ABSTRACT

This volume presents a historical and objective overview of the field of public relations in the past century. It discusses some of the landmark cases in public relations, critiques the philosophies of innovators such as Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays, and explores how corporate public relations has affected economic and political trends. The author concludes by offering long-term alternatives for the future of public relations valuable to both practitioners and corporate executives.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction:

Asking Basic Questions

chapter |7 pages

Voluntarism and Restraint:

Early 19th-century Public Relations

chapter |10 pages

Onto the Gravy Train:

19th-Century Railroad Public Relations

chapter |11 pages

Two-Front War:

Early 20th-century Utility Public Relations

chapter |10 pages

Minimizing Competition Through Public Relations:

The Work of Ivy Lee

chapter |12 pages

Come the Depression

Corporate Public Relations and the National Recovery Administration

chapter |10 pages

Bringing “Order Out of Chaos”

The Public Relations Theory of Edward Bernays

chapter |8 pages

The Triumph of Manipulation

Bernays Becomes Publicist No. 1

chapter |14 pages

Last Stand For Steel

chapter |9 pages

Ministers or Panderers

Issues Raised by the PRSA Code of Professional Standards, 1954–1986

chapter |11 pages

The Four-Fold Discipline

chapter |7 pages

Conclusion

A Word to Corporate Executives