The Arthur W. Page Center 2024-2025 Annual Report
The Arthur W. Page Center 2024-2025 Annual Report
Building a community among communicators, researchers and students that is rooted in authenticity, integrity and trust.
- Annual Report Sections
- Research
- Modules
- Fellows
- Graduate research
- Communications
Letter from the director
Reflecting on the past year and its many events, initiatives and milestones made me think about Page Principle #6 – "Realize an enterprise’s true character is expressed by its people." It's a principle we, perhaps, don't talk about enough.
Since last June, I’ve had the honor of serving as the interim dean for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. In this role, I see principle #6 in action – almost literally – 24/7. It’s been an incredible experience seeing so many committed people working to educate, inform and inspire. And I am in awe of our students who are equally committed and eager to make an impact.
Looking at the Page Center, this past year has been no different: I see the Center’s true character in scholars presenting at conferences and publishing in journals; graduate students collaborating across universities; practitioners participating in our timely webinars; undergraduate students building an ethical foundation for their studies; research fellows advocating for the Center; and advisory board members sharing their time to offer guidance and advice.
You’ll see it too in this annual report. This year we published two Insights Reports, which feature Page Center research on digital analytics and prosocial communication. We hosted two webinars on how to navigate the intricacies and challenges of AI. We welcomed an AI expert to Penn State's University Park campus as part of a long-time ethics lecture series.
Speaking of AI, our research call on the ethics of generative AI in public relations received a record number of submissions. And, our annual Research Roundtables continue to be a hit among both scholars and advisory board members.
The advances of technology and fast-moving social changes we see today aren’t going to slow down. It's important that we work together to see us through, and if it's our people that define our true character, I’m confident we will.
Denise Bortree,
Page Center director
Insights Report highlights prosocial communication concepts, strategies
The Page Center’s Insights Report on Prosocial Communication explores how organizations communicate initiatives that promote public health, address social challenges and advance prosocial goals. Featuring 12 evidence-based studies, the report offers best practices, emerging theories and ethical frameworks for effective prosocial communication.
This collection of research offers actionable insights for practitioners, policymakers and advocates alike. From global perspectives to c-suite activism to crisis management to the motivations of stakeholders, the report addresses a range of prosocial communication issues and themes.
Brooke McKeever, a professor at the University of Alabama, is the senior research fellow that led the call. The insights include timely concepts such as the role of influencers in building trust and how empathy and resilience strengthen messaging. The report also reinforces existing principles regarding the role of authenticity in trust-building and the expectation for companies to deliver on promised prosocial efforts.
One study found that public statements about social issues by CEOs have increased since 2020 - emphasizing the need for this research. Based on their results, the scholars suggest aligning prosocial communication with the organization’s purpose and ensuring the messaging can create meaningful change.
Eleven research briefs from these prosocial communication projects are featured in a special issue of Public Relations Journal, a research journal published by the Institute of Public Relations. The Page Center solicited proposals for research on this topic in 2023.
Insights Reports represent a major piece of the Page Center’s mission – enhancing ethics and responsibility in all forms of public communication.
Finding Truth, Building Trust
The Page Center hosted an online event featuring experts in public communication. The panelists explored the societal impacts of eroding public trust and provided essential tips and tactics for its restoration.
Event Highlights:
- The webinar featured a compelling discussion about navigating the challenges and opportunities created by artificial intelligence.
- Panelists provided practical strategies for media literacy and critical thinking.
- Viewers participated in a Q&A session with the panelists.
- 247 registrations / 108 live viewers / 136 views on YouTube.
Thank you to our panelists Jon Iwata and Vivian Schiller, and to advisory board member Suki Dardarian for moderating.
Disinformation in the Influencer Age
On October 22, the Page Center hosted an online webinar featuring scholars and a practitioner from NATO. The speakers shared insights from their unique collaboration that highlighted two Page Center studies on influencer relations and generative misinformation.
Event Highlights:
- The webinar discussed how influencers and organizations can work together to combat misinformation.
- Speakers provided background on two Page Center studies and directly applied its results to professional needs.
- There was a lively chat with many questions and lots of audience engagement.
- 240 registrations / 120 live viewers.
Thank you to our speakers Staci Smith, Brian Smith and Beaudine Verhoek, and to advisory board member Gary Sheffer for moderating.
The Page Center in San Francisco
The Page Center was well represented at the annual AEJMC Conference this year in San Francisco. The Center was proud to sponsor the preconference day and see scholars in a number of discussions, panels and presentations throughout the week. More than 80 scholars attended the annual scholar reception. Next year's conference will be in New Orleans.
Scholars meet, reconnect and network at the annual scholar reception. This year's event was at the Harlequin restaurant in San Francisco.
Students from the University of Georgia and Penn State gathered to present their research as part of the Page Center & Crisis Communication Think Tank student collaboration project.
Scholars Luke Capizzo, Nicole Lee and research director Holly Overton participated in a panel on researching controversial topics in a shifting social landscape at AEJMC's 2025 conference in San Francisco. Director Denise Bortree moderated.
Scholars Luke Capizzo, Nicole Lee and research director Holly Overton participated in a panel on researching controversial topics in a shifting social landscape at AEJMC's 2025 conference in San Francisco. Director Denise Bortree moderated.
Senior research fellow Marlene Neill led a discussion featuring Page Center research on ethics education in journalism, PR and advertising. Panelists were scholars Alyssa Appelman, Courtney Boman and Rachel Lim.
The Page Center held its 2025 scholar reception at the Harlequin restaurant in San Francisco.
Bronstein Lecture in Ethics and Public Relations
Joe Colacurcio, senior vice president of analytics and insights at Weber Shandwick, met with Penn State students and faculty members last March as part of the 13th annual Bronstein Lecture in Ethics. Colacurcio presented and participated in class discussions on March 19, including a session open to the public in the Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium.
An interview with Colacurcio by Ph.D. student Loredonna Cardona was featured on the Page Center blog.
Colacurcio also discussed industry insights and advice for communicators on "COMMversations," the Bellisario College's podcast.
Joe Colacurcio talks to students after his public lecture in the Foster Auditorium in Penn State's Paterno Library.
Joe Colacurcio talks to a student after his public lecture in the Foster Auditorium in Penn State's Paterno Library.
Joe Colacurcio gives a public lecture in the Foster Auditorium at Penn State's Paterno Library as part of his Bronstein visit.
Joe Colacurcio visited three classes during his visit, including a talk at Penn State's Pasquerilla Center. He spoke to more than 150 students in all.
Joe Colacurcio gave students an inside look at how data is used in marketing and advertising campaigns.
Research Roundtables
Throughout the year, the Page Center hosts Research Roundtables for scholars involved in active research calls. The presentations are an opportunity for the scholars to share their research ideas and, later, results with advisory board members, senior research fellows and fellow scholars. In May and June, scholars from the Ethics in Generative AI research call shared the projects that they'll be working over the next year.
In the summer, scholars from the ethics training, scholar/practitioner collaboration, and expanding theory research calls presented their completed work.
The Roundtables continue to be an opportunity for partners of the Page Center to get a firsthand look at current and upcoming Center research from the scholars themselves. The feedback and advice can help guide research direction and focus. Now in their sixth year, the Roundtables are a key piece of the Center's mission to integrate innovative research with the needs of the profession. The Center is able to do that thanks to the creative energies of the scholars and the unique expertise of its board members.
The Page Center is grateful to the scholars who participate and the board members and senior research fellows for attending to hear the presentations.
2025 Grants: Ethics of Generative AI in Public Relations
The Page Center announced the recipients of its 2025 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar grants on April 17. Nine projects were chosen from a record amount of proposal submissions, with each one examining a unique area of generative artificial intelligence, its industry standards and its ethical use.
Nearly 90 proposals were submitted. The accepted projects feature 22 scholars from 13 universities. Areas to be addressed in the call include biases in AI, transparency, engagement, misinformation and more.
The research call is led by senior research fellows Heather Shoenberger, associate professor, and Fuyuan Shen, a Donald P. Bellisario professor of advertising. Both fellows are faculty members at Penn State.
Scholars participated in Q&As to discuss their upcoming research projects. Read about each of these projects on the Page Center blog.
2026 research call: Organizational advocacy and social responsibility in a polarized era
The Page Center is seeking research proposals that examine the current state of corporate social responsibility, advocacy and activism in an age of political and cultural polarization. The Center encourages diverse methodological approaches that explore how organizations navigate the unique challenges of today.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to: pressures organizations face, changes in how they communicate, First Amendment issues, internal communication dynamics, ethical dilemmas, international perspectives and the impact of polarization on traditionally supported causes like diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change.
Senior research fellows Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Florida Institute of Technology, and Nick Browning, Indiana University, are co-leading the call.
All application materials must be submitted through Scholastica by January 15, 2026.
New Book: Research methods for the marginalized
"Research methods for the marginalized: A communication approach for vulnerable populations," by scholars Staci and Brian Smith, University of Mississippi, was recently published with Routledge. The book discusses vulnerabilities of race, gender and sexual orientation, status, place, and the individual to offer a more comprehensive guide for researchers. Each chapter provides best practices for research based on real-world experiences working with vulnerable populations.
