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1.1 crisis and reputationChapter 1: Public Relations origins: definitions and history
Students understand that “Public relations” is a complex concept, are aware of the various
definitions of what PR is or could be, recognise the debates around the nature of PR and
understand the complexity of the practise itself.
A lot of background info
It was not until the late nineteenth century that the term ‘public relations’ was first used.
Organised communication practices, were introduced in Germany and the United states in
the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Marketing PR: PR as a promotional tool of marketing. Content is targeted from business to
the consumer or is part of the sales process between businesses.
By the 1980s, public relations theory and practice were evolving in more sophisticated forms
that focused on the formation (vorming) of mutually beneficial relationships and as a
support for organisations’ reputation.
The expansion of public relations in the twentieth century
Public relations has many, time-varied beginnings. In some countries and regions, it has been
influenced by religion and culture; in others, it has been linked to political, governmental
and economic developments such as industrialization and the development of parliamentary
democracies. In general, public relations is phenomenon of the twentieth century. During
the first half of the century, its expansion was primarily in the United States with some
disrupted progress in Germany.
The United States
The dominant models of public relations practices were developed in the United States from
the final decades of the nineteenth century onwards. These have been well recorded and
taught around the world through popular textbooks and the example of US education.
Although most countries have national approaches to public relations, there are
‘international PR’ models of practice in general and specialist areas that are used by
multinational corporations and international organisations that have derived from US
practice.
The term ‘public relations’ appeared around the final two or three decades of the
nineteenth century, but it did not gain strong recognition for three of four decades.
The most common practices were press agentry and publicity. Agentry= the activities of an
agent.
Press agents earned their living by selling stories about their clients into newspapers.
Publicists also sought media coverage for clients who paid them.
Europe- after the first world war
In Europe, public relations and publicity activity expanded in Germany and the United
Kingdom after the first world war. In Germany, it was well developed in industry, national
government and, especially, local and regional government. However, this came to a halt in
1933 when the Nazis came to power.
,‘propaganda’ prior to its blackening in the Nazi era, was widely used in government and
industry as a synonym for informational communication and awareness-creating publicity.
Second world war
During the second world war, all combatants (strijders) has established propaganda and
information operations. By the end of the Second World war, the British State had invested
heavily in a variety of propaganda activities to support political, economic and diplomatic
objectives.
1945 onwards
after the end of the Second World War in 1945, public relations’ expansion gathered pace,
especially in North America and Western Europe. Eastern Europe, which was under Soviet
control, and China, which would come under Communist party rule in 1949, were extensive,
highly populated exceptions. Asia, Africa and Latin America would follow later.
In Western Europe, American influence was at its height in the nations that had been
affected by the war time conflict. Us funding of the European Recovery Program, the
‘Marshall Plan’ encouraged the democratization of politics, open economies and the
reconstruction of infrastructure.
In some countries, communicators travelled to the United states and were briefed on public
relations and promotional activity.
These visits noted that successful companies nurtured their relationships with publics
through communication that had human dimensions.
The period from 1945 to 1958 was a ‘New beginning and upswing’.
Portugal and Spain, which were non-combatants in the Second World War, were not part of
the Marshall Plan funding and programs. Development of their national PR-sectors would be
delayed until the mid-1970s when both dictatorships broke down.
Professionalization
Other aspects of the post-war expansion of public relations were the formation of
professional associations and the introduction of university-level education.
Professional associations
In 1955, after several years of talks, the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) was
launched in London and, for around 15 years, became the crossroads for international public
relations. It played a leadership role in defining aspects of public relations practice.
The IPRA was important from 1955 to 1970 in promoting public relations through
Congresses, publications and by bringing practitioners together.
Also in Europe, the CERP was formed in 1959. The CERP’s Research and Education wing later
became the European Public Relations Education and Research association in 2000. The IPRA
continues as an organisation, although it’s role of international coordination and leadership
had been taken over by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication
Management.
Education
The education and training of practitioners was seen as a vital element in building the skills
base of public relations and defining it as a professional activity.
