ABSTRACT

P ublic relations has its origins in the field of media relations. This is one of thereasons why the two are repeatedly used as interchangeable terms, especially byjournalists. It may also go some way to explain the knee-jerk antagonistic reaction of some journalists to public relations – one journalist has even been heard to remark, ‘Without PR people, journalists would be the lowest organism in the food chain.’ It is true that early practitioners were publicists and press agents whose main aim was to gain ‘free’ press coverage at any cost, and the truth was not allowed to get in the way of a good story. Modern day publicists still behave in this way (Max Clifford, often erroneously referred to by the media as a ‘PR guru’, is dealt with in Chapter 3).