Elspeth Tilley | Massey University (original) (raw)
Ethics research by Elspeth Tilley
Public Relations Inquiry. 4(1)
A qualitative thematic analysis of data from a 13-organization research study focusing on public ... more A qualitative thematic analysis of data from a 13-organization research study focusing on public relations ethics identified five main themes: first, that ethical dilemmas were frequent, widespread, and often handled in ways that practitioners themselves were uncomfortable with; second, labels and stereotypes about public relations practitioners as unscrupulous exacerbated the problem; third, hierarchies and silos of power in relationships within organizations, between organizations, and with clients contributed to the problem; fourth, there were barriers to, and inadequate channels or opportunities for, candid and forthright discussion about these hierarchies and silos, this lack typically manifesting as senior staff self-censoring or parroting optimistic organizational orthodoxy about ethics and junior staff feeling unsafe to criticize organizational processes; and fifth, practitioners used multiple coping strategies to deal with their sense of powerlessness including blaming others (particularly journalists), fatalism, reductive framing, and intentional blocking of awareness and evaluation of ethical issues. While it is possible these themes could be interpreted as evidence of public relations practitioners’ individual moral inadequacy, a broader analytical lens, taking into account the organizational and global power structures the practitioners described, suggests otherwise. Taking its cue from the power-attuned approach of feminist poststructuralists, this article argues that the data should be read as symptomatic, not causal, and that it is to the overarching operating power structures of global capitalism that public relations ethicists could most productively turn their attention if they want to identify loci for change.
Gender in Management. 29(3), 2014
Purpose: The literature is divided upon whether a gender difference occurs with respect to ethica... more Purpose: The literature is divided upon whether a gender difference occurs with respect to ethical decisions. Notable researchers Tannen and Gilligan demonstrated gender difference while subsequent researchers indicate that gender differences are becoming more neutralized. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyzes the gender demographic and intercultural influences on ethical decision-making by undergraduate students from New Zealand and the USA through four scenarios. Findings: Overall for the USA and New Zealand, this research demonstrates this split as well, since two scenarios showed significance while two did not. The two that demonstrated a significance dealt with personnel issues and a past client relationship. These two scenarios suggested that a relationship orientation and relativistic nature among women may influence their decision making. The two scenarios without significance were less relationship orient ed, involving dealing with a customer (a stranger) and a subordinate (implying a professional supervisory responsibility). In addition, the neutrality exhibited in the latter two scenarios may reflect Tannen's illustration that there is a cross-gender influence on decision making. With respect to the geographic location, the USA, when compared with New Zealand, and the gender demographics, only the USA reported significant differences for two scenarios. Originality/value: Undergraduate students in the USA provided situations and discussions that resulted in the development of a number of scenarios. Additional research and evaluation of current events, led to a total of ten scenarios with four scenarios yielding business related situations
Communication and Power: The 102nd Annual Convention of the Eastern Communication Association, 2011
This paper examines the individualism vs. collectivism and power-distance cultural influences on ... more This paper examines the individualism vs. collectivism and power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making by undergraduate students from New Zealand and the United States through ten scenarios. Both countries are considered individualistic (Hofstede, 1980) and participants chose similar courses of action on issues with family or kindred relationships. But significant differences were detected between the U.S. and New Zealand, with regard to the power distance of business relationships. Overall no group of respondents appeared more ethical than another. In fact, when asked if they were willing to deceive a regulatory agency, almost half of the respondents, regardless of location, indicated that they would be willing to do so. Findings are consistent with the literature on two of Hofstede⿿s (1980) dimensions and add some insight to the difference between the role Hofstede⿿s individualism dimension plays versus the role of power-distance where supervisory personnel are involved. Implications are discussed for educating various student cultures in ethical decision making.
National Communication Association 97th Annual Convention - Voice., 2011
Refereed proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference: Creating Space in the Fifth Estate., 2016
University ethics committees presently mandate a complex array of documents for use when undertak... more University ethics committees presently mandate a complex array of documents for use when undertaking research with human participants, including communication research. Detailed documentation has been developed over the years for individual researchers, their academic units, and for research participants to implement. An important part of the purpose for this documentation is to ensure that all those involved in the research have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities and rights. However the documentation that has evolved over the years seems to assume that readers possess a high level of literacy that research in a series of community-based literacy assessments over the years suggests is not always the case. Further, in industrial settings which are largely ‘non-reading’ in character, much acquisition of knowledge, decision making and many forms of workplace behaviour are mainly collective in nature rather than individualistic. Literate and individualistic assumptions about solitary, secluded learning, and about thinking, decision-making and consequent practice that might apply to some forms of literacy learning, do not necessarily apply in the collective industrial settings being studied. This paper argues that university ethics documentation needs reform so it aligns better with the reality of potential research participants’ literacy. It also proposes that such documentation also needs rethinking so that it is better focused on the collective ways in which many people undertake learning and decision making in their everyday lives. The paper explores how Foucault’s four components of ethical analysis (ethical substance, mode of subjection, ethical work and telos) signal ways in which university ethicists might approach restructuring their documentation to make it more user-friendly. When ethics is seen as something intrinsically dynamic and as process, not end state, then the documentation associated with ethics could similarly be viewed as tentative and conditional, to be reworked each time according to a fresh analysis of the needs of current research participants. Foucault’s components of ethical analysis may assist researchers to scrutinise any extent of power they may have over other people, most notably those with distinctly less agency than others, such as those with liminal literacy, and to 2 reflect on ways in which they might equalise power disparities. The ethical analysis explored here may also trigger researchers’ own radical re-imagining and reframing of their approaches to their work with individuals in community for whom academic assumptions and dense prose may comprise unknown territory. Yet as well as offering some hopes for better university-community relationships, Foucault’s insights also imply a re-empowering of individual researchers in clarifying that the locus of control over and responsibility for research ethics belongs with the researcher, not with university research offices
Public relations and communication management: An Aotearoa/New Zealand perspective., 2009
An introduction to public relations: From theory to practice., 2009
An Introduction to Public Relations addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students. Wi... more An Introduction to Public Relations addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students. With an Australian focus and real-life examples, this approach engages students, pointing out ways to extend their knowledge, to gain local and international perspectives, to understand the wider perspectives of the profession and its possibilities.
An Introduction to Public Relations and Communication Management., 2012
An Introduction to public relations and communication management addresses the theoretical and pr... more An Introduction to public relations and communication management addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 4(4), 2014
This paper examines the power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making and communi... more This paper examines the power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making and communicating responses by undergraduate students from the United States, New Zealand, and Germany through six business oriented scenarios. Significant differences were detected on two of the six scenarios between the U.S. and New Zealand, with regard to the power distance of business relationships. Overall no group of respondents appeared more ethical than another. In fact, when asked if they were willing to deceive a regulatory agency, almost half of the respondents, regardless of location, indicated that they would be willing to do so. Findings indicate a weak link with the literature on (Hofstede, 1980) power distance dimension and adds some insight to the difference between the role Hofstede’s power-distance and when supervisory personnel are involved. Implications are discussed for educating various student cultures in ethical decision making and appropriate communication
strategies.
