| Chapter 1: | Introduction—Surveying the Cyberterrain of Developing Country Head of State Web Sites |
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The regional summary gives a backdrop for viewing respective Web sites and a cultural frame for considering them as texts that might promulgate a cultural point of view, or as Fürsich and Robins (2002) suggested in their textual analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa Web sites, a “mirrored reality” that reflects perceptions of Western depictions of the developing country itself.
These summaries also provide a useful way of comparing and contrasting accepted versions of public relations practice and research across the globe. As a caveat, it is a given that attempting to summarize entire regions is problematic. A continent such as Africa comprises more than 50 countries, about 1,500 different languages (http://www.african.gu.se/research/elbiblio.html), and as uneven a level of development as one might imagine. In the Sudan alone, for example, there are 115 languages spoken (www.gridclub.com/fact_gadget/1001/ human_world/africa/745.html). Different media structures, cultural and local beliefs, and religious values all make Africa, like most continents, a heterogeneous contact zone predicated on diversity and difference.
Europe
Outside the United States, more research about public relations practices is being conducted in Europe than in any other region of the world (Hazleton & Kruckeberg, 1996). Most scholars believe the influence of the English language and its prevalence in Europe have advanced the field more than other regions of the world. Hazleton and Kruckeberg note that most research is being generated in Britain, which is commonly seen as the European leader in public relations. There is ample evidence, however, that public relations is booming in continental Europe, and Britain is facing greater challenges to its pan-European public relations dominance from countries such as Germany (Hazleton & Kruckeberg).
Several reasons are given for the growth of public relations in Europe, perhaps none more pervasive than the formation of the European Union. The challenges of unifying disparate economic systems to accommodate a single currency has increased the need for public relations practitioners (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2003).