PUBLIC RELATIONS

Amanda McHale
Introduction to Mass Media
October 2, 2005

Public Relations

What is Public Relations? PR, as it is known is the influence of public
opinion on an organization and its products or services.(wikipedia) From
when it first came about, until now, PR has grown and developed as it
adapted to today's ever changing society. Public Relations has been around
for many years, and still has many purposes around us today.

In the 1600‚s, when the New World was still new and exciting, Europeans
began to write and publish thrilling stories about the New World, to try and
convince people to move to the American Colonies. One example of this was „A
Brief True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia‰, which was printed by
Sir Walter Raleigh to spark interest about his various expeditions. Lord
Baltimore also used the same tactic. He lured settlers to his Maryland
Colony with stories of how rich and fortunate they could be become.

Several years later, Revolutionary War supporters participated in a lot of
public relations activities. At this time, you could almost say it was
being used for political purposes. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
Samuel Adams, and Thomas Paine, all used various propaganda skills to gain
support for their causes. Causes that citizens did not care much about.

Through the use of newspapers, pamphlets, town meetings, and sermons, the
media began to become saturated by them, over a twenty-year period. They
were using the media as a way to get their name out there, and let people
know what they were all about. Another example of this would be when James
Madison and John Jay wrote the 86 federalist papers in 1787-88. He wrote it
to gain public support for the approval of the United States Constitution.

In the 19th Century, the Americans moved westward. During this time they
also fought the Civil War, and began the Industrial Revolution. With the
coming of the Revolution, railroads were born. They brought together the
entire continent and made it possible to produce goods and then ship them to
different sides. I think that the inventing of the railroads was a huge
turning point for the idea of public relations because it helped things to
become so widespread and not just in one area. Railroad tycoons realized
the power they held and used very persuasive techniques to lure people out
to the Western region. At this time, the population out West began to grow
rapidly, and so did the railroad profits.

The term Œpublic relations‚ came into use as the practice with press and
publicity exploded with the invention of the penny press. Fictional
characters such as: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Buffalo Bill Cody were
created by publicists and made popular by press agents.

„There‚s no such thing as bad publicity.‰ Well according to P.T. Barnum
there isn‚t. (Stacks) He created his circus empire in the later 1800‚s
through very intense promotional acts. He wanted his name out there for the
entire world to see. He saw anyone around him as a potential audience
member, and wanted his name in front of him or her as often as possible. He
hyped up his various extravagant attractions to draw people in to his
circus. Some of those acts being: General Tom Thumb and Jumbo the Elephant.
Barnum welcomed controversy and often times would write letters to
newspapers under different names, both praising and critiquing his own show.
He did all this, just to get his name known, and publicize himself as best
he could.

The government of the US needed a way to influence public opinion in favor
of the war struggle during World War I. This is when the „Creel Committee‰
came about (also known as the Committee for Public Information). The
committee was named after its foreman, George Creel. But with him on the
committee were many of the first PR professionals, including Ivy Lee, Edward
Bernays, and Carl Byoir. Some historians believe Ivy Lee as the first real
practitioner of public relations, but Edward Bernays is generally seen as
the founder of the profession. Thanks to this Committee, though, they were
able to gain the support of the draft and even began to raise money for the
Red Cross. This Committee was able to gain support by careful planning and
the use of mottos such as: „make the world safe for democracy‰ and „hang the
Kaiser‰.

President of the time, Franklin Roosevelt was very aware with what was
going on with the public relations that surrounded him. He came up with the
concept of his „New Deal‰, which emerged with slogans, symbols, and
promotional programs. He even did fireside chats, which became an intimate
way of mass communication.

Public Relations is considered a 20th century phenomenon, and like I said,
Edward Bernays is often considered as „the father of public relations‰. He
played a huge role in defining it, as well as giving PR philosophies and
methods. Edward viewed PR as like a science, and believed that thanks to
social sciences, mass persuasion became possible. (wikipedia)

Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, drew many of his ideas from Freud‚s
theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that drive people. He
wrote several books, including Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923),
Propaganda (1928), and The Engineering of Consent (1947). He saw PR as an
Œapplied social science‚, the uses insights from various studies such as
psychology, sociology, and other areas. „The conscious and intelligent
manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an
important element in democratic society‰, he wrote in Propaganda.
(wikipedia) „Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society
constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our
country.‰

The Tobacco industry was one of Bernay‚s first clients. During that time,
smoking was viewed as masculine and very inappropriate to women with any
social standing. In 1929, Bernay‚s planned a publicity stunt aimed at women
to try and get them to smoke. He arranged for young women from New York
City to march in the famous Easter Day parade, smoking cigarettes. The
stunt was hopefully going to be viewed as a statement of rebellion against a
male dominated society. Bernays names his stunt as the „Torches of Liberty
Brigade‰, and pictures were sent everywhere, convincing many women to
associate smoking with women‚s rights. Some women even went as far as
demanding memberships in an all-male smoking club. (Caywood)

In 1988, the governing body of the PRSA, or Public Relations Society of
America officially adopted a definition of public relations, that is still
used to this day: „Public relations helps an organization and its publics
adapt mutually to each other‰. (psra.org)

The essential functions behind the PRSA like research, planning,
communicating, and evaluation is all implied within the definition. The
PRSA also recognizes that consent and support can be earned from multiple
publics and all of their organizations. Although, sometimes public relations
professionals are portrayed stereotypically as corporate servants, the truth
is that almost any organization that has a concern with how it is portrayed
in the media employs at least one PR manager. Usually, the larger
organizations may even have dedicated communications departments. Trade
associations, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations
frequently perform PR activities. (psra.org)

PRSA is the world‚s largest organization for public relations professionals.
It is made up of nearly 20,000 members, and has 114 chapters which represent
business and industry, technology, counseling firms, government,
associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms, and nonprofit
organizations. (psra.org)

The PRSA was started in 1947. Its main objectives are to advance the
standards of the public relations profession. They also strive to provide
their members with professional development opportunities through education
programs. (psra.org) The three main areas that the PRSA builds upon are: 1.
Advancing the Profession
2.Strengthening the Society
3. Establishing Global Leadership

Today, the practice of Public Relations is a huge, ever growing industry.
PR is a major part in politics now days. It plays a part in what laws are
passed and who becomes elected. Many politicians use public relations to
keep themselves in good standing with the public. Public Relations has been
around for many years, and it has only grown and become more developed as
time went by.

Bibliography

Caywood, Clarke The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated
Communications

Stacks, Don W. Public Relations Research