… Media: Information, Social Norms, and New Media …, Jan 1, 2011
Email: e.tilley@massey.ac.nz 2 Dr Elspeth Tilley (senior communication lecturer, Massey Universit... more Email: e.tilley@massey.ac.nz 2 Dr Elspeth Tilley (senior communication lecturer, Massey University) has been researching public relations ethics in New Zealand since 2004. In 2005 she developed an applied ethics system, the ethics pyramid, and has since conducted a longitudinal, consultative action research programme to develop and modify the ethics tool in workplace situations and explore the real-world barriers to ethical action. Her research on public relations, new media, and ethics topics has appeared in refereed conference, book chapter, and journal publications. Elspeth is also editor of the online refereed public relations and communication research journal, PRism (see http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html). Author bio note: New media have changed the parameters of public relations, multiplying audiences and altering the nature of relationships. Practitioners' ethics approaches have been slower to adapt, frequently proving inadequate to the changes. McLuhan's theory of technological determinism predicts this lag in conceptualising and adapting to technological evolution: with awareness of the problem, however, practitioners have an opportunity to consciously shift to using the potential of new media proactively for ethical guidance, rather than continuing to allow ethics processes to lag behind technological capacity. Abstract 3
Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Jan 1, 2005
J To move from the realm of good intent to verifiable practice, ethics needs to be approached in ... more J To move from the realm of good intent to verifiable practice, ethics needs to be approached in the same way as any other desired outcome of the public relations process: that is, operationalized and evaluated at each stage of a public relations campaign. A pyramid model-the "ethics pyramid"-is useful for incorporating ethical reflection and evaluation processes into the standard structure of a typical public relations plan. Practitioners can use it to integrate and manage ethical intent, means, and ends, by setting ethics objectives, considering the ethics of each campaign tactic, and reporting whether ethical outcomes have been attained.
Media International Australia, Jan 1, 2004
This study tests allegations that the Australian government's 2003 'terror kit' was propaganda. B... more This study tests allegations that the Australian government's 2003 'terror kit' was propaganda. Because propaganda's definition and function are contested, content analysis was trialled as a method of clarifying propaganda detection. A propaganda index was developed using both manual and computerised coding, and while each method had limits, together they produced reliable and valid results. Measured against the index, Howard's letter scored a 62 per cent propaganda rating.
Communication Research Reports, Jan 1, 2005
Journal of Communication …, Jan 1, 2012
Purpose–This article aims to report the results of an international survey (USA and New Zealand) ... more Purpose–This article aims to report the results of an international survey (USA and New Zealand) that tested relationship effects on ethical behaviour. The findings point to the impact of perceived social bonds on ethical decision-making. They also reinforce the cultural specificity of ethics. Both these findings confirm the importance of participatory, ground-up, discussion-based approaches to developing organisational ethical standards. The article discusses some implications of these findings for internal communicators involved with ...
publictimetable.massey.ac.nz
Zealand. She has professional experience in communication spanning 13 years, and has published re... more Zealand. She has professional experience in communication spanning 13 years, and has published refereed academic works on topics including public relations ethics, journalism ethics, political communication, cross-cultural communication, media relations, workplace theatre, online communication, visual communication, literacy and employment, discourse analysis, and race relations.
masseyuniversity.org
This article reports the results of an international survey (USA and Aotearoa/New Zealand) that t... more This article reports the results of an international survey (USA and Aotearoa/New Zealand) that tested age and education-level effects on ethical decision-making responses among university students studying communication. The findings point to some influence from students' age and employment status on their ethical decision-making, but suggest that their level of tertiary education is having almost no measurable impact. The article discusses some implications of these findings for educators involved in designing and delivering ethics education curricula in communication programmes. The authors suggest that while there has been some adoption of constructivist models in communication curricula to date, the apparent low impact of involvement in university education on ethical decision-making suggests that a much more sweeping and drastic adoption needs to be trialled and tested.
This article reports the results, by gender, of an international ethics survey that was tested wi... more This article reports the results, by gender, of an international ethics survey that was tested with communication students in New Zealand in 2009. The findings signal gender differences in ethical decision-making, but also that both genders change their behaviour to select more ethical options when a kinship factor is involved. This suggests that feminist ethical theories that promote the value of concepts of relational interdependence to enhancing ethical thinking are relevant for both genders. The findings also point to the importance for organisations of facilitating and supporting diverse perspectives on ethical issues, and creating a culture of equality in which both genders feel able to speak out about ethical problems. The article explores some of the main implications of these findings for public relations practice. 1
the refereed proceedings of the Australian & …, Jan 1, 2010
researches the discourses that shape postcolonial cultures, including particularly racialised, cl... more researches the discourses that shape postcolonial cultures, including particularly racialised, class-based, and gendered discourses, and their manifestations across fields including literacy, public communication, and popular culture. Her main methodological specialisation is critical discourse analysis but she has used a diverse range of qualitative and quantitative methods in her published research. Additionally, Elspeth has been continuously working as a research editor for various scholarly journal and book publications for more than a decade.
This article uses Bourdieu's field theory as an interpretive lens to examine public relations pra... more This article uses Bourdieu's field theory as an interpretive lens to examine public relations practitioners' testimony about ethical practice in their day--to--day working lives. The practitioners who participated in this research felt strongly committed to being as ethical as possible -yet they frequently answered questions about their own ethics practices with unprompted criticisms of journalists' ethics. In fact, in this research which asked questions only about personal ethical practice, PR practitioners articulated media--blame as an answer theme more than twice as often as they critically discussed ethical issues experienced in their own field. Arguably, this first resort to other--focused censure limited their engagement with the barriers to ethical practice operating in their own profession and, as a result, restricted their ability to change their profession from within. Bourdieu's field theory provides a useful way of reading the participants' dilemmas, because it draws attention to their embeddedness in professional stances. Such a focus illuminates practitioners' struggles to be ethical, and their use of coping strategies such as blame, not as individual failings but as symptomatic of their socially--constructed professional position within broader constraints inherent in the configuration of their field. It follows that addressing public relations ethics at a practitioner level will have limited ability to change the profession's ethical performance until the ways that broader structuration of the field constrains ethical self-examination are considered.
Public Relations Inquiry. 4(1)
A qualitative thematic analysis of data from a 13-organization research study focusing on public ... more A qualitative thematic analysis of data from a 13-organization research study focusing on public relations ethics identified five main themes: first, that ethical dilemmas were frequent, widespread, and often handled in ways that practitioners themselves were uncomfortable with; second, labels and stereotypes about public relations practitioners as unscrupulous exacerbated the problem; third, hierarchies and silos of power in relationships within organizations, between organizations, and with clients contributed to the problem; fourth, there were barriers to, and inadequate channels or opportunities for, candid and forthright discussion about these hierarchies and silos, this lack typically manifesting as senior staff self-censoring or parroting optimistic organizational orthodoxy about ethics and junior staff feeling unsafe to criticize organizational processes; and fifth, practitioners used multiple coping strategies to deal with their sense of powerlessness including blaming others (particularly journalists), fatalism, reductive framing, and intentional blocking of awareness and evaluation of ethical issues. While it is possible these themes could be interpreted as evidence of public relations practitioners’ individual moral inadequacy, a broader analytical lens, taking into account the organizational and global power structures the practitioners described, suggests otherwise. Taking its cue from the power-attuned approach of feminist poststructuralists, this article argues that the data should be read as symptomatic, not causal, and that it is to the overarching operating power structures of global capitalism that public relations ethicists could most productively turn their attention if they want to identify loci for change.
