Public Relations: A Practitioner's Guide (part 2)

The Growth of Public Relations

by

Charles Lamson

Unlike accounting, economics, medicine, and law, public relations is still a young field, not even 100 years old.

Modern-day public relations is clearly a 20th century phenomenon. The impetus for its growth might, in fact, be traced back to this man:

John D. Rockefeller Jr. was widely attacked in 1914, when the coal company he owned in Ludlow, Colorado, was the scene of a bloody massacre staged by Colorado militiamen and company guards against evicted miners and their families. When a dozen women and small children were killed at the Ludlow massacre, one of those Rockefeller called in to help him deal with the crisis was a journalist named Ivy Ledbetter Lee.

Lee would go on to become "the father of public relations." His employer, John D. Rockefeller Jr., whose own legendary father had always adhered to a strict policy of silence, would bear responsibility for the birth of a profession built on open communications.

The relative youthfulness of the practice of public relations means that the field is still evolving. It is also improving every day. The professionals entering the practice today are by and large superior in intellect, training and even experience to their counterparts of decades ago.



The strength of the practice of public relations today is based on the enduring commitment of the public to participate in a free and open democratic society. At least five trends are related to the evolution of public relations:

1. Growth of big institutions. The days of the mom-and-pop grocery store, the tiny community college, and the small bank are rapidly disappearing. In their place have emerged Wal-Marts, Home Depots, and Citigroups, statewide community college systems, and nationwide banking networks. The public relations profession has evolved to interpret these large institutions to the publics they serve.
2. Heightened public awareness and media sophistication. First came the invention of the printing press. Then came mass communications: the print media, radio, and television. Later, it was the development of cable, satellite, videotape, videodisks, video typewriters, portable cameras, word processors, fax machines, cell phones, the Internet, blogs, podcasts, vlogs, and all the other communications technology that have helped fragment audiences. In the 1960s, McGill University Professor Marshall McLuhan predicted the world would become a "global village," where people everywhere could witness events---no matter where they occurred---in real time. In the 21st century, McLuhan's prophesy has become a reality.
3. Increasing incidence of societal change, conflict, and confrontation. Minority rights, women's rights, senior citizens' rights, gay rights, consumerism, environmental awareness, downsizings, layoffs, and resultant unhappiness with large institutions all have become part of day-to-day society. With the growth of the Web, activists have become increasingly more daring, visible, and effective.
4. Growing power of global media, public opinion, and democracy. The outbreak of democracy in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, and, in the 21st century, Afghanistan and Iraq, has heightened the power of public opinion in the world. The process has been energized by print and electronic media that span the globe. Public opinion is a powerful force not only in democracies like the United States, but also for oppressed peoples around the world. Accordingly, the practice of public relations as a facilitator for understanding has increased in prominence.
5. Dominance of the Internet. In 2015, the International Telecommunication Union estimated about 3.2 billion people, or almost half of the world's population, would be online by the end of the year. Of them, about 2 billion would be from developing countries, including 89 million from least developed countries. The extraordinary growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web has made billions of people around the world instant consumers of unlimited communication. The profound change this continues to bring to society is monumental.

Ancient Beginnings

Although modern public relations is a 20th-century phenomenon. Its roots are ancient. Leaders in every great society throughout history understood the importance of influencing public opinion through persuasion. For example, archaeologists have found bulletins in Iraq, dating from as early as 1800 BC, that told farmers of the latest techniques of harvesting, sowing, and irrigating. The more food the farmers grew, the better the citizenry ate and the wealthier the country became. A good example of planned persuasion to reach a specific public for a particular purpose---in other words, public relations.

The ancient Greeks a also put a high premium on communication skills. The best speakers in fact where generally elected to leadership positions. Occasionally, aspiring Greek politicians enlisted the aid of sophists (individuals renowned for both their reasoning and there rhetoric) to help fight verbal battles. Sophists gathered in the amphitheaters of the day to extol the virtues of particular political candidates. Thus, the sophists sethe stage for today's lobbyists, who attempt to influence legislature through effective communication techniques. From the time of sophists, the practice of public relations has been a battleground for questions of ethics. Should a sophist or a lobbyist---or a public relations professional for that matter---"sell" his or her talents to the highest bidder, regardless of personal beliefs, values, and ideologies? When modern day public relations professionals agree to represent repressive governments, or to defend the questionable actions of troubled celebrities, these ethical question remain very much a focus of modern public relations.

The Romans, particularly Julius Caesar, were also masters of persuasive techniques. When faced with an upcoming battle, Caesar would Rally public support through published pamphlets and staged events. Similarly, during World War I, a special U.S. public information committee, the Creel Committee, was formed to channel the patriot sentiments of Americans in support of the U.S. role in the war. Stealing a page from Caesar, the committee's massive verbal and written communications effort was successful in marshaling national pride behind the war effort. According to a young member of the Creel Committee, Edward L. Bernays (later considered by many to be the father of public relations), "This was the first time in U.S. history that information was used as a weapon of war."





Even the Catholic Church had a hand in the creation of public relations in the 1600s under the leadership of Pope Gregory XV, the church established a College of Propaganda to help propagate the faith. In those days, the term propaganda did not have a negative connotation: the church simply wanted to inform the public about the advantages of Catholicism. Today, the Pope and other religious leaders maintain communications staffs to assist in relations with the public. Indeed, the chief communications official in the Vatican maintains the rank of Archbishop of the Church. It is largely his role to deal with perhaps the biggest scandal ever to face the Catholic Church---the ongoing priest pedophile issue.



Early American Experience

The American public relations experience dates back to the founding of the republic. Influencing public opinion, managing communications, and persuading individuals at the highest levels were at the core of the American Revolution. The colonists tried to persuade King George III that they should be accorded the same rights as Englishmen. Taxation without representation is tyranny became their public relations slogan to galvanize fellow countrymen.

When King George refused to accede to the colonists' demands, they combined the weaponry of sword and pen. Samuel Adams, for one, organized Committees of Correspondence as a kind of revolutionary Associated Press to disseminate anti-British information throughout the colonies. He also staged events to build up revolutionary fervor such as the Boston Tea Party, in which colonists masquerading as Indians boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and pitched chests of imported tea overboard---as impressive a media event as has ever been recorded sans television. 

Thomas Paine, another early practitioner of public relations, wrote periodic pamphlets and essays that urged the colonists to band together. In one essay contained in his Crisis papers, Paine wrote poetically. "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country." The people listened, were persuaded, and took action---testifying to the power of early American communicators.

*SOURCE: THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, 10TH ED., 2007, FRASER P. SEITEL, PGS. 22-26*

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