Introduction
Public relations is the procedure of checking the flow of information between an institution and its community. Public relations provide an institution or people publicity to their audiences through issues of public interest and news that does no need any direct payment. Such activities are like talking in seminars, working with the media and employee communication. These are things that are not tangible and that is what makes it different from advertising. Public relations can be used to create communication among employees, customers, voters or the public at large. Any company that values how it is viewed in the public eye must use some level of public relations. (Bernays, 1945)
Body
Public relation is a subject that has been around for a long period but major developments occurred around the 20th century. The development in different areas including interpersonal communication, arts, literature, staged events and publicity has advanced at this period. In the beginning of 1900, Henry Ford was known for two fundamental public relations ideas. He put forward the concept of positioning which means that publicity will be recognized to anyone who initiates something. He also advocated for ease of access to the media. President Theodore Roosevelt widely made use of publicity through conferences and interviews. He also made use of presidential tour for publicity and advocacy. (Seitel, 2007)
Ivy lee was a public relations counselor and in 1906, modern public relations began when he was employed by the coal manufacturing and got involved in a strike. The miners supervisors were speaking with the media while the coal owners’ stayed away from the press. This is when Lee confronted the leaders to change their stand and he issued “Declaration of Principles” which led to the age of free publicity for businesses. In 1914, Lee was employed by industrialist John D. Rockefeller where the “Ludlow Massacre” strike occurred and Lee had Rockefeller speak with the media. He also invented the New York Subway poster chain in 1916. (Seitel, 2007)
Edward Bernays, his wife and Doris Fleischman in the early 1920’s were able to advance the value of public relations counseling. In 1923, he wrote an influential book “Crystallizing Public relations” that formed the basis to modern public relations counsel. George Creel developed comprehensive public relations programs for President Woodrow Wilson cabinet. He managed to influence the newspapers to give free space for advertising of War Liberty Bonds. This became a success and thus led to creation of awareness to the Americans of the influence that arbitrated information has in promoting public attitudes. In 1930, Carl Byoir who was working together with George Creel established the largest public relations company that was on the top for more than fifty years. (Bernays, 1945)
In the 1960’s many public relation issues came into being after the Vietnam War including Civil Rights, women’s movement