Gender in Management. 29(3), 2014
Purpose: The literature is divided upon whether a gender difference occurs with respect to ethica... more Purpose: The literature is divided upon whether a gender difference occurs with respect to ethical decisions. Notable researchers Tannen and Gilligan demonstrated gender difference while subsequent researchers indicate that gender differences are becoming more neutralized. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyzes the gender demographic and intercultural influences on ethical decision-making by undergraduate students from New Zealand and the USA through four scenarios. Findings: Overall for the USA and New Zealand, this research demonstrates this split as well, since two scenarios showed significance while two did not. The two that demonstrated a significance dealt with personnel issues and a past client relationship. These two scenarios suggested that a relationship orientation and relativistic nature among women may influence their decision making. The two scenarios without significance were less relationship orient ed, involving dealing with a customer (a stranger) and a subordinate (implying a professional supervisory responsibility). In addition, the neutrality exhibited in the latter two scenarios may reflect Tannen's illustration that there is a cross-gender influence on decision making. With respect to the geographic location, the USA, when compared with New Zealand, and the gender demographics, only the USA reported significant differences for two scenarios. Originality/value: Undergraduate students in the USA provided situations and discussions that resulted in the development of a number of scenarios. Additional research and evaluation of current events, led to a total of ten scenarios with four scenarios yielding business related situations
Communication and Power: The 102nd Annual Convention of the Eastern Communication Association, 2011
This paper examines the individualism vs. collectivism and power-distance cultural influences on ... more This paper examines the individualism vs. collectivism and power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making by undergraduate students from New Zealand and the United States through ten scenarios. Both countries are considered individualistic (Hofstede, 1980) and participants chose similar courses of action on issues with family or kindred relationships. But significant differences were detected between the U.S. and New Zealand, with regard to the power distance of business relationships. Overall no group of respondents appeared more ethical than another. In fact, when asked if they were willing to deceive a regulatory agency, almost half of the respondents, regardless of location, indicated that they would be willing to do so. Findings are consistent with the literature on two of Hofstede⿿s (1980) dimensions and add some insight to the difference between the role Hofstede⿿s individualism dimension plays versus the role of power-distance where supervisory personnel are involved. Implications are discussed for educating various student cultures in ethical decision making.
National Communication Association 97th Annual Convention - Voice., 2011
Refereed proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference: Creating Space in the Fifth Estate., 2016
University ethics committees presently mandate a complex array of documents for use when undertak... more University ethics committees presently mandate a complex array of documents for use when undertaking research with human participants, including communication research. Detailed documentation has been developed over the years for individual researchers, their academic units, and for research participants to implement. An important part of the purpose for this documentation is to ensure that all those involved in the research have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities and rights. However the documentation that has evolved over the years seems to assume that readers possess a high level of literacy that research in a series of community-based literacy assessments over the years suggests is not always the case. Further, in industrial settings which are largely ‘non-reading’ in character, much acquisition of knowledge, decision making and many forms of workplace behaviour are mainly collective in nature rather than individualistic. Literate and individualistic assumptions about solitary, secluded learning, and about thinking, decision-making and consequent practice that might apply to some forms of literacy learning, do not necessarily apply in the collective industrial settings being studied. This paper argues that university ethics documentation needs reform so it aligns better with the reality of potential research participants’ literacy. It also proposes that such documentation also needs rethinking so that it is better focused on the collective ways in which many people undertake learning and decision making in their everyday lives. The paper explores how Foucault’s four components of ethical analysis (ethical substance, mode of subjection, ethical work and telos) signal ways in which university ethicists might approach restructuring their documentation to make it more user-friendly. When ethics is seen as something intrinsically dynamic and as process, not end state, then the documentation associated with ethics could similarly be viewed as tentative and conditional, to be reworked each time according to a fresh analysis of the needs of current research participants. Foucault’s components of ethical analysis may assist researchers to scrutinise any extent of power they may have over other people, most notably those with distinctly less agency than others, such as those with liminal literacy, and to 2 reflect on ways in which they might equalise power disparities. The ethical analysis explored here may also trigger researchers’ own radical re-imagining and reframing of their approaches to their work with individuals in community for whom academic assumptions and dense prose may comprise unknown territory. Yet as well as offering some hopes for better university-community relationships, Foucault’s insights also imply a re-empowering of individual researchers in clarifying that the locus of control over and responsibility for research ethics belongs with the researcher, not with university research offices
Public relations and communication management: An Aotearoa/New Zealand perspective., 2009
An introduction to public relations: From theory to practice., 2009
An Introduction to Public Relations addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students. Wi... more An Introduction to Public Relations addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students. With an Australian focus and real-life examples, this approach engages students, pointing out ways to extend their knowledge, to gain local and international perspectives, to understand the wider perspectives of the profession and its possibilities.
An Introduction to Public Relations and Communication Management., 2012
An Introduction to public relations and communication management addresses the theoretical and pr... more An Introduction to public relations and communication management addresses the theoretical and practical needs of students.
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 4(4), 2014
This paper examines the power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making and communi... more This paper examines the power-distance cultural influences on ethical decision-making and communicating responses by undergraduate students from the United States, New Zealand, and Germany through six business oriented scenarios. Significant differences were detected on two of the six scenarios between the U.S. and New Zealand, with regard to the power distance of business relationships. Overall no group of respondents appeared more ethical than another. In fact, when asked if they were willing to deceive a regulatory agency, almost half of the respondents, regardless of location, indicated that they would be willing to do so. Findings indicate a weak link with the literature on (Hofstede, 1980) power distance dimension and adds some insight to the difference between the role Hofstede’s power-distance and when supervisory personnel are involved. Implications are discussed for educating various student cultures in ethical decision making and appropriate communication
strategies.
… Media: Information, Social Norms, and New Media …, Jan 1, 2011
Email: e.tilley@massey.ac.nz 2 Dr Elspeth Tilley (senior communication lecturer, Massey Universit... more Email: e.tilley@massey.ac.nz 2 Dr Elspeth Tilley (senior communication lecturer, Massey University) has been researching public relations ethics in New Zealand since 2004. In 2005 she developed an applied ethics system, the ethics pyramid, and has since conducted a longitudinal, consultative action research programme to develop and modify the ethics tool in workplace situations and explore the real-world barriers to ethical action. Her research on public relations, new media, and ethics topics has appeared in refereed conference, book chapter, and journal publications. Elspeth is also editor of the online refereed public relations and communication research journal, PRism (see http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html). Author bio note: New media have changed the parameters of public relations, multiplying audiences and altering the nature of relationships. Practitioners' ethics approaches have been slower to adapt, frequently proving inadequate to the changes. McLuhan's theory of technological determinism predicts this lag in conceptualising and adapting to technological evolution: with awareness of the problem, however, practitioners have an opportunity to consciously shift to using the potential of new media proactively for ethical guidance, rather than continuing to allow ethics processes to lag behind technological capacity. Abstract 3
Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Jan 1, 2005
J To move from the realm of good intent to verifiable practice, ethics needs to be approached in ... more J To move from the realm of good intent to verifiable practice, ethics needs to be approached in the same way as any other desired outcome of the public relations process: that is, operationalized and evaluated at each stage of a public relations campaign. A pyramid model-the "ethics pyramid"-is useful for incorporating ethical reflection and evaluation processes into the standard structure of a typical public relations plan. Practitioners can use it to integrate and manage ethical intent, means, and ends, by setting ethics objectives, considering the ethics of each campaign tactic, and reporting whether ethical outcomes have been attained.
