
Alexis Fitzsimmons
Ph.D. Public Relations
Bio
Alexis Bajalia Fitzsimmons is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida. Her research interests include corporate purpose, public relations measurement and health communication. Alexis was the recipient of the 2019 International Public Relations Research Conference Top Student Paper Award and the 2019 Grunig PRIME Research Fellowship. Her thesis is published in Public Relations Journal and was named an Institute for Public Relations Top 15 Public Relations Insight of 2020. Alexis formerly served as Vice Head and Public Relations Chair for the AEJMC Graduate Student Interest Group. She earned her BS in public relations and MA in mass communication from the University of Florida where she was named the CJC's Outstanding Master's Student of 2019.
News
- CJC Public Relations Faculty and Staff Will Present and Receive Awards at IPRRC 2022 (March 2, 2022)
- CJC Faculty, Graduate Students and Alumna Receive 2021 AEJMC Research Paper Awards (July 21, 2021)
- CJC Faculty and Doctoral Students Honored in 2021 AEJMC Research Paper Competitions (June 7, 2021)
- Frank Waddell and Four CJC Doctoral Students Receive Awards in 2021 AEJMC Top Paper Competitions (May 17, 2021)
- Propagandizing Anti-Vaccination: Analysis of “Vaccines Revealed” Documentary Series (March 16, 2020)
- All News About Alexis Fitzsimmons
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Fitzsimmons, A. B., Qin, Y. S., & Heffron, E. (2022). Purpose vs. mission vs. vision: Persuasive appeals and components in corporate statements. Journal of Communication Management. DOI: 10.1108/JCOM-09-2021-0108
Bajalia, A. (2020). Where are we now? Public relations professionals discuss measurement and evaluation. Public Relations Journal. Retrieved from https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Bajalia-Final-Edited_SJ.pdf
Bradshaw, A., Treise, D., , S. S., Cretul, M., Raisa, A., Bajalia, A., & , D. P. (2020). Propagandizing anti-vaccination: Analysis of Vaccines Revealed documentary series. Vaccine. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.12.027
Book Chapters
Fitzsimmons, A. B., Heffron, E., Qin, Y., & DiStaso, M. (2022). Pinpointing, prioritizing, and practicing purpose. In Intercultural public relations: Realities and reflections in practical contexts. Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315641720-6/pinpointing-prioritizing-practicing-purpose-alexis-bajalia-fitzsimmons-eve-heffron-yufan-sunny-qin-marcia-distaso
Presentations
Men, R., Heffron, E. R., Fitzsimmons, A. B., Qin, Y. S., & DiStaso, M. W. (2022). Exploring the impact of strategic CEO communication on employee trust during the COVID-19 pandemic: Introducing the TAEO framework. Oral Presentation at International Communication Association Conference.
Fitzsimmons, A. B. (2022). PR's role in reaching the disability community: Communicating inclusivity online. Oral Presentation at International Public Relations Research Conference, Orlando, FL.
Heffron, E., Fitzsimmons, A., Qin, S., Akanbi, . F., & DiStaso, M. (2022). What did Texas-based companies do when the country watching for their response to the Texas Abortion Law?. Oral Presentation at International Public Relations Research Conference .
Qin, Y., Fitzsimmons, A. B., Heffron, E., & DiStaso, M. (2021). Communicating the big picture with employees: The impacts of CEO vision communication on employee engagement. Oral Presentation at AEJMC.
Bradshaw, A., Treise, D., Bajalia, A., & Wollney, E. (2021). From cover-up to catastrophe: How the anti-vaccine propaganda documentary impacted college students' perceptions of vaccinations. Oral Presentation at AEJMC, Virtual.
Fitzsimmons, A. B., Qin, Y., & Heffron, E. (2021). Purpose vs. mission vs. vision statements: Persuasive appeals and components in corporate statements. Paper/Poster at AEJMC.
