global discussion. local perspectives.
I’m concerned about public relations. In the way that the Texas mother who created the Ignore No More app was concerned by her son ignoring her mobile phone calls. PR – why are you ignoring all the good advice that’s around you? Even more concerning, why are PR practitioners ignorant of the weakness of a discipline that relies on anecdote, criticism and personal opinion, rather than robust evidence, substantiated thinking and considered arguments? We see...
Things ain’t what they used to be; the end of the beginning around wearable technologies and the device jumps PR practitioners are about to encounter Op-Ed by Catherine Arrow In kicking off this post, I was sorely tempted to indulge in a Buzzfeed-style headline, complete with obligatory quirky picture—probably JIBO, the world’s first family robot. I toyed with “61 ways to know if you’re ready for wearables,” tip-toed around “True Life: Why PR was disconnected...
Reporting the death of Eddie Bernays at the age of 103 on 9 March 1995, The New York Times presented a largely favourable obituary. Over the past two decades, Bernays’ legacy has been mixed as his work has been praised as pioneering and also derided as deceptive manipulation. These opposing, simplistic interpretations, are combined in Cutlip’s overview: Bernays was a brilliant person who had a spectacular career, but to use an old-fashioned word, he was...
Public relations is frequently presented in a dim light; “entering the dark side” is how journalists refer to working in/with PR. And a theme of presentation, representation and re-presentation of some shadowy corners was evident at the 5th annual International History of Public Relations Conference (#IHRPC) held at Bournemouth University A dominant trend in the papers I heard seemed to be the representation of activism as public relations, alongside presentations examining social movements through a...
N.W Ayer & Son, Inc. claimed to be the first US advertising agency (having bought a firm established in 1841 by Volney Palmer). As a leader and innovator in advertising, it is not surprising that Glenn and Denny Griswold asked the firm’s vice president, Marvin Murphy, to author chapter VII in their 1948 US book, Your Public Relations (being serialised here with monthly posts – to read other chapters in our series of posts, use this...
The winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction has just been announced. The proud boast of this prize is that it is the “UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman” and it is judged by a panel of women, so luminary that they need an apostrophe when their names are listed. The award was previously known as the Orange Prize for Fiction – but now is titled after an cream...
John Wiley Hill, president of Hill & Knowlton, Inc. wrote chapter six in the 1948 US book, edited by Glenn and Denny Griswold, Your Public Relations (being serialised here with monthly posts) – to read other chapters in our series of posts, use this link to the book’s contents list. By 1948 Hill had over two decades’ experience in PR (following 18 years as a journalist and financial editor), which he entered as a consultant setting...
In the run up to Easter, here’s a chicken and egg conundrum for PR careers. Should we start out as generalists before specialising or vice versa? Does the navel gazing within PR (as noted in the interesting “Endless Fight” post and comment discussion preceding this one) – and a focus on being recognised as a profession – argue that the function is a specialism seeking exclusivity, even isolation and protection of a territory which may...
Social capital is the lifeblood of public relations with our ability to interact with others, build relationships, and develop a shared understanding at the heart of what we do. Always has been and always will be. Every new practitioner who enters the occupation, brings with them their existing connections and they rapidly learn the importance of linking, bridging and bonding. Our social capital is of value personally and professionally to us, and to our employers...
This topic remains as relevant today as when the following insight into the public relations department of 1948 was written by Conger Reynolds, public relations director at the Standard Oil Company (Indiana), in the book, Your Public Relations. This is chapter five – to read other chapters in our series of posts, use this link to the book’s contents list. In 1948, according to the University of Iowa, Conger Reynolds received the Award of the...