Media International Australia, Jan 1, 2004
This study tests allegations that the Australian government's 2003 'terror kit' was propaganda. B... more This study tests allegations that the Australian government's 2003 'terror kit' was propaganda. Because propaganda's definition and function are contested, content analysis was trialled as a method of clarifying propaganda detection. A propaganda index was developed using both manual and computerised coding, and while each method had limits, together they produced reliable and valid results. Measured against the index, Howard's letter scored a 62 per cent propaganda rating.
Communication Research Reports, Jan 1, 2005
Journal of Communication …, Jan 1, 2012
Purpose–This article aims to report the results of an international survey (USA and New Zealand) ... more Purpose–This article aims to report the results of an international survey (USA and New Zealand) that tested relationship effects on ethical behaviour. The findings point to the impact of perceived social bonds on ethical decision-making. They also reinforce the cultural specificity of ethics. Both these findings confirm the importance of participatory, ground-up, discussion-based approaches to developing organisational ethical standards. The article discusses some implications of these findings for internal communicators involved with ...
publictimetable.massey.ac.nz
Zealand. She has professional experience in communication spanning 13 years, and has published re... more Zealand. She has professional experience in communication spanning 13 years, and has published refereed academic works on topics including public relations ethics, journalism ethics, political communication, cross-cultural communication, media relations, workplace theatre, online communication, visual communication, literacy and employment, discourse analysis, and race relations.
masseyuniversity.org
This article reports the results of an international survey (USA and Aotearoa/New Zealand) that t... more This article reports the results of an international survey (USA and Aotearoa/New Zealand) that tested age and education-level effects on ethical decision-making responses among university students studying communication. The findings point to some influence from students' age and employment status on their ethical decision-making, but suggest that their level of tertiary education is having almost no measurable impact. The article discusses some implications of these findings for educators involved in designing and delivering ethics education curricula in communication programmes. The authors suggest that while there has been some adoption of constructivist models in communication curricula to date, the apparent low impact of involvement in university education on ethical decision-making suggests that a much more sweeping and drastic adoption needs to be trialled and tested.
This article reports the results, by gender, of an international ethics survey that was tested wi... more This article reports the results, by gender, of an international ethics survey that was tested with communication students in New Zealand in 2009. The findings signal gender differences in ethical decision-making, but also that both genders change their behaviour to select more ethical options when a kinship factor is involved. This suggests that feminist ethical theories that promote the value of concepts of relational interdependence to enhancing ethical thinking are relevant for both genders. The findings also point to the importance for organisations of facilitating and supporting diverse perspectives on ethical issues, and creating a culture of equality in which both genders feel able to speak out about ethical problems. The article explores some of the main implications of these findings for public relations practice. 1
the refereed proceedings of the Australian & …, Jan 1, 2010
researches the discourses that shape postcolonial cultures, including particularly racialised, cl... more researches the discourses that shape postcolonial cultures, including particularly racialised, class-based, and gendered discourses, and their manifestations across fields including literacy, public communication, and popular culture. Her main methodological specialisation is critical discourse analysis but she has used a diverse range of qualitative and quantitative methods in her published research. Additionally, Elspeth has been continuously working as a research editor for various scholarly journal and book publications for more than a decade.
This article uses Bourdieu's field theory as an interpretive lens to examine public relations pra... more This article uses Bourdieu's field theory as an interpretive lens to examine public relations practitioners' testimony about ethical practice in their day--to--day working lives. The practitioners who participated in this research felt strongly committed to being as ethical as possible -yet they frequently answered questions about their own ethics practices with unprompted criticisms of journalists' ethics. In fact, in this research which asked questions only about personal ethical practice, PR practitioners articulated media--blame as an answer theme more than twice as often as they critically discussed ethical issues experienced in their own field. Arguably, this first resort to other--focused censure limited their engagement with the barriers to ethical practice operating in their own profession and, as a result, restricted their ability to change their profession from within. Bourdieu's field theory provides a useful way of reading the participants' dilemmas, because it draws attention to their embeddedness in professional stances. Such a focus illuminates practitioners' struggles to be ethical, and their use of coping strategies such as blame, not as individual failings but as symptomatic of their socially--constructed professional position within broader constraints inherent in the configuration of their field. It follows that addressing public relations ethics at a practitioner level will have limited ability to change the profession's ethical performance until the ways that broader structuration of the field constrains ethical self-examination are considered.
Public Relations Inquiry. 3(1), 2014
This article argues for recognition of the value and relevance of Indigenous knowledges about pri... more This article argues for recognition of the value and relevance of Indigenous knowledges about principles and practices of engagement to theory building and praxis in organisation-public engagement. Specifically, in this article, the Kaupapa Māori body of knowledge and practice that has developed around Indigenous/non-Indigenous engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand is identified as a valid source of insight for the analogous situation of organisation-public engagement where power imbalance is inherent. Selected Kaupapa Māori principles are proposed for their ability to provide pertinent alternatives to mechanistic approaches at each stage of the engagement process.
Media International Australia., 2013
Time is a particularly powerful construct in postcolonial societies. Intermeshed with discourses ... more Time is a particularly powerful construct in postcolonial societies. Intermeshed with discourses of race, place and belonging, European ideas of time as linear, Cartesian and chronological function as enduring discursive categories that frame public debate within conceptual legacies from colonialism. There is substantial evidence internationally that modernist and mechanical temporal discourses of progress and efficiency have impeded Indigenous aspirations, including attempts to achieve sovereignty. In this article, we use a critical whiteness studies framework, and a critical discourse analysis methodology, to make visible the temporal assumptions in mainstream news articles from Aotearoa New Zealand. These articles, from influential, agenda-setting media, discuss crucial issues of indigenous rights, including Te Tiriti o Waitangi negotiations. Our analysis shows that they do so within a culturally specific, Western temporal framework, which limits their ability to provide balanced, informative coverage of the issues at stake.
acrawsa.org.au
Australian mythology about becoming lost in the bush. The analysis shows that the well-known tale... more Australian mythology about becoming lost in the bush. The analysis shows that the well-known tales of lost white children, women, explorers, drovers, and other variants of what is here termed "white-vanishing mythology", are neither neutral nor natural, but socially constructed and politically instrumental. In particular, these tales create and regulate forms of whiteness that are hegemonic, exclusive and conformist. This article details the ways in which whiteness is structured, marked and policed, and points to the strategic uses of such a delimiting for the maintenance of a racialised hyper-separation that underpins Australian colonialism. Loaded with binarised discourses of race, civility and belonging, white-vanishing mythology is exposed as a potent discursive weapon of colonialism and neo-colonialism. The trope's continuing popularity for contemporary migrant-coloniser writers indicates that racialised, colonialist thinking remains deeply and insistently embedded in white Australian culture.
Australian Studies, Jan 1, 2009
Australasian Drama Studies, Jan 1, 2012
Character doubling has a contested provenance in theatre studies. On the one hand, it has been id... more Character doubling has a contested provenance in theatre studies. On the one hand, it has been identified as a way to subvert naturalisation of socialised roles, foregrounding the performativity that scholars such as Judith Butler have identified as being inherent in everyday identity practices. When actors cross ethnic, class, gender, age or other boundaries to achieve doubled or multiple characterisation within a single performance, they can effectively expose and problematise those boundaries' constructedness. ...
