I. PUBLICRELATIONS

II. Definition

A. PR biz definition

1. The practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. The practice focuses on two-way communication and fosters mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics.

B. Real definition

1. Make clients, companies or individuals, look good

a) Get positive publicity

b) Reduce negative publicity

III. History of PR

A. Been around for 1000s of years

B. Greek word for it: sematikos

1. To signify, to mean

2. Modern semantics

a) Get people to believe things and do things

C. Ramses II – 1274 BCE

1. Burnished his image as war leader

a) Told people he won the Battle of Kadesh

b) Actually lost, or at least didn’t win

c) Excellent example of PR, better known as spin

D. Julius Caesar – 50 BCE

1. Wrote Gallic Wars

a) Promoted him as a general

(1) To be a Roman leader you had to be a military success

(2) Showed him as a victorious general against the Gauls

(3) Showed him adding huge new territories to the Roman Republic

b) Led to him being proclaimed a leader of Rome

c) Led to him becoming the first Roman emperor

E. Caligula

1. Fourth Roman Emperor

2. Needed the imprimatur of being a military leader

a) Swore to conquer Britain

(1) Didn’t succeed

(2) Told everyone he did succeed

3. Was a complete loon

4. Assassinated by his bodyguards

F. Claudius

1. Fifth Roman Emperor

2. Needed the imprimatur of being a military leader

a) Did conquer Britain

(1) Actually his generals did

(2) He visited Britain

(a) For a few days

(b) Had himself declared a god

(c) Dedicated a few temples

(d) Added Britannicus to his name

b) Spin made his look good

3. Assassinated by his wife to make Nero emperor

G. St Augustine – 394 CE

1. Professor of rhetoric in Milan, the capitol of the Western Roman Empire

2. Minister of propaganda for the imperial court

a) One of the first people to be employed by others to run their public relations

b) Modern equivalent

(1) Presidential press secretary

(2) Communication director

H. Propaganda

1. Originated in the Catholic Church

a) The Congregatio de Propaganda Fide

(1) “congregation for propagating the faith”

(2) Used to promote Christianity through speeches and letters

(a) e.g., Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

b) The printing press enormously accelerated the use of propaganda, also known as PR

I. Thomas Paine – 1776

1. Wrote a series of articles collected as “The American Crisis”

a) Opening line: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

b) George Washington had it read to his discouraged troops

(1) The troops were ready to go home

(2) “The American Crisis” stirred them to stay and continue fighting for the American Revolution

J. Benjamin Franklin

1. A master of promotion

2. Pioneered the rules of “personal relations” in an era before mass media had made possible a profession called “public relations”

3. American Envoy to France during the Revolution

a) Put a positive spin on America and the revolution

(1) Dressed in contrast to other diplomats who dressed up

(a) He dressed down

(b) Wore a fur hat instead of a powdered wig

(2) The French loved him

(a) Especially women

(b) Franklin did some of his best work in women’s bedrooms

K. Negative effects of spin – 1820

1. England’s South Seas Company

a) Made false claims

(1) How successful they were

(2) Lied about how rich their holdings were

(3) Actually had nothing behind them

b) Stock shot up 800%

c) Other companies followed suit

(1) Much like the dot com boom of the 1990s

d) When the truth came out

(1) The bubble burst

(a) Much like the housing bubble of 2008

(b) Thousands of companies, banks and individuals were wiped out

2. The Mississippi Company

a) Founded by John Law

b) Lied about the wealth of the French territory of Louisiana

(1) Sold stock

(2) Thousands lost all their money

(3) Almost brought down the French bakning system

L. P.T. Barnum – late 19^th century

1. One of the leading publicists of his time

2. Used hyperbole to promote his enterprises

a) “Jumbo, the World’s Largest Elephant”

b) "Tom Thumb, the world’s smallest man”

c) “The Giant, the world’s tallest man”

M. William Seward

1. President Lincoln’s Secretary of State

2. “I speak to the newspapers – they have a large audience and can repeat a thousand times what I want to impress on the public.”

