PR Blogging

History of PR

Looking into the history of public relations gives a better sense to the meaning behind public relations as a career and a stable part of the world today. The history of public relations was more like a new type of advertising through communication to the public. American public relations started with the beginning of our government. It was the need our founding fathers had to express new views into the minds of the developing American public. Certain ideas like the Federalist Papers, the First Amendment, and Thomas Paine's Common Sense pamphlet. These ideas were very critical to the American government because it told the public how important the constitutional amendments and ratifications were to them.

One of my favorite historical events of the beginning of public relations was the idea that Edward L. Bernays (father of public relations) carried out into the public. This certain event even shows the beginning of propaganda and trust issues dealing with public relations. In 1929, Bernays was working with the tabacco company trying new ways to sell cigarettes to the public even though he knew cigarettes had health issues surrounding the use of them. On Easter Sunday 10 ladies walked down Fifth Ave. in New York carrying and smoking cigarettes showing people, especially women, that smoking in public was acceptable behavior. This historical event is significant because no matter how normal smoking can be to the public it has never really been accepted in whole by society. His decision to place cigarettes in hands of those 10 ladies is a regretable one for Bernays and he never made a public statement about his discourse. The tabacco company has been fighting the selling of cigarettes for decades and has now admitted they are addictive and harmful. They have also began research, with funds, concerning the health effects surrounding the use of cigarettes in society.

When a company or person has made a mistake towards the public to help themselves suceed it is shown in history that the next best thing to do is apologize publicly acknowledging the mistake doing what they can to fix it. There is no reason to hide behind closed doors and move along as if nothing has happened. Take the Red Cross for example. In 2001, after the attack on America, they collected too many donations from the public and ignored warnings from officials, which ended in wasting a lot of donated blood. At first, they hid behind excuses trying to save the face of the company finally turning around and admitting to the mistake publicly. By admitting to mistakes the public has to regain a certain trust of policies but will still trust the views and expressions of the company.

Public relations has helped build the country of America from the beginning and is still doing so. As in every profession it has made mistakes, but it has always seemed to follow through and stretch its wings just a little further. History can help us better understand public relations by realizing the mistakes and rewards that make this profession important and functional in the world today and tomorrow.

posted by DHS Entertainment @ 12:52 PM 0 comments

PR defined.

Public relations is a way to bring the public and companys together with the right amount of communication. The public must be marketed and managed to ensure the correct amount of information was communicated.

posted by DHS Entertainment @ 10:31 AM 0 comments

What does the public really think?

Every person seems to have a different answer to what public relations is and how it is used in the business world. Some people have the right idea but it seems they only have the right understanding when they have actually used or seen it used throughout the business world. I asked three people to define public relations and actually name someone in a high profile job.

First, I asked Nancy who works as a business analyst for Greyhound Lines in Dallas Texas. She believes that public relations has two sides. One side is protecting the policies and speaking to the public without misconstruing the company's policies. The other side is promoting the company to the public. She couldn't name an exact person in a public relations position, but she said it was whoever holds the position of the press secretary of the White House. Nancy agreed with my definition and believed we were trying to say the same thing.

Second, I asked Kaytie who is a server and a lover of words. Her definition definitly shows off that love: "the formation/mutation of facts to conform with ones public image". She named Karl Rove as someone in a high public relations position. She understood my definition and did agree that public relations deals a lot with communication but believes there is always some kind of twist/spin on words within the position.

Third, I asked Jonathan who is a bartender hoping to become a minister one day. His definition had to be broken down a bit. Basically, he said it's what he does everyday he's at work, he gets to know his public and tells them what they want to hear. He couldn't name a particular person who holds a public relations position, but he figured it was whoever writes the president's speeches. We talked about my definition for a while and decided that communication was the best way to keep in contact with your public and sometimes you don't even notice when you are being told what to think.

I'm glad that I talked with these people about the definition of public relations it helped me realize that it's more than just my major, it is a constant within our media and world. Even if the people holding the positions cannot be named by many people in society it does not mean that their words go unheard. I would like public relations to not seem like such a conspiracy and I think people would like to not believe that any more.

posted by DHS Entertainment @ 10:03 AM 0 comments