Journal of Australian Studies, Jan 1, 1999
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Antipodes: A North American Journal of …, Jan 1, 2011
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... Author(s), Tilley, Elspeth Nina. Thesis Title, White Vanishing: A Settler Australian Hegemoni... more ... Author(s), Tilley, Elspeth Nina. Thesis Title, White Vanishing: A Settler Australian Hegemonic Textual Strategy, 1789-2006. ... Together, these four repeated discursive categories shape the white vanishing trope as a strong and consistent meta-narrative of anti-conquest . ...
Public Relations Theory and Practice, 2020
This has always been the definitive text for PR in Australia. Public Relations: Theory and Practi... more This has always been the definitive text for PR in Australia. Public Relations: Theory and Practice is the complete companion for new and not-so-new practitioners.
This paper presents two case studies that suggest, in different but complementary ways, that the ... more This paper presents two case studies that suggest, in different but complementary ways, that the critical tool of frame analysis (Entman, 2002) has a place not only in the analytical environments of critical media research and media studies classes, where it is commonly found, but also in the media-production oriented environments of skills-based journalism training and even the newsroom. The expectations and constraints of both the latter environments, however, necessitate forms of frame analysis that are quick and simple. While commercial pressures mean newsrooms and skills-based journalism-training environments are likely to allow only an oversimplified approach to frame analysis, we argue that even a simple understanding and analysis at the production end could help to shift framing in ways that not only improve the quality and depth of Australasian newspapers' news coverage, but increase reader satisfaction with media output.
Abstract: Since it emerged early this century, citizen journalist and its related terms have been... more Abstract: Since it emerged early this century, citizen journalist and its related terms have been increasingly contested among groups including professional journalists, academics, and citizens. This paper advances a new and clearer typology of the participant groups in this contest and analyses the discursive constructs they use to advance and argue their positions. It argues that the linked terms citizen journalist and citizen journalism are multivalent discursive constructs, and that recognising the various contexts in which they ...
Public relations theory and practice., 2014
Public relations and communication management: An Aotearoa/New Zealand perspective., 2009
Public relations theory and practice., 2009
Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies. 6(2), 2017
A total of 1018 English-language abstracts in the field of journalism studies, published from 200... more A total of 1018 English-language abstracts in the field of journalism studies, published from 2000–2011 in three internationally peer-reviewed journals, were subjected to computerized textual analysis and manual (human) discourse analysis to discover trends. The project aimed to build on previous studies and to describe what the researchers expected would be a new consensus snapshot among editors and top-level reviewers of the evolution and direction of Journalism Studies in the English-speaking world. Expected results emerged and are presented in detail: national priorities dominate two of the three journals while international and generally theoretical themes dominate the third. However, an unexpected result was that while the three journals contain identifiable themes in journalism studies over the twelve years examined, there was negligible evidence of interaction between these themes within or between the journals. Systems theory suggests that the ‘journalism’ itself, which has been the target of the ‘studies’ has been experiencing a period of stagnation and that very little, if any, overall interaction, discipline development and change has taken place. We argue that a root cause for this is the lack of professional leadership in journalism.
Communication in the New Zealand Workplace: Theory and Practice., 2005
… in the New Zealand workplace: Theory and …, Jan 1, 2005
Two photographs accompanied the story. One showed seven people in wetsuits and scuba gear walking... more Two photographs accompanied the story. One showed seven people in wetsuits and scuba gear walking through calf-deep water (one man held his thumb and little finger in the air); and the other showed crayfish piled on the ground and in orange plastic buckets. This chapter analyses the "Maori Fish Scams" article using agenda setting, a model of media influence on public opinion. Various individuals and organisations responded to the article, and the overview below of those reactions introduces a range of practical media relations techniques that can be used by any organisation seeking to voice a public opinion. For businesses in particular, media relations skills can critically influence vital factors such as brand awareness, reputation and crisis survival.
Australian journal of Communication, Jan 1, 2005
women-leadership.massey.ac.nz
Since it emerged early this century, citizen journalist and its related terms have been increasin... more Since it emerged early this century, citizen journalist and its related terms have been increasingly contested among groups including professional journalists, academics, and citizens. This paper advances a new and clearer typology of the participant groups in this contest and analyses the discursive constructs they use to advance and argue their positions. It argues that the linked terms citizen journalist and citizen journalism are multivalent discursive constructs, and that recognising the various contexts in which they are deployed is essential to understanding the ways in which changes to relationships between media participants are occurring and being resisted. The paper develops a model for five participant groups and uses it to review the discursive constructions of 'citizen journalist' and 'citizen journalism'. Data is deployed from literature and case studies to characterise each participant group, summarise the ways they identify themselves and are identified by others, and foreground the discursive assumptions in their various assertions.
… of the ANZCA 2008 Conference, Wellington …, Jan 1, 2008
Pacific Journalism Review, Jan 1, 2008
… Journalism Review, Jan 1, 2007
Refereed Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference: Communicating Change and Changing Communication in the 21st Century., 2012
The term adult literacy often refers to measurable individual competencies in reading and writing... more The term adult literacy often refers to measurable individual competencies in reading and writing, separate from the context in which they are employed. Much government investment in adult literacy is based on survey-based tests of adults’ print literacy and numeracy, especially the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and the follow-up Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL). While IALS and ALL have contributed to understanding about shortcomings in people’s individual abilities in print literacy, importantly, the voice of those who are the target and consumers of adult literacy training has seldom been heard in the policy debate. This study reports on interviews with 88 persons undertaking adult literacy training and describes their insights into their actual literacy needs. In contrast with the policy emphasis on functional skill development derived from IALS and ALL, our research participants told us that their needs were around more complex and holistic areas such as communication or life skills, or abilities such as computer literacy. Interviewees were clear that the literacy skills required to undertake particular tasks had to be integrated within a broader personal framework of capabilities and attributes. They provided an account of literacy development needs that was more balanced than that available just from analysis of IALS and ALL and with a focus on communication within the oral-experiential culture of the workplace. Respondents did not dismiss the more mechanical aspects of literacy such as reading and writing, but rather saw such competencies as a means to an end. Adult literacy policy with its narrow focus on people’s deficits and its promotion of skills training looks deprived alongside respondents’ more holistic perspective. Adult literacy policy needs to serve the needs of the whole person within the context of the workplace that is still oral-experiential in important ways.
Maritime Psychology: Research in Organizational and Health Behavior at Sea. , 2017
Using the Rena grounding and oil spill as a case study, and elaboration likelihood modelling as a... more Using the Rena grounding and oil spill as a case study, and elaboration likelihood modelling as a framework, this chapter offers a comprehensive checklist for how to effectively communicate risk and emergency response information in the maritime industry before, during and after a disaster or crisis.
Medical communication in clinical contexts., 2012
Media International Australia. (152), 2014
This article explores attitudes towards immunisation and immunisation communication materials amo... more This article explores attitudes towards immunisation and immunisation communication materials among parents and caregivers currently facing immunisation decisions in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research aimed to discover, from an open-ended qualitative investigation, new ways to conceptualise and explain immunisation decision-making, and identify participants' own views on approaches worth trialling as ways to increase immunisation rates. The research used communication artefacts as talking points, and an action research process to modify these to reflect participants' design suggestions, but was primarily exploratory. It started a broad conversation with participants about their decisionmaking influences rather than being designed to test any particular attributes of the immunisation communication process. From a qualitative analysis of transcripts of focus-group and in-depth interviews with 107 immunisation decisionmakers, themes were drawn. Applying an emic process enabled identification of participants' own ideas that have now broadened the range of possible approaches currently being considered for immunisation communication in Aotearoa New Zealand. Given that immunisation decline is a problem internationally, these participant-driven ideas may also be worth testing in other contexts.