The Page Center ethics training modules
The Page Center’s ethics training modules include 16 public relations-based modules covering ethics in public relations, ethical decision making and many more important topics. The modules provide professors and students with a free way to incorporate hands-on public relations ethics learning into the classroom. Thousands of students have already completed at least one module with positive results and feedback from students and instructors.
2024/2025
4,675
New registrations
14,233
Completions
3,933
Ethics in a Global Context (Module on the rise)
All-Time
28,157
Registrations
15,380
Most popular module (Intro to PR Ethics)
81,803
Completions
Old mods, new tricks
The original 10 ethics training modules were released in 2017. Unsurprisingly, a lot has changed. The Page Center enlisted scholars to update or "refresh" the original lessons. To date, updates to Digital Ethics, Ethics in a Global Context, Core Ethical Principles and Transparency have been rewritten and posted. More refreshes are on the way along with new modules tackling new topics. Stay tuned!
Learn more.Senior research fellows
Senior research fellows are integral members of the Page Center community. Each year, senior research fellows use their Page Center funding to accomplish a variety of research-related tasks, including attending conferences, leading special projects and moderating annual Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar calls for proposals. The Page Center appreciates the creative and innovative minds of its fellows.
Holly Overton
Research director highlights
As research director, Overton manages and directs research efforts of the Center, including calls for grant proposals, research resources and grant contracts/budgetary items. Selected accomplishments from 2024-2025 include the following:
- Led the development of the Page Center’s Insights Reports on Prosocial Communication and Digital Analytics. Overton created the report with Ph.D. alumna Cassandra Troy, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a research fellow at the Page Center.
- Directed the Page Center Lab Group.
- Continued partnership with the Crisis Communication Think Tank's Crisis Insights & Analytics Lab at the University of Georgia to advance student research in digital ethics and crisis communication.
- Presented Page Center research at several academic and industry conferences and represented the Center as a panelist at the IPR Bridge Conference, AEJMC, PRSA and other outlets.
- Led a 2024 grant call on scholar/practitioner partnerships to continue advancing the Page Center’s goal of building a strong, practice-focused research agenda on ethics and integrity in public communication.
- Supported other Page Center initiatives and events (e.g., board initiatives, annual scholar reception, teaching initiatives, etc.)
2024-2025 scholar highlights
- Co-edited "Sociopolitical advocacy and the role of public relations: Theoretical developments and emerging perspectives on corporate social advocacy and related constructs" with senior research fellow Nick Browning. The in-press book will be published by Routledge in late 2025 or early 2026.
- In 2024, Overton earned the prestigious Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) certification.
"The Page Center’s strength lies in its community — the scholars, students, board members and partners whose contributions shape the future of ethical communication. I’m deeply grateful to be part of this remarkable community dedicated to advancing ethics education and research when the world needs it most. Through initiatives like our Insights Reports, we strive to continue delivering innovative work in a way that meets the needs of practitioners, and we hope our two new Insights Reports offer valuable, evidence-based strategies and tactics that will help leaders communicate ethically and effectively."
Colleen Connolly-Ahern
- Completed publication of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly Forum "Promoting Integrity in the Face of Disruption: A Case for Expanding Communication Theory," highlighting Page Center sponsored research.
- Completed new manuscript on comparative coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis in Türkiye over time.
- Working on a CSA multi-method case study of Penzey's "Resist" campaign.
- Launched an international study on Epistemic Exhaustion in refugee-forward organizations.
"The Page Center has allowed me to seek out international research collaborations that increase the usefulness of my research practitioners worldwide. One amazing benefit of having the Page Center at Penn State is how important it is as a recruiting tool for both graduate students and faculty, since they know they will have support to take on long-term, complex research projects."
Frank Dardis
- Led/chaired presentations for the Page Center Grant Call on Digital Analytics at the AEJMC Annual Conference, August 2024, Philadelphia.
- Contributed to the Digital Analytics Insights Report ,to be published in Fall 2025.
- Lead author of two Page-funded research articles in 2025: International Journal of Information Technology, Journal of Promotion Management.
- Secondary author of two Page-funded research articles in 2025: International Journal of Business Communication, Corporate Communication: An International Journal.
"Being involved in the Page Center, especially the recent grant call on Digital Analytics, has allowed me to meet and collaborate with some of the leading corporate-communications scholars in the world. This obviously has produced high-quality and insightful research to the field, but more importantly, has allowed me to foster invaluable relationships and friendships with the amazing people that work in Page Center endeavors."