3. Seward’s Folly

a) Used his knowledge of promotion

b) Convinced people to go along with his idea

(1) Buy a huge amount of worthless land from Russia for 2 cents an acre

(2) That land is Alaska, a treasure trove of natural resources

IV. Public relations in the modern world

A. Many early practices developed to support railroads

1. Many scholars believe the first appearance of the term “public relations” appeared in the 1897 Year Book of Railway Literature

B. Ivy Lee

1. First PR professional

2. Worked for John D. Rockefeller

a) One the “robber barons”

(1) Men who built up and owned huge monopolistic companies in areas like railroads, oil, steel, and banking

(2) Ruthless business men

(3) Treated their workers like crap

(4) Considered themselves above everything and everyone

b) Public opinion turned against him because of coal miner strikes and rail accidents

3. Lee began the first real example of “crisis management”

a) Used the media to change Rockefeller’s image to not such a bad guy

(1) Managed news releases

(2) Feature stories

b) Advised Rockefeller on how to look better to the public

(1) Public works

(2) Philanthropy

(3) Used the money he got through ruthless means for the public good

c) Other robber barons picked up on the idea

4. Professionalized public relations

a) Three principles

(1) Tell the truth

(2) Provide accurate facts

(3) The public relations director must have access to top management and must be able to influence decisions

b) Defined PR

(1) “Public relations means the actual relationship of the company to the people and that relationship involves more than talk. The company must act by performing good deeds.”

C. Edward Bernays

1. The Father of Public Relations

2. 1918 – adviser to the President of the new country of Czechoslovakia

a) Told him to announce independence on Monday, not Sunday

(1) Would get maximum press coverage

3. “Crystallizing Public Opinion” – 1923

a) Established several PR principles

(1) To interpret the client to the public (i.e., promote the client)

(2) To interpret the public to the client

(a) Operate the company in such a way as to gain the approval of the public

(3) Company should accept social responsibility

b) Other Bernay’s concepts

(1) Public relations is a public service

(2) Public relations should promote new ideas and progress

(3) Public relations should build a public conscience

4. Examples of his work

a) Proctor and Gamble

(1) Company made a commercial that was offensive to blacks

(a) Changed the commercial

(b) Got the company to offer blacks significant jobs

(c) Invited black to tour the plant

(d) Feature blacks in company newsletter

b) Columbian Rope Company

(1) Had an anti-union image

(a) Produced a radio program featuring union and management panelists

(b) Induced the company to bargain with unions

(c) Offered tours of the plant

(d) Convinced the company to sponsor a vocational program

5. Changed to image of public relations by changing what it was called to public relations from propaganda, which has negative connotations

6. Saw PR as an “applied social science”

a) Should be used to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public.

b) “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

V. How PR is different from advertising

A. Advertising

1. Advertising is the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.

B. PR

1. The nonpersonal communication of information

a) Is nonpersonal like advertising

b) Communication is the same as advertising

c) Information

(1) Slanted to make the client look good

(a) Emphasize the good

(b) Soft-peddle the bad

(2) No need to substantiate claims

2. Usually paid for

a) Advertising pays for time and space

(1) Must appear

b) PR tries not to pay for time and space

(1) Creates and places promotional material for their clients

(a) Writes “news” articles and feature stories

(b) Sent to the media in hopes they’ll appear

(c) Since time and space is not paid for, they don’t have to appear

(d) If they appear they will often be rewritten or reedited

(2) Since their work is not labeled as advertising, the work doesn’t have the prejudice against it that advertising has with the public

(3) Often create publicity stunts in hopes the media will cover them as news

3. About products, services or ideas

a) PR may promote products, services or ideas

b) Usually more about companies or people

4. By identified sponsors

a) Advertising needs to identify the sponsor

b) PR

(1) Disguises the sponsors

(2) Even hides the sponsor

(3) Doesn’t want the public to know the sponsor

(a) Public would know the release is slanted

(b) Public would know the release is not actual, objective, balance examination

5. Through the various media

a) Just like advertising

VI. Crisis management

A. A major role for PR today

1. That’s what Ivy Lee did for Rockefeller

2. Media today uncover and publish everything about everyone

a) Anything negative is immediately known by the public

b) PR must spin the event to repair the damage

(1) Publicize how the company or person is fixing the problem

(2) Convince the public that the problem isn’t that bad

(3) Convince the public that the problem isn’t the company’s or person fault