Text and Talk. 35(1), 2015
Research has described the importance of orality at work and in everyday life but little agreemen... more Research has described the importance of orality at work and in everyday life but little agreement currently exists on how to theorize modern orality. This study explores how young adult literacy learners thought about and employed their textual (print) literacy within the oral contexts of their lives. We interviewed 88 mainly unemployed young persons undertaking literacy training to assess how their literacy fitted within their everyday lives, exploring their learning, employment, motivation, persistence, barriers to learning, and power dynamics. Respondents saw their textual literacy as situated within a matrix of everyday interpersonal communication more than as stand-alone functional skills, describing how literacy integrates with oral-experiential lifeworlds such as at work. Empirical evidence was provided to support the recent work of scholars who are building theory in the text-orality nexus. This study provides insights into the oral world of people with liminal (threshold) textual literacy; since such individuals are necessarily more oral than literate in their everyday life experience, they provide unique insights into how their orality intersects with use of textual information.
Proceedings of the Tertiary Writing Network Colloquium 2006, 2007
Proceedings of the Tertiary Writing Network Colloquium 2006. (pp. 105 - 118). New Zealand: Tertia... more Proceedings of the Tertiary Writing Network Colloquium 2006. (pp. 105 - 118). New Zealand: Tertiary Writing Network Colloquium
Popularizing Research: Engaging New Genres, Media, and Audiences., 2012
New literacies: Reconstructing language and education., 2013
Australian & New …, Jan 1, 2011
Following one to one interviews with 90 participants in adult literacy training courses we sought... more Following one to one interviews with 90 participants in adult literacy training courses we sought ways to provide quality research feedback both to them and to governmental adult literacy policy makers and funders in ways other than in written reports. Pictorial images were designed comprising a combination of place (photographs of the research site Wanganui), people (depictions of our interviewees following actual participant demographics) and voice (interviewees' words selected from interview transcripts. To date little detailed attention seems to have been paid to the mechanisms of just how expressive content in media of this nature is manufactured or communicated. We explore how expressive content is produced by a cluster of factors including the appealing expression on or form of the person's face, the words used, and an evocation of community values to be inferred from the person's words. We go on to explore how the images that we depict are an attempt to construct voice and person as strong individuals who are striving to better themselves. As such we undertake a particular construction of people of low literacy in community and accept that our communicative intent is political in nature.
literacy.massey.ac.nz
This discussion paper explores the perceptions and literacy needs of a wide range of community me... more This discussion paper explores the perceptions and literacy needs of a wide range of community members, stakeholders, and agencies in the Wanganui and Districts region. The study comprises one element within a major, longitudinal research programme exploring issues around adult literacy and employment.
canberra.edu.au
Prof Frank Sligo's research interests are in the knowledge-behaviour gap, and community and workp... more Prof Frank Sligo's research interests are in the knowledge-behaviour gap, and community and workplace literacies including apprentices' and managers' literacy.
Education+ Training, Jan 1, 2011
Purpose–This study aims to examine how well print-literacy support being provided to New Zealand ... more Purpose–This study aims to examine how well print-literacy support being provided to New Zealand Modern Apprentices (MAs) is supporting their study and practical work. Design/methodology/approach–The authors undertook a qualitative analysis of a database of 191 MAs in the literacy programme, then in 14 case studies completed 46 interviews with MAs, their employers, industry coordinators and adult literacy tutors to obtain triangulated insights into each MA's learning.
Visual Communication, Jan 1, 2011
Abstract This article describes a use of visual imagery in research reporting that helps to empha... more Abstract This article describes a use of visual imagery in research reporting that helps to emphasize the human and social dimensions of research issues and encourage different ways of thinking about the findings and implications. During the literature review, in order to establish the authors' longitudinal research into adult literacy, they observed that research participants' own perspectives and rich life-worlds were usually invisible in final reports and articles, submerged under layers of governmental or scholarly discourse. An irony was ...
Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Jan 1, 2009
Abstract This article documents a novel yet theory-informed process of preparing research reports... more Abstract This article documents a novel yet theory-informed process of preparing research reports designed for government officials who are concerned with creating adult-literacy policy. The authors use cartoons that include verbatim dialogue from the transcripts of interviews with research participants with low functional literacy. This dialogue, which depicts positive messages about the participants' moral character, strengths, and resilience, is set against photographic backdrops of the participants' lived environment to give a ...
“this view moves beyond simplistic understandings of literacy as a functional skill, or indeed so... more “this view moves beyond simplistic understandings of literacy as a functional skill, or indeed something people don't have, to views which encourage research and teaching based on the ways in which learners (and indeed practitioners) might use literacy as part of their everyday lives. This view of literacy takes account of the cultural practices, local contexts and historical patterns shaping literacy use and, in my view, is an improvement on functional approaches”(Shore, 2003, para. 1).
We are indebted to many other friends and colleagues not named here for their insights and suppor... more We are indebted to many other friends and colleagues not named here for their insights and support to date in this research. All remaining errors and omissions in this discussion paper are of course the responsibility of the authors alone. Further, the points of view expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and are not necessarily endorsed by the community groups which, as is normal in a diverse society, will have their own perspectives on the issues covered here.
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology., 2018
Feminist discourse analysis has evolved out of linguists' particular concern with text and talk a... more Feminist discourse analysis has evolved out of linguists' particular concern with text and talk as gendered interactions, and feminist scholars' particular concern with discourse as an apparatus of patriarchy, to become, today, a wide‐reaching approach for understanding and critiquing the power of language and the language of power in many incarnations and contexts. Feminist discourse analysts understand discourse as establishing categories of inclusion and exclusion that are related to patriarchy as an “omnirelevant” schema but also see these gendered categories intersecting with a wide range of other hierarchical conceptualizations of difference that structure social institutions and interactions. They examine these various manifestations of difference, and the power they accrue or withhold, in media texts, conversations, advertisements, novels, films, political speeches, meeting minutes, interview transcripts, or wherever they may occur, through close attention to structures of representation such as themes, frames, grammatical features, and modes of address.
PRism Online PR Journal
This issue reflects nicely the link between practice and theory that PRism has always aimed to fa... more This issue reflects nicely the link between practice and theory that PRism has always aimed to facilitate, and proves that the future of public relations scholarship is bright indeed.
Te Hā Tangata: The Breath of the People, 2018
Te Hā Tangata (The Breath of the People) was a unique ‘human library’ event. The project recognis... more Te Hā Tangata (The Breath of the People) was a unique ‘human library’ event. The project recognised that people experiencing homelessness are often talked about, but seldom listened to. Te Hā Tangata was a collaboration between Wellington’s homeless community, Te Pūaroha Compassion Soup Kitchen, Kahungunu Whānau Services, Te Whakamura Ai Te Ahi and Massey University, with funding from the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO. Our Taonga (New Zealanders who have experienced homelessness) were supported through a four-month process of workshops to develop their personal narrative and share it publicly to redress some of the wider community’s preconceptions and lack of direct knowledge about people who are homeless. This book covers the project’s key processes and presents excerpts from the moving Taonga stories that resulted. Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit Te Pūaroha Compassion Soup Kitchen in its work supporting people experiencing homelessness.
