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Cayce Myers

Cayce Myers, Director of Graduate Studies and Professor

Cayce Myers
Cayce Myers, Director of Graduate Studies and Professor

School of Communication
103 Shanks Hall
181 Turner Street NW
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-7165 | mcmyers@vt.edu

Cayce Myers is a professor of public relations and director of graduate studies at the School of Communication. His work focuses on laws, regulations and ethics that affect public relations practice. He is the author of Public Relations History: Theory Practice and Profession and Money in Politics: Campaign Fundraising in the 2020 Presidential Election. He is also the coauthor of the 4th and 5th editions of Mass Communication Law in Virginia and has also published over sixty peer reviewed articles, book chapters, law review articles, and trade press articles about public relations history, public relations strategy, political campaigns, and laws and policies that affect public relations practice.

In addition to his public relations scholarship, Myers is accredited in public relations, and is active in several public relations and communication organizations including the Arthur W. Page Society, Public Relations Society of America National Board of Directors, PRSA Foundation Trustee, Legal Research Editor for the Institute for Public Relations, the National Press Club, the Higher Education Committee for the PR Museum, and the Commission on Public Relations Education. He was previously a member of the Universal Accreditation Board and the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards in PRSA.  He is also a frequent commentator about public relations, political campaigns, and legal issues, having been quoted in several media outlets including Time, Bloomberg, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, the Hill,  the Associated Press, and the Wall Street Journal.

  • Public Relations History
  • Communication Law
  • Campaign Finance
  • Political Communication
  • Media Regulation
  • Ph.D., University of Georgia
  • LL.M., University of Georgia
  • J.D., Mercer University
  • M.A., University of Georgia
  • B.A., Emory University
  • Public Relations Society of America, Board of Ethics and Professional Standards
  • Universal Accreditation Board
  • Institute for Public Relations, Legal Research Editor
  • Bar Member Supreme Court of the United States
  • Bar Member State of Georgia
  • Public Relations Society of America, Blue Ridge Chapter President
  • AEJMC History Division, Chair
  • Arthur W. Page Society (Page)
  • Commission on Public Relations Education
  • American Journalism Historians Association, Board of Directors
  • Editorial Board Member: Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Journal, Journalism History
  • Shooting Star Award, Public Relations Society of America, Blue Ridge Chapter, 2020.
  • Certificate in Teaching Excellence, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, 2018.
  • Honorable Mention David Sloan Award for Top Faculty Paper, American Journalism Historians Association, 2015.
  • CIDER Teacher of the Week, CIDER Virginia Tech, 2015.
  • Best Faculty Paper Award, History Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Southeast Colloquium, 2015.
  • Honorable Mention David Sloan Award for Top Faculty Paper, American Journalism Historians Association, 2014.

Books

Myers, C., W. Hopkins, & M. Rhyne. (2022). Mass Communication Law in Virginia (5th ed). Stillwater OK:  New Forums Press.  ISBN:  978-1581073676

Myers, C. (2022).  Money in politics:  Campaign fundraising in the 2020 presidential election. Lanham, MD:  Lexington. ISBN:  978-1793640277

Myers, C. (2021).  Public relations history:  Theory, practice and profession.  London: Routledge.  ISBN:   978-1138491410.

Myers, C., & Hopkins, W. (2016). Mass communication Law in Virginia (4th ed.). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. ISBN 978-1581072952

Book Chapters

Myers, C. (2022).  Litigating Victory:  An Analysis of the Legal Challenges to Election 2020. In R. Denton (Ed.), Campaigning in the Aftermath of the 2020 Elections. Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield.

Myers, C. (2021). Campaign finance and its impact in the 2020 presidential campaign.  In R. Denton (Ed.), The 2020 presidential campaign:  Political Communication and Practice (pp. 152-172) Lanham, MD:  Rowman and Littlefield.

Myers, C. (2017a). Campaign finance and its impact in the 2016 presidential campaign.  In R. Denton (Ed.), The 2016 presidential campaign:  Political communication and practice (pp. 259-283).  New York, NY:  Palgrave Macmillan. 

Myers, C. (2017b).  United States antecedents and proto-PR.  In T. Watson (Ed.), North American perspectives on the development of public relations:  Other voices (pp. 5-19)New York, NY:  Palgrave Macmillan.

Myers, C., & Hamilton, J. F. (2017). Open genre, new possibilities:  Democratizing history via social media.  In J. Aurell (Ed.), Rethinking historical genres in the twenty-first century (pp. 78-90).  New York, NY:  Routledge. 

Myers, M. (2016).  Disclosure in Online Promotions:  The Effect of FTC Guidelines on Digital Public Relations and Advertising. In Staci Zavattaro; Thomas Bryer; (Eds.), Social Media for Government: Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge.

