Chapter Three:
Public Relations – A
Historical Perspective
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Overview
A brief history of public relations
 Trends in today’s practice
 A growing professional practice
 Professionalism, licensing, and
accreditation

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A Brief History
Ancient Beginnings
The Rosetta Stone
 Julius Caesar
 The Church

Colonial America
Promoting settlement
 Struggle for
independence


Boston Tea Party, Thomas
Paine, Federalist Papers
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More History...
The Age of the Press Agent
 Davy
Crockett, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley
 Press agent tactics
 The King: P. T. Barnum
 Tom
Thumb, Jenny Lind
Settling the American West
 Railroad
promotion techniques
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Politics, Activism & Corporate
Public Relations

Political beginnings
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Activists
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Amos Kendall
Teddy Roosevelt
Abolitionists
Prohibitionists
Women’s rights advocates
Environmentalists
Corporate

Westinghouse Corporation
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Public Relations Leaders

Henry Ford
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Ivy Lee
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WWI
Edward Bernays
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First public relations counselor
Rockefeller
Four key contributions
George Creel

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Positioning and accessibility
Father of modern PR
Arthur Page

Principles of PR management
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Four Models of Public Relations

Press Agentry/Publicity

Public Information

Two-way Asymmetric

Two-way Symmetric
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Evolving Practice & Philosophy
1800s to 1920s from press agentry to
public information to scientific persuasion.
 1950s & ’60s - Relationship building

 Necessitated

1970s & ’80s - Managerial approach
 Investor

by activism
relations and MBO
1990s & ’00s - Relationship management
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Feminization of Public Relations

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70% of PR practitioners are women
28% of chief communications officers are
women
Women earn 75 cents per dollar earned by men
Velvet Ghetto
Recent research
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Diversity Issues in Public Relations
 Minorities
constitute 33% of U.S. citizens
 Hispanics
fastest growing group
 Minority
trends
practitioners lag behind population
 Professional
groups seek to encourage
minority practitioners
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Other Major Trends
Transparency
 Expanding PR role
 Emphasis on evaluation
 24/7 news cycle
 Evolving mass media
 Outsourcing
 Lifelong learning
 Emphasis on financial
relations

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Professional Associations
o PRSA
o IABC
o IPRA
o Specialities:
CASE, NIRI, NSPRA
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Professionalism

Professional practitioners have:
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

A sense of independence
A sense of responsibility to society and public
interests
Concern for the competence and honor of the
profession
A higher loyalty to the profession than to an employer

Careerist versus professional values

Technician mentality
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Licensing & Accreditation

Licensing
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Advocates
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Opponents
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Defines PR, unifies curricula, unifies standards, protects
clients, protects practitioners
Violates 1st amendment, malpractice laws exist, states license
but PR works nationally/internationally, ensures only
minimum competence/ethics, increased credibility not
ensured, expensive
Accreditation


“Certification” by professional organizations
PRSA and IABC offer accreditation
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