Authors: Oysima-Pirini, A., Pickering, S., Taiapa, R., Williams, S., Rio, M., Swenson, V., Dewes, M., Downs, B., Ifi, J., Sidal, S., Holland, K., Taylor, N., Taite, J., Petrie, M., Fox, E., Tilley, E., & Goulter, S.
Stage It! 3: Twenty 10-minute plays selected from the Stage It! international competition., 2019
This is a verbatim play featuring (with their participation and consent as part of the 'Te Hã Tan... more This is a verbatim play featuring (with their participation and consent as part of the 'Te Hã Tangata' Human Library project) testimony from people affected by homelessness. Names have been changed to protect privacy. Te Hã Tangata had its world premiere in the Top 80 at Sydney Short + Sweet Festival, February 2019, at the Tom Mann Theatre, Sydney, directed by Anastasia Kyriakidis and featuring Cormac Costello, Katrina Maskell and Vicki Thompson. It was published by Frank Blocker (ed.) in Stage-It 3, in April, 2019.
Where is the Hope? An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays., 2018
Where is the Hope? An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays is a collection of 50 short plays b... more Where is the Hope? An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays is a collection of 50 short plays by writers from all over the world, commissioned for Climate Change Theatre Action 2017. A creative response to the question “How can we inspire people and turn the challenges of climate change into opportunities?” the plays offer a diversity of perspectives and artistic approaches in telling stories that may point to a just and sustainable future.
Septet: Seven Award Winning Plays from Aotearoa., 2019
Ten minute plays that have won top prizes in NZ Playwrights competition 2018. Lots of comedy, lot... more Ten minute plays that have won top prizes in NZ Playwrights competition 2018. Lots of comedy, lots of laughs. For small casts aged from teens to seniors.
Lighting the Way: An Anthology of Short Plays About the Climate Crisis, 2020
Responding to a prompt asking them to give center stage to the unsung climate warriors and climat... more Responding to a prompt asking them to give center stage to the unsung climate warriors and climate heroes who are lighting the way toward a just and sustainable future, the writers offer a diversity of perspectives and artistic approaches to theatrical climate action.
Stage It! 2 Thirty 10-Minute Plays, 2018
Bunnies and Wolves is published in the book Stage It! 2: Thirty 10-Minute Plays (2018), a collect... more Bunnies and Wolves is published in the book Stage It! 2: Thirty 10-Minute Plays (2018), a collection of the best plays selected from the Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs, Florida’s second annual International Playwriting Competition, and edited by Frank Blocker. Playwrights, directors, producers, actors and literary professionals from the United States and Canada adjudicated more than 200 entries from the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain. A dystopian satire of the medical-industrial complex, Bunnies and Wolves premiered in performance at Short+Sweet Festival, Sydney, Australia, March 1-4, 2018, directed by Madi Du Plessis, and starring Antony Pryce as Orderly/Game show Host, William Gammel as Dad, Jordyn Fulcher as Mum and Sophie Bryce as the Doctor. It also ranked in the top ten submissions at King’s Shorts Festival, Canada, 2018, and was one of 5 winning plays at the British Theatre Challenge 2018, where it was recorded in production: see https://youtu.be/aa9tQnrzd2I
Parity, 2017
This article offers one case study of the role of community in providing responses to homelessnes... more This article offers one case study of the role of community in providing responses to homelessness in Aotearoa. In a unique 'human library' event, Te Puaroha Compassion Soup Kitchen, Kahungunu Whanau Services, Te Whakamura Ai Te Ahi and Massey University, with funding and support from the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, worked with people experiencing housing deprivation to deliver Te Hā Tangata - The Breath of the People. The article was compiled by Elspeth Tilley from Te Hā Tangata team resources including words by Naomi Taylor, Karen Holland, and Sophie Goulter. Parity is a publication of the Victorian Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) and the national homelessness publication in Australia. The aim of this publication is to develop an up-to-date, comprehensive and detailed resource for all those working to respond to homelessness in Aotearoa, whether they are working in government policy, homelessness, mainstream government services, social housing and other welfare sectors, in universities or other research bodies.
Whiskey Radio Hour: Episode 23, 2022
Building Ten [Radio Play]. Whiskey Radio Hour. Directed by Logan Conner, and produced by Brad Bru... more Building Ten [Radio Play]. Whiskey Radio Hour. Directed by Logan Conner, and produced by Brad Brubaker. Featuring Jake Flum, Melissa Golden, and August Rain Stamper.
What if Shakespeare’s Leontes had been a woman and Hermione a man? Would the story be different o... more What if Shakespeare’s Leontes had been a woman and Hermione a man? Would the story be different or, in crucial ways, the same? What can we learn about the original work, and gender attitudes then and now, by exploring a gender-switched version? This modern adaptation transforms The Winter’s Tale into an LA fable of desperate celebrity and shallow glamour, as Nessa, a fading Hollywood diva clutching at power and consumed with jealousy, descends into obsession and revenge. This large-cast play remains essentially true to the core emotional themes, meter, and structural bones of The Winter’s Tale while adapting its momentous leading role for a woman and supplying a contemporary twist at the end. With Nessa always surrounded by her sycophantic entourage and army of PR advisors, there are also many and varied supporting roles on offer.
Two years after the Devolution, young people run the planet. Adulting is a crime, and agriculture... more Two years after the Devolution, young people run the planet. Adulting is a crime, and agriculture isn't looked upon too kindly either. A climate change farce. Shortlisted, Short+Sweet Auckland 2017 & Short+Sweet Sydney 2018.
A short play, about Vernon Lee, who was a pioneer of aesthetics theory and who lived for a time i... more A short play, about Vernon Lee, who was a pioneer of aesthetics theory and who lived for a time in Milan. Selected for publication in the Carlo Annoni online library of plays that “promote diversity in love, society, politics and culture”. The Carlo Annoni collection is based in Milan and was established in memory of Italian theatre pioneer Carlo Annoni, who devoted his life to developing theatre that celebrated and defended “those experiencing discrimination because of their identity”.
Video content on Covid, Climate Change and Moving Theatre Online commissioned for ‘Climate Change... more Video content on Covid, Climate Change and Moving Theatre Online commissioned for ‘Climate Change Cycle’, a partnership between Canada’s National Arts Center English Theatre, the Canadian Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA), Canada Council for the Arts, and The Canadian National Theatre School. The video, which showcased work by Massey Expressive Arts students and discussed the shift of Expressive Arts climate-related theatre work online during lockdown, was streamed to a global audience as part of FOLDA on June 11.
