Transcript jerseycityenglishcurriculum.pbworks.com

11. Public Relations
Richard E. Caplan
The University of Akron
Christopher Burnett
California State, Long Beach
Public Relations
• Classic definition of public relations
– Creating an understanding for, or goodwill towards, a
company, a person or a product
• Public Relations in Ancient Times
– Feature of government
– Statues, coins and stamps
• Today’s public relations
– Product of journalism
– Early 20th century
Corporate Public Relations
• The Publicity Bureau
– 1st publicity firm
– Boston 1900
– Railroads opposing regulation
• Ivy Lee & George F. Parker
– New York firm
– Lee, former journalist
– Represented coal industry
• Against workers
Lee’s Declaration of Principles
• Lee’s Declaration of Principles 1906
– Work done in the open
– Supply news about businesses and public institutions
– Honest and accurate
• Most famous clients
– Pennsylvania Railroad
– John D. Rockefeller
• Counterbalance to Ida Tarbell and bad press
Corporate Public Relations
• Lee’s model of Corporate PR
– In-house PR dept.
• Growth of of in-house PR
– Corporate
• American Telephone & Telegraph
• Chicago Edison
– Non-profits, 1904-05
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Pennsylvania
• Washington, D. C. YMCA
– fundraising
Government Public Relations
• Committee on Public Information
– World War I
– George Creel
• Recruited journalists
• Edward L. Bernays
– Blurred line between propaganda and publicity
– Raised money for Liberty Bonds
• Promoted war effort
• Roosevelt administration
– Promoted the New Deal
• Office of War Information
– World War II
• Led by newscaster Elmer Davis
Edward L. Bernays
• Wrote the first books on public relations
– Crystallization of Public Opinion - 1923
• Taught the first course on public relations
• Interest in mass psychology
Bettmann/Corbis
– How to influence large groups of people
• Impressive list of clients
– Procter & Gamble
– General Motors
– American Tobacco Company
Bernays
• Wrote in 1955
– Public relations “is the attempt, by information, persuasion, and
adjustment, to engineer public support for an activity, cause,
movement or institution.”
Women in Public Relations
• Doris Fleischman
– Bernays’ wife
– Equal PR partner, 1931
Sam McKenna/Corbis outline
• Leone Baxter
– Baxter & Whitaker, San
Francisco
– Political PR
Fleischmann
• Anne Williams Wheaton
– Eisenhower’s associate
press secretary, 1957
Development of an Ethics Code
• 1930s press agents
– Phony stories
• Rita Hayworth & “best-dressed contest” of 1939
• Byoir & Associates, 1961
– Anti-trucking “front” organizations
• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
– Established 1st Code of Ethics in 1954
– Declaration of Principles, 1959
– Voluntary guidelines
Financial Public Relations
• Information for business
reporters
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Access to management
Knowledge of the company
Rapid information
Ethical and honest
News rather than “fluff”
• “Bad” financial PR
– “none of the public’s
business”
– Can’t answer questions
– Outside PR firms
– “No comment” PR
– No help
The New Yorker Collection 1999 Jack Ziegler from cartoonbank.com
Product Public Relations
• Selling through PR, rather
than advertising
• Coleco Industries, Inc.
– Cabbage Patch Dolls, 1983
– Press parties, etc.
– $500,000 PR (a bargain)
• Wieden & Kennedy
AP/Wide World Photos
– Tennis shoes
– 2.5 story shoe
– Placement at Boston
Marathon and March of
Dimes
– Worlwide news coverage
Crisis Public Relations
• Responding to negativity
• Johnson & Johnson
• Odwalla, Inc.
– Apple juice e. coli, 1996
– Rapid adjustments
• Utah Mine Disaster
– Need to stay visible
AP/Wide World Photo
– Tylenol poison tampering,
1982
– Product recalls
– Cost $100 million
– Televised, 30-city press
conference
Stephen Williamson, Odwalla CEO
Business of Public Relations
• In the United States
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161,000 employees
4,000 firms
Largest with 1000-plus employees
Several with 100 to 400 PR people
Most have 4 or fewer employees
• Public relations & ad agencies
– J. Walter Thompson (ad agency)
bought Hill & Knowlton (PR)
– WPP Group PLC bought J. Walter
Thompson
– Ad agencies sell products
– PR involved in company policy
making
• PR Careers
©2004 NBAE Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
Types of Clients
• Government
– Public information
– Largest employer of PR people
– Political candidates and lobbyists
• Education
Library of Congress
– Colleges, universities and school districts
• Nonprofits
– Hospitals, churches, museums. charities
• Industry
– Regulation, utilities, manufacturers
• Business
• Athletics and Entertainment
– Travel with the team and handle the press
• International
– Developing businesses overseas
WWII Office of War Information
Versatility & Public Relations
• Writing and Editing
– Press releases, newsletters, reports
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Media Relations
Special events
Public Speaking
Production Tasks
Research
– Gather data for planning
• Programming and counseling
– Establish effective programs
• Training
• Management
Public Relations and the Media
• Attracting attention
• Press releases and news
coverage
– News outlets need news
– Press releases help
• Publicity vs advertising
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Ads are paid for
Publicity is free
Ads are controlled
Publicity is uncontrolled
• No control over its use
Public Relations Professionalism
• “True communications
technicians”
• Excitement about the
profession
• Manipulation?
– Advancing the cause of a
client
• “Attorneys in the court of
public opinion”
jmmelton/motleyimage
Global Growth of PR
• PR closely tied to mass
media industries
• Growing international
markets
• Global communications
• Internet, satellite effects
– Online Public Relations
• Shifting demographics
Critical Discussion
1. Some people view the work of public relations
professionals as manipulating the facts to put their client
in the best light regardless of the circumstances. What
kind of ethical issues might this create for the PR
practitioner?
2. Compare the effectiveness of public relations techniques
used in the Odwalla and Utah mine campaigns. What
other public relations campaigns come to mind? What
works and what doesn’t when devising PR strategy?