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Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now by Ben Benedict

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Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now by Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now By Ben Benedict GRADUATE THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Mount Saint Vincent University, September 2017 Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now Dedicated to my Sister, Jennifer Marie DeMoor, whose love in life and generosity in death made this possible. Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now Abstract This thesis explores public relations scholarship to analyse where activism and public relations articulate and intersect in their development or “then” over the past century in how public relations became defined as a corporate-economic model to “now” where public relations in its relationship to activism, is seen as a meaning-making process. In analysing the disparate collection of articles and text on activism in public relations scholarship the thesis (the author) begins with defining public relations, activist, activism, protest, social movements, and activist organizations; followed by activism in public relations historical development, offering an alternative and expanded historical interpretation of public relations; then activisms role in public relations theory illustrating the critical movement amongst scholars from the Modernist approach solidified in the Excellence Theory to where Postmodernism and Postcolonialism are exerting their influence; and activisms role in the development of public relations practices as a management process, a control mechanism, and a set of technical skill where activism has played a central role in the development of strategic communications, issues management, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Activism’s implications for the study and practice of public relations are then discussed including the challenges, omissions, and opportunities that such an investigation raises as a means of advancing contemporary public relations knowledge. This thesis supports calls for the development of a critical branch of public relations, to include public communications alongside those of organizations and state communications, for engaged scholarship, and a return to public intellectualism as public relations begins exploring not what it is, but what public relations can be. Key Words: activism; public relations; public relations history; public relations theory; public relations practice; public relations pedagogy; activist, protest; social movements; activist organizations; critical public relations; public communication; public intellectualism Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now Table of Contents Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 1 Activism and Public Relations: Defining Terms _____________________________________ 9 Public Relations ____________________________________________________________ 9 Activist and Activist Practitioners _____________________________________________ 14 Activism _________________________________________________________________ 17 Protest __________________________________________________________________ 21 Social Movements __________________________________________________________ 24 Activist Organizations ______________________________________________________ 26 Methodology ________________________________________________________________ 29 Validation Strategy _________________________________________________________ 31 Why Now in History (Time) __________________________________________________ 33 Personal Experience (Space) _________________________________________________ 36 The Canadian Experience (Relationality) _______________________________________ 38 Activism in Public Relations History _____________________________________________ 41 Activism in Public Relations Theory _____________________________________________ 59 Activism in Public Relations Practice_____________________________________________ 67 Activism’s Implications for Public Relations _______________________________________ 81 Summary & Comments_______________________________________________________ 104 References _________________________________________________________________ 119 Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now P a g e | 1 Conceptualizing activism as outside of public relations or the enemy of public relations misses the mark. The identities of activism and public relations are fluid, multiple, conflicting, and at times overlapping. Ciszek, 2015, p. 453 Introduction Public relations as a profession, industry, and topic of academic study is in its infancy, emerging with an identity of its own as technicians, managers, consultants, educators, and scholars, often with some degree of overlap, and as Ciszek (2015) recognizes, public relations ‘overlaps’ many areas of our everyday life, including activism. Public relations as organizational communications, and activism as public communications need each other, and in fact, are integral parts of the two-way symmetrical communications process. Public relations as a profession began its journey a century ago, and now it is coming to fully actualize its socio-cultural role in everyday life, recognizing itself as a unique and powerful set of skills, and struggling with its own identity as one reflected in the counter process of activism. Public relations “then” or functionalist roots has developed over the past century with a focus on serving the public relations and communications needs of a private business or state institution exclusively with scholars trying to define what public relations is within this context. The idea of activisms in public relations as slowly progressing or developing over time represents a central theme of this study beginning with “then” or public relations formation as a profession conceived by Edward Bernays (1923, 1928) as a tool for supporting organizational growth. Activism is changing that discussion and expanding the boundaries of public relations to where “now” in the most contemporary of context, public relations has begun to include a variety of previously unimagined stakeholders or publics, including those considered marginalized, subaltern, or “Other” in asking what public relations can be, and where the “study of activism Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now P a g e | 2 serves an important purpose in setting the groundwork for reform in public relations” (Demetrious, 2013, p. 34). Activism is seen as a catalyst for growth in public relations as a profession, and has been linked closely to numerous developments within the industry including “the creation and development of public relations internationally” (Smith, 2005, pp. 5-6). Central to this recent increased interest in activism and public relations, is that it requires us to rebuild our understanding of both activism and public relations as well as their relationship to each other. This is expressed in the increasing evolution in scholarship over the past decade to where this study is even possible. Increasingly dialogue on the contemporary nature of public relations theory and practice is addressing the field as a social, cultural, economic, and global component of meaning-making in everyday life where “there is not a single aspect of our lives that communication work has not affected” (Buzzanell, 2009, p. vii). This has been understood for over 170 years, even before the public relations profession was conceived, beginning with Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1847 when he argued that the creation of a phantom public through advertising and publicity resulted in a level of social impersonality that “withers the individual passion and personal responsibility … [and] that … allows oppression to flourish” (Evans, 2000, p. 30). Since that moment, the “public relations literature has slowly progressed from understanding activists as mere organizational antagonists to public relations practitioners in their own right” (Sommerfeldt, 2013, p. 347). Yet in spite of this distinction, activism research remains a disparate collection of articles and texts. With recent increases in public discontent with the state of global affairs, and public relations own search for meaning as a profession, it seems that the time is right to explore public relations research on activism, and public relations activists by analysing current scholarship on the key points where activism and public relations articulate and intersect as a means of advancing contemporary public relations knowledge. Public relations research on activism illustrates that “activist research methods regularly yield special insight, insider Copyright 2017 Ben Benedict Activism and Public Relations: Then and Now P a g e | 3 knowledge, and experience-based understanding” (Hale, 2008, p. 21), and that “activist scholarship – like a variety of practical engagements – is part of the process of forming, testing, and improving knowledge” (Calhoun, 2008, p. xvii). During this, the contemporary phase public relations development, rapid advancements and an increasing complexity have affected the theoretical, practical, and pedagogical practices of public relations. The collapse of the traditional media of newspapers in favour of a growth in digital technologies, increasing influences from social media, and future implications from Artificial Intelligence (AI), are coming together to where a “perfect
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