Qin, Y., Heffron, E., Bajalia, A., & DiStaso, M. (2020). If, when, and how to engage on social issues: A guide for companies. at Institute for Public Relations Bridge Conference.
Bajalia, A., Heffron, E., Qin, Y., & DiStaso, M. (2020). Pinpointing purpose: A content analysis of Fortune 100 companies’ purpose communication. at Institute for Public Relations Bridge Conference.
Bajalia, A., Qin, Y., & Heffron, E. (2020). How organizations are leading with purpose during COVID-19: Analyzing organizations’ actions using NVivo. at NVivo Conference: Qualitative Research in a Changing World.
Bradshaw, A., Bajalia, A., Weigold, M., & Treise, D. (2020). Infant vaccination: An experiment to inoculate expectant mothers against misinformation surrounding Hepatitis B: Part II. at Association for Marketing and Health Care Research Conference.
Wollney, E., Kastrinos, A., Bradshaw, A., & Bajalia, A. (2019). Media’s role in sexual health education: A framing analysis of news coverage from the 2015-2017 CDC STD Surveillance. at American Public Health Association Conference.
Bajalia, A., & Bradshaw, A. (2019). Darker cloud or silver lining? News framing of the opioid crisis and organ donation. at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference.
Bajalia, A. (2019). Where are we now? Public relations professionals discuss measurement and evaluation. at International Public Relations Research Conference.
Auguste, K., Bradshaw, A., Bajalia, A., Treise, D., Shelton, S., Cretul, M., & Seoane, M. (2019). Detox tea advertising on social media: Examining the content of popular detox tea brands on Instagram. at Association for Marketing and Health Care Research Conference.
Bradshaw, A., Treise, D., Weigold, M., & Bajalia, A. (2019). Infant Vaccination: An experiment to inoculate expectant mothers against misinformation surrounding Hepatitis B: Part I. at Association for Marketing and Health Care Research Conference.
Bajalia, A., Treise, D., Bradshaw, A., Seaoane, M., & Auguste, K. (2019). Mom warns it could happen to you: How journalists cover moms’ warning stories. at Association for Marketing and Health Care Research Conference.
Wollney, E., Bradshaw, A., Kastrinos, A., Shelton, S., Treise, D., Bajalia, A., Auguste, K., & Seoane, M. (2018). A protocol for a systematic review on how social marketing for HIV/AIDS has changed over the last 10 years. at National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media.
Shelton, S., Kastrinos, A., Cretul, M., Bradshaw, A., Wollney, E., Bajalia, A., Auguste, K., & Treise, D. (2018). Why aren’t we talking about weight? Information underrepresented women receive about weight management during pregnancy. at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference.
Bradshaw, A., Treise, D., Shelton, S., Cretul, M., Raisa, A., Bajalia, A., & Peek, D. (2018). Propagandizing anti-vaccination: Analysis of Vaccines Revealed documentary series. at Screentime Boston University Conference on Emerging Media.
Creative Works
Crawshaw, S., Fitzsimmons, A. B., McCorkindale, T., Pang, A., Thomas, S., & Yeo, S. (2021). The 2021 IPR Future of Communications in Asia Report. Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Future-of-Work-Asia-v12.pdf.
Weiner, M., DiStaso, M., Draper-Watts, P., Ehrhart, C., Fitzsimmons, A. B., Gilfeather, J., Hamid, M., Jekielek, R., Likely, F., Macnamara, J., McCorkindale, T., Mirkin, C., Monteiro, C., & Stacks, D. (2021). The Communicator's Guide to Research, Analysis, and Evaluation. Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/communicators-guide-research-2021/.
Bajalia, A. (2020). Tracking media metrics over time. Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/tracking-media-metrics-over-time/.
Research
Specialization
Public Relations
Professional Interests
PR measurement and analytics, corporate purpose, stakeholder communication, health communication
Courses
Syllabi from the current and three previous semesters: