative analytical framework encompassing publicity, public information, relationship management, and meaning management. The synthesis shows that the shared contribution of the papers lies in shifting the analytical focus toward the conditions under which organizational action becomes publicly intelligible, verifiable, and open to judgment. Interpretive stability denotes temporary intelligibility that allows disagreement, while ethical inclusiveness sets limits on equating it with the imposition of an organizational interpretation. The review concludes that the issue establishes a coherent theoretical and research foundation for PR 4.0, whose further scholarly establishment requires the operationalization of constructs, comparative research, and empirical testing.
Keywords
PR 4.0; meaning management; manager of meaning; ethical prerequisites; Zoran Tomić
Hrčak ID:
353047
URI
Publication date:
1.11.2026.
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