Stephanie Madden
- Published Page Center-funded research in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly and Public Relations Review.
- Presented Page Center-funded research at ICA.
- Won the 2025 Museum of Public Relations History Award at AEJMC for research on issues management and student activism.
- Awarded the 2025 Chuck Lubbers Award for Pedagogical Research for research published in the Journal of Public Relations Education.
"Page Center research support is invaluable for continuing to understand increasingly complex societal challenges and the important role of communicators in making impactful change."
Brooke McKeever
- Published the special issue of Public Relations Journal on Prosocial Communication as well as the Insights Report on Prosocial Communication.
"The Page Center funded the projects featured in the special issue of PR Journal and produced the Insights Report featuring the many scholars' great work from the research call on Prosocial Communication. I'm grateful the Center funds important research like this, especially in these times. I was honored to lead this call and work with all the Page Center staff and the scholars featured in the call, the report and the special issue."
Marlene Neill
- Published the edited book "Leadership Development in Public Relations: Exploring Crucibles of
Experience Among Industry Veterans" with Routledge. - Published The Influence of Crucibles of Experience in Moral Development &
Psychology of Public Relations Exemplars in the Journal of Media Ethics. - Published “Grade Inflation? Overconfident & Underprepared The State of Ethics Training in
Communication Firms” with EUPRERA (European Public Relations Education and Research Association).
"Without the Page Center funding support, these studies would not be possible. I conducted oral history research on ethical leadership, as well as qualitative and quantiative research on the state of ethics and compliance training in U.S. communication firms."
Fuyuan Shen
- Co-leading the Page Center research call on generative AI, public communications and ethics with Heather Shoenberger.
- Published "Inclusion in action: How brand commitment impacts perception of transgender-inclusive activist ads" in the International Journal of Advertising, also with Shoenberger and others.
Heather Shoenberger
- Co-leading research call on the ethics of generative AI in public communication with Fuyuan Shen
- Published "Inclusion in action: How brand commitment impacts perception of transgender-inclusive activist ads" in the International Journal of Advertising, also with Shen and others.
The Page Center graduate student lab group
The Page Center's graduate student lab group plays an important role in the Center's mission by both supporting important research and preparing young researchers to tackle tomorrow's challenges.
Students from the University of Georgia and Penn State gathered to present their research as part of the Page Center & Crisis Communication Think Tank student collaboration project.
The Page Center Graduate Student Lab Group promotes student-led collaborative research in corporate and public communication. Lab group members lead innovative research projects that tackle real-world communication issues under the guidance of faculty members at Penn State. The group frequently hosts training workshops that cover a variety of important topics such as grant writing, computational methods and public relations curriculum development. Research that is conducted within the Page Center Lab Group is often shared with scholars, practitioners and the public, and at conferences such as IPRRC, AEJMC,NCA and ICA.
The Page Center partners with the Crisis Communication Think Tank at the University of Georgia to support collaborative student research. As part of the partnership, the Page Center’s Graduate Student Lab Group and CCTT’s Crisis Insights & Analytics Lab have joined forces to produce innovative and timely research on a number of topics within the areas of ethics, digital technology and crisis communication. Now in its third year, the collaboration annually supports two student-led research projects – one led by Penn State graduate students and the other led by students at Georgia.
Communications
The popularity of the generative AI call drove some big numbers to the website this year. Add on blog posts about digital analytics and our upcoming call on responsibility/advocacy, and the stats reflect how important the issues the Page Center has identified are to the industry, the discipline and the greater good.
Quick Hits
- The top three countries (outside the U.S.) for website visits are China, Australia and South Korea.
- There have been 82 additions and updates to the Page Center Research Database.
- The post-COVID era has not slowed down the popularity of the Page Center's ethics training modules
- Historically, the Page Principles page is one of the most visited on the site every year. This year is no different.
Website Stats
34
blog posts
11
news stories
18,000+
views
Most popular web pages
2025 Call for Research Proposals (Ethics of AI)
2026 Call for Research Proposals (Social Responsibility/Advocacy)
Most popular news/blog articles
Ethics of generative AI in public communication research grants announced (April 17, 2025)
Free online discussion on restoring public trust in media (March 28, 2025)
Page Center seeks research examining organizational advocacy and social responsibility in a polarized era (August 14, 2025)
Page Center Insights Report highlights prosocial communication concepts, strategies (August 18, 2025)
Channeling the power of memes to combat disinformation – Scholar Q&A with Hye Jin Yoon (November 5, 2024)
Social media
696
Facebook followers
2,821
LinkedIn followers
810
Newsletter subscribers
2,223
Twitter/X followers
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