,Although the first public relations course was offered at the University of Illinois in 1920, it
was not until the later 1940s that the new professional associations started the actively
discuss education.
The IPRA took the lead in shaping international approaches to education.
International public relations
Western Europe became the target for American corporations as economies revived in the
1950s and 1960s. This impetus gave the platform for the establishment of the international
arms of major public relations agencies corporate communication departments.
The agencies started by linking with partners or associates in the new markets and later
acquiring either the partner agency or another business. This enabled them to support
American clients as they expanded into new territories and to grow the agencies’
businesses. This development, and that of the corporate communication expansion, also led
to the use of common public relations and publicity approaches that could be planned and
monitored from a central position. The outcome was that American models of public
relations became known as ‘`international PR’.
The worldwide development
Corporate public relations were growing as governments and multinational corporations
sought to expand their influence, and the technology for faster communications, such as
telephone, satellite communication, and television, was evolving. News media was also
expanding.
In many Western countries, newspapers could be printed in several cities; television news
was less reliant (afhankelijk) on film and able to access satellite-distributed material. All
these developments sped up the news gathering and dissemination (verspreiding) processes
and increased pressure on organisations to respond quickly.
James Grunig led the way in the United States by positioning public relations as a
management function. His definition of public relations as ‘the management of
communications between an organisation and its publics’ is the most commonly cited.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, public relations was mainly focused on media relations.
Media relations remains a major part of PR practice today.
Now, around the world, public relations is a field in which the vast majority of practitioners
have a bachelor degree or similar academic award. Although the most common form of
public relations activity is in the tactical, publicity-orientated form often called ‘marketing
PR’, the increased educational input led to the introduction of strategy-led campaigns and
the understanding that publics and stakeholders could be contacted by methods other than
through media gateways. This became known as the ‘relationship management’ model.
1990s
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the former Eastern Bloc, public
relations began to flourish in these countries.
For some this development was wholly new, as it arose from the introduction of democratic
governments, whereas others interpreted public relations’ rapid growth as the continuation
of practices from the former socialist countries.
In this decade, there was rapid expansion of public relations in consultancies, government
and corporations.
, Consultancies: a professional practice that gives expert advice within a particular field,
especially business.
Another sector to emerge strongly was public relations for non-profit organisations, such as
charities and social organisations.
An important springboard was the privatization of governmental entities in many countries
that fueled further internationalisation of agencies and corporate communication
operations.
Privatisation: Privatization occurs when a government-owned business, operation, or
property becomes owned by a private, non-government party.
A second springboard was technology public relations from the mid-1990s onwards. This
brought new types of expertise and communication methods such as email and the early
internet that were used by practitioners and organisations as communication and
promotional tools.
This period was called web 1.0 and was the beginning of the biggest transformation of public
relations practices and strategies since the end of the Second World War. With web 1.0, the
pace of change accelerated.
Antecedents of public relations
There were three common forms:
- early corporate communications, Corporate communications refers to the way in which
businesses and organizations communicate with internal and external various audiences.
These audiences commonly include: Customers and potential customers. Employees. Key
stakeholders.
- governmental information and propaganda methods
- cultural influences linked to dominant religions.
Springboards
There was a frequently observed sequence of influences that enabled the expansion of
public relations.
Governmental PR -> corporate communication -> formation of a professional association ->
education at universities and colleges -> establishment of agencies.
There were exceptions, especially in the focus on nation-building and politicized
communication in post-colonial societies in Asia and Africa, but this sequence is seen in
many more countries. In post-Second World War Western Europe and in Eastern Europe
after 1989, there was strong influence from American models of practice, but these have
been modified into national forms of public relations.
Restraints
Since the middle of the twentieth century, public relations has not expanded at a uniform
rate, even in adjacent countries, for economic and political reasons.
Among the historic reasons were:
- closed or statist economies, one-party and military governments that stifled free
expression, the media and the emergence of public relations.
(gesloten of staatseconomieën, eenpartij- en militaire regeringen die de vrije meningsuiting,
de media en de opkomst van public relations verstikten.)
- propaganda was dominant in some countries until democratic politics was allowed
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