The Evolution of Public Relations
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The Evolution of Public Relations ·Short History of Public American Development in the Trend Lines in Today's Practice Relations 19th Century Feminization ofthe Field Ancient Beginnings 1900 to 1950: The Age ofPioneers Recruitment ofMinorities The Middle Ages 1950 to 2000: Public Relations Transformation ofthe Field: The Early Beginnings in America Comes ofAge Next 50 Years 40 PART 1· Role A Short History of Public Relations The practice of public relations is probably as old as human communication itself. In many ancient civilizations, such as those ofBabylonia, Greece, and Rome, people were persuaded to accept the authority ofgovernment and religion through common public relations techniques: interpersonal communication, speeches, art, literature, staged events, publicity, and other such devices. None of these endeavors were called public relations, of course, but the purpose and effect were often the same as today's modern practice. Ancient Beginnings Ithas often been said that the Rosetta Stone, which provided the key to modern understanding of ancient Egyptian hieroglyph ics, was basically a publicity release touting the pharaoh's accomplishments. Similarly, the ancient Olympic Games used promotional techniques to enhance the aura of athletes as heroes in much the same way as the 2008 Beijing summer games. Even speech writing in Plato's time was similar to speech writing today. The speechwriter must know the compo sition of the audience, never talk down to it, and impart infor mation that is credible and persuasive. Julius Caesar was probably the first politician to publish a book, Commentaries, which he used to further his ambitions to become emperor of the Roman Empire. He also organized elaborate parades whenever he returned from a successful battle to burnish his image as an outstanding commander and leader. After Caesar became a consul ofRome in 59 B.C., he had clerks make a record ofsenatorial and other public proceedings and post them on walls throughout the city. These Acta Diurna, or "Daily Doings," were probably one ofthe world's first news A news release carved in stone. The Rosetta papers. Of course, Caesar's activities got more space than his Stone was found by Napoleon's army and rivals. dates to 196 8.c./t contains a decree Saint Paul, the New Testament's most prolific author, also acknowledging the first anniversary ofthe qualifies for the public relations hall of fame. In fact, R. E. coronation of Ptolemy V. Brown of Salem State College says, "Historians of early Christianity actually regard Paul, author and organizer, rather than Jesus himself, as the founder of Christianity." He goes on to quote James Grunig and Todd Hunt, who wrote in Managing Public Relations: It's not stretching history too much to claim the success of the apostles in spreading Christianity through the known world in the first century A.D. as one ofthe great public relations accomplishments ofhistory. The apostles Paul and Peter used speeches, letters, staged events, and similar public relations activities to attract attention, gain followers, and establish new churches. Similarly, the four gospels in the New Testament, which were written at least 40 years after the death ofJesus, were public relations documents, written more to propagate the faith than to provide a historical account ofJesus' life. The Middle Ages The Roman Catholic Church was a major practitioner of public relations throughout the \Liddle _~ges. Pope erban II persuaded thousands of followers to selTe God and C HAP TE R 2 • The Evolution of Public Relations 41 ~.'.m forgiveness of their sins by engaging in the Holy Crusades against the Muslims. :~x centuries later, the church was among the first to use the word propaganda, with the ~: . blishment by Pope Gregory XV ofthe College ofPropaganda to supervise foreign ::U5sions and train priests to propagate the faith. \1eanwhile, in Venice, bankers in the 15th and 16th centuries practiced the fine :l of investor relations and were probably the first, along with local Catholic ::'~hops, to adopt the concept of corporate philanthropy by sponsoring such artists as .\Iichelangelo. Early Beginnings in America T:,e United States was first settled by immigrants, primarily those from England. '.'.nous land companies with a license from the Crown actively promoted colonization ~:o generate revenues from what the colonists were able to manufacture or grow. In ::her words, colonization in many cases was strictly a commercial proposition. The -: ginia Company in 1620, for example, distributed flyers and brochures throughout ::. rope offering 50 acres of free land to anyone willing to migrate. :ill early example of promotion in the New World was Sir "Talter Raleigh's :Tempts to convince settlers to move to Virginia. In 1584, Raleigh sent back glowing _ 'ounts to England ofwhat was actually a swamp-filled Roanoke Island. Eric the Red '::d the same thing back in 1000 A.D. when he discovered a land of . <: and rock and named it Greenland. The Spanish explorers :>'Jblicized the never-discovered Seven Cities of Gold and even The 1800s was the gold~n age ofthe press =e fabled Fountain of Youth to attract willing participants for agenUohn Burke was the promotional ~Tther exploration and colonization. genius behind Buffalo Bill's Wild West :\frer the American colonies were well established, publicity Show, which drew record crowds thoughout the United States and Europe, Buffalo Bill L d public relations techniques were used to promote various =-.sotutions. In 1641, Harvard College published a fund-raising and Annie Oakley were the rock stars of their age. :>:-ochure. King's College (now Columbia University) issued its '::--;t news release in 1758, which announced its commencement ~ erClses. Public relations also played an active role in American inde ?=ndence. The Boston Tea Party, which PRTVeek has called the ' ... the greatest and best-known publicity stunt of all time ... ," "'J5 the inspiration ofSamuel Adams, a man with a refined sense of io\\ symbolism can sway public opinion. The colonists threw Tates of tea leaves from a British trade ship into Boston Harbor to ?otest excessive British taxation, and the rest is history. Adams and . :. colleagues also labeled the killing ofseveral colonists by British =-oops at a demonstration as the "Boston Massacre" and further ?=rsuaded the American colonists to revolt against Great Britain. .\1so instrumental in bringing lukewarm citizens around to - e cause of American independence was Tom Paine's Common .' ll.ie, More than ]20,000 copies of the pamphlet were sold in - ree months, an early example of political communication to a :utional audience. Influencing the makeup of the new political ;:Y5rem were the Federalist Papers, which comprised 85 letters .Tirren by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay .:.rlder a single pen name. The effort laid the foundation for dis _ 'buring syndicated opinion pieces via the mass media, a concept ::.Jr is still being used today in public relations. 42 PART"· Role American Development in the 19th Century The 1800s was a period of growth and expansion in the United States. Italso was the golden age ofthe press agent, which Webster's New World Dictionary defines as "a person whose work is to get pub licity for an individual, organization, etc." The period was also the age of hype, which is the shrewd use of the media and other devices to promote an individual, a cause, or even a product or service, such as a cIrcus. Press agents were able to glorify Davy Crockett as a frontier hero to draw political support away from Andrew Jackson, attract thousands to the touring shows of Buffalo Bill and sharpshooter Annie Oakley, make a legend of frontiersman Daniel Boone, and promote hundreds ofother personalities. These old-time press agents and the show people they most often represented played on the credulity of the public in its long ing to be entertained. Advertisements and press releases were exag gerated to the point of being outright lies. Doing advance work for an attraction, the press agent dropped tickets on the desk of a newspaper editor, along with the announcements. Voluminous publicity generally followed, and the journalists and their families flocked to their free entertainment with scant regard for the ethical constraints that largely prohibits such practices today. Small wonder then that today's public relations practitioner, exercising the highly sophisticated skills of evaluation, counseling, communi Phineas T. Barnum, a master of"hype" and cations, and influencing management policies, shudders at the sug promotion, made Tom Thumb a show gestion that public relations grew out of press agentry. And yet business personality and an international some aspects of modern public relations have their roots in the celebrity. practice. The Ultimate Showman Phineas T. Barnum, the great American showman of the 19th century, was the master of what hjstorian Daniel Boorstin calls the pseudoevent, which is a planned happening that occurs primarily for the purpose of being reported. Barnum, who was born in 1810, used flowery language and exaggeration to promote his various attractions in an age when the public was hungry for any form ofentertainment. Thanks to Barnum, Tom Thumb became one of the sensations of the century. He was a midget, standing just over two feet and weighing 15 pounds, but he was excep tional at singing, dancing, and performing comedy monologues. Barnum made a pub lic relations event of the marriage ofGeneral Tom Thumb to another midget. He even got extensive European booking for Thumb by introducing him first to society leaders in London, who were enchanted by him. An invitation to the palace followed, and from then on Thumb played to packed houses every night. Barnum, even in his day, knew the value ofthird-party endorsement. Another Barnum success was the promotion of Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale." Lind was famous in Europe, but no one in America knew about her beautiful voice until Barnum took her on a national tour and made her a pop icon even before the Civil War.