Public interest relations (PIR) is an approach to public relations scholarship and practice that contributes to the social good by integrating the concept of public interest into organizational goals and values. The need for PIR was emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic as publics looked to organizations for information about a variety of topics (e.g., symptoms, vaccines). AARP created a series of tele-town halls to communicate with its publics, who are considered to be members of a “vulnerable population” during the pandemic. In order to understand how AARP’s Coronavirus Tele-Town Halls reflected the practices of PIR, I completed a critical thematic analysis of 28 virtual sessions that were hosted in 2020–2021. The analysis, which was guided by the tenets of PIR, found that AARP’s communication (1) highlighted common life course milestones of its publics, (2) emphasized the quality of the information, and (3) provided avenues to engage with the organization and its experts. Based on these findings, I developed theoretical implications that reflect a critical perspective on PIR and suggest future research avenues that seek to build this ethical and socially meaningful approach to public relations.

公共利益关系 (PIR) 是一种公共关系学术和实践方法，通过将公共利益的概念融入组织目标和价值观，从而为社会公益做出贡献。在 COVID-19 大流行期间强调了 PIR 的必要性，因为公众向组织寻求有关各种主题（例如，症状、疫苗）的信息。美国退休人员协会创建了一系列电信市政厅，以与其公众进行交流，公众在大流行期间被认为是“弱势群体”的成员。为了了解 AARP 的冠状病毒远程市政厅如何反映 PIR 的做法，我完成了对 2020-2021 年举办的 28 个虚拟会议的关键主题分析。以 PIR 原则为指导的分析，发现 AARP 的交流 (1) 突出了其公众的共同生命历程里程碑，(2) 强调了信息的质量，以及 (3) 提供了与该组织及其专家互动的途径。基于这些发现，我提出了反映对 PIR 的批判性观点的理论意义，并提出了未来的研究途径，以寻求建立这种具有道德和社会意义的公共关系方法。