Journal Articles

Myers, C. (2020a).  Regulating Public Relations: How U.S. Legal Policies and Regulations Shaped Early Corporate PR. American Journalism 37, 139-164.

Myers, C. (2020b).  Online Reviews and Organizational Reputation: U.S. Legal Issues in Combating and Removing Negative Online Content.  PRism 16, 1-13.

Russell, K. & Myers, C. (2019).  The misunderstood nineteenth century U.S. press agent. [Special Edition on Public Relations History]. Public Relations Review 45(2):  246-257.

Myers, C., & Russell, K. (2018).  Image repair in the aftermath of inaccurate polling:  How the news media responded to getting it wrong in 1948 and 2016 [Special 2016 Presidential Election Edition]. Journal of Political Marketing.

Myers, C. (2018).  Public relations or grassroots lobbying?:  How lobbying laws are re-defining pr practice.  Public Relations Review 44(1), 11-21.

Myers, C. (2017). Publicists in U.S. public relations history:  An analysis of the representations of publicists in American press 1815-1918. American Journalism, 34(1), 71-90.

Myers, C. (2016a).  What’s the legal definition of PR:  An analysis of commercial speech and public relations.  Public Relations Review, 42(5) 821-831.

Myers, C. (2016b). Reconsidering early U.S. public relations institutions:  An analysis of publicity and information bureaux 1891-1918 [Special Edition on Public Relations History]. Public Relations Review 42(5), 766-775.

Myers, M. (2016c). Apology, sympathy, and empathy:  The legal ramifications of admitting fault in U.S.  public relations practice. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 176-183.

Myers, M. (2016d). Southern Traitor or American Hero?:  The Portrayal of Robert E. Lee in the Northern Press from 1865 to 1870. Journalism History, 41(4), 211-221.

Myers, M. (2015a). Public relations confidentiality:  An analysis of PR practitioner-client privilege in high profile litigation. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 14-21.

Myers, M. (2015b). Early U.S. Corporate Public Relations:  Understanding the “Publicity Agent” in American Corporate Communications 1900-1918. American Journalism, 32(4), 412-433.

Myers, C. (2015c). Reconsidering propaganda in U.S. public relations history: An analysis of propaganda in the popular press 1810–1918. Public Relations Review, 41(4), 551-561.

Myers, C. (2015d). To reveal or conceal? Introducing the anonymous public concern test for US defamation lawsuits. Journal of Information Policy, 5, 71-108.

Myers, C. (2015e). An analysis of social media ownership litigation between organizations and PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 41(4), 515-522.

Myers, C., & Hamilton, J. F. (2015). Open genre, new possibilities:  Democratizing history via social media. Rethinking History, 19(2), 222-234. *This article was reprinted by the journal editor as a book chapter in 2017

Myers, C. (2014a). Digital immortality vs. ‘the right to be forgotten’:  A comparison of U.S. and E.U. law concerning social media privacy. Romanian Journal of Communications & Public Relations, 16(3), 47-60.

Myers, C. (2014b). The new water cooler: Implications for practitioners concerning the NLRB's stance on social media and workers' rights. Public Relations Review, 40(3), 547-555.

Myers, C. (2014c). Reconsidering the corporate narrative in U.S. pr history:  A critique of Alfred Chandler's influence on pr historiography [Special Edition on Public Relations History]. Public Relations Review, 40(4), 676-683.

Myers, C., & Hamilton, J. F. (2014). Social media as primary source:  The narrativization of twenty-first century social movements. Media History, 20(4), 431-444. *Recognized as one of Media History’s most read articles as of June 2022, 2243 total views.

Myers, C., & Lariscy, R. W. (2014). Corporate pr in a post-Citizens United world. Journal of Communication Management, 18(2), 146-157.

Myers, C., & Lariscy, R. W. (2013). Commercial speech, protected speech, and political public relations [Special Edition on Public Relations and Democracy]. Public Relations Review, 39(4), 332-336.

  • Cayce Myers's research focuses on public relations history and law.  Currently he is researching early development of public relations practice in the United States.   This research examines PR’s development in domestic politics, international affairs, religious movements, corporate communication, entertainment promotions, and social causes.  
  • In addition to researching public relations history, Myers researches current legal developments affecting PR practice.  As a practicing attorney, Myers provides analyses of how current statutes and court cases impact public relations strategy, practitioner-client relationships, and online image management.  Currently Myers is the legal research editor for the Institute for Public Relations.  He regularly writes trade press articles on legal developments affecting public relations.  His articles can be accessed on the Institute for Public Relations' website.