Filmed by Mini Mammoth Films, Sky Blue Theatre's production at the Jack Theatre, London, of Fabio... more Filmed by Mini Mammoth Films, Sky Blue Theatre's production at the Jack Theatre, London, of Fabio the Great, by Elspeth Tilley, one of the five 2019 winning plays in the British Theatre Challenge. https://youtu.be/TU4YXSe0iCs
Lin and Ash was an official selection for the global creative activism movement Climate Change Th... more Lin and Ash was an official selection for the global creative activism movement Climate Change Theatre Action in 2019. Responding to the CCTA 2019 imperative to create work that celebrated those who 'Light the Way' towards a sustainable future, Lin and Ash documented a college student's attempt to implement Rob Greenfield's 'Trash Challenge' in the face of derision and incomprehension from fellow students. Lin and Ash celebrates the power of solidarity and reminds us that every little thing we do adds up to make a difference. Performances to date include: Graceland University in Lamoni, IA; Great Falls International Word Festival, Greenfield, Massachusetts; 15th Street Studio, Brooklyn, NY; Village Green, University of Waikato, NZ; Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Ontario, Canada; Riverfront Community Room, Philadelphia, PA; Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, Purnell Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA; Gutenbergschool Wiesbaden, Germany; The Philadelphian, Philadelphia, PA; Office of Sustainability, Knox Lesesne House, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC; Ego Actus, 1 East 29th St, New York, NY; Triga Studio Eco-Design Charrette, Toronto, Canada; Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of Temple University, Philadelphia Ethical Society, Philadelphia, PA; Faith in 3-D, Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, TX; Second Studio, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cedar City UT; Onyx Theatre, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA; Unity College, Unity, ME.
A full-length play written in response to a challenge to offer real-world responses to climate ch... more A full-length play written in response to a challenge to offer real-world responses to climate change through theatre. A play about retail workers banding together to combat capitalism’s role in climate change, World received equal-first place in the PANZ Long Play Competition 2019 and was a finalist in the Fratti-Newman Political Play Contest, Castillo Theatre, New York, 2019.
A multidisciplinary production featuring student-directed and devised short plays and devised per... more A multidisciplinary production featuring student-directed and devised short plays and devised performance art, for Climate Change Theatre Action Aotearoa 2019: Wellington, New Zealand: 16-19 October. Produced by Elspeth Tilley and Isobel Mebus. Featuring 'Trash to Fash', a collaborative performance by Kerris O'Donoghue, Kezia Thompson, Bella Bolter, Hannah Purser, Isabel Wilson, Miranda Millen, Samatha Hill, Stacey MacDonald, and Tessa Guest. Featuring 'Kei te rongo koe i a au?' written by Regann Rees-Henry, Liv Woodmass and Paige Ngatai, Directed by Regann Rees-Henry, starring Liv Woodmass and Paige Ngatai. Featuring 'Return to Papa' devised by and starring Tika King, Htoo Paw Thin, Celine Bullivant, Kyle Smith, Harry Townsend, Liana Roberts-Letiu and Jessie Chote. Featuring CCTA plays ‘The Donation’ by Jordan Hall, directed by Tasmin Pritchard and starring Micky Slimo and Oli Malthus; ‘The Arrow’ by Abhishek Majumdar, directed by Tasmin Pritchard and starring Katherine Dewar and Murphy Cater; and ‘The Reason’ by Stephen Sewell, directed by Regann Rees-Henry and starring Georgia Budd and Hannah Barwick.
Filmed by Mini Mammoth Films, Sky Blue Theatre's production at the Jack Theatre, London, of Fabio... more Filmed by Mini Mammoth Films, Sky Blue Theatre's production at the Jack Theatre, London, of Fabio the Great, by Elspeth Tilley, one of the five 2019 winning plays in the British Theatre Challenge. https://youtu.be/TU4YXSe0iCs
Bunnies and Wolves is published in the book Stage It! 2: Thirty 10-Minute Plays (2018), a collect... more Bunnies and Wolves is published in the book Stage It! 2: Thirty 10-Minute Plays (2018), a collection of the best plays selected from the Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs, Florida’s second annual International Playwriting Competition, and edited by Frank Blocker. Playwrights, directors, producers, actors and literary professionals from the United States and Canada adjudicated more than 200 entries from the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain. A dystopian satire of the medical-industrial complex, Bunnies and Wolves premiered in performance at Short+Sweet Festival, Sydney, Australia, March 1-4, 2018, directed by Madi Du Plessis, and starring Antony Pryce as Orderly/Game show Host, William Gammel as Dad, Jordyn Fulcher as Mum and Sophie Bryce as the Doctor. It also ranked in the top ten submissions at King’s Shorts Festival, Canada, 2018, and was one of 5 winning plays at the British Theatre Challenge 2018, where it was recorded in production: see https://youtu.be/aa9tQnrzd2I
No Lingering Allowed is a tragicomedy with a serious message about death and family relationships... more No Lingering Allowed is a tragicomedy with a serious message about death and family relationships. It is published in the book Septet: Seven Award Winning Plays from Aotearoa, edited by J. Allen. Auckland: Kwizzel Publishing, 2019. It was commended in the PANZ Short Play Competition 2018, and shortlisted for Weathervane Playhouse 8x10 TheatreFest 2018 and Short+Sweet Hollywood Festival 2018.
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Tilley, E. [Writer] (2021). Casting call [Playscript]. Premiere: Theatre AG der Gutenbergschule W... more Tilley, E. [Writer] (2021). Casting call [Playscript]. Premiere: Theatre AG der Gutenbergschule Wiesbaden, in collaboration with The English Theatre of Frankfurt, Weisbaden, Germany, July 12-14, 2021, dir. H. Scherf.
Creative Activism: Research, Pedagogy and Practice, 2022
This collection explores the growing global recognition of creativity and the arts as vital to so... more This collection explores the growing global recognition of creativity and the arts as vital to social movements and change. Bringing together diverse perspectives from leading academics and practitioners who investigate how creative activism is deployed, taught, and critically analysed, it delineates the key parameters of this emerging field.
Creative Activism: Research, Pedagogy and Practice., 2022
An overview of creative activism as a discipline and a practice, broadening the definition and di... more An overview of creative activism as a discipline and a practice, broadening the definition and discussing examples and issues.
Applied Theatre Research. 4(3), 2016
Beautiful Rising: Creative Resistance from the Global South., 2017
Especially when the powerful rule through fear and intimidation, humor, laughter, and absurdity c... more Especially when the powerful rule through fear and intimidation, humor, laughter, and absurdity can be powerful tools for undermining power and emboldening people to stand up for their rights.
Modern Drama, 2012
This article explores the performance of diasporic subjectivity in relation to both the form and ... more This article explores the performance of diasporic subjectivity in relation to both the form and content of polycharacter monodrama. Using three plays (one each from New Zealand, Canada, and Australia) as exemplars, it argues that two complementary features of polycharacter monodrama (split characterization and oral storytelling) provide a contrapuntal space uniquely suited to the representation and negotiation of the defining tensions of diasporic experience.
This commissioned, peer reviewed creative nonfiction essay was published by HowlRound, the leadin... more This commissioned, peer reviewed creative nonfiction essay was published by HowlRound, the leading knowledge-sharing hub for theatre studies practitioners and researchers in the world. It reflects on the need for creativity to address the problems of our age, and describes one such initiative, the Create1World youth creative activism conference in New Zealand. See http://howlround.com/theatre-in-the-age-of-climate-change-an-educator-s-view
Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance , 2023
This article advances transdisciplinarity as a potentially useful applied theatre theory and meth... more This article advances transdisciplinarity as a potentially useful applied theatre theory and method. It maps the ways transdisciplinary research principles informed and framed an applied theatre project and suggests that making applied theatre explicit rather than implicit as a transdisciplinary research process may help practitioners conceptualise and manage projects. In our case, it also increased our ability to contribute to second-order (systemic) change. I argue that applied theatre was alwaysalready transdisciplinary research but articulating this alignment may be helpful to both practice and analysis. The project presented here implemented applied theatre in a universitycommunity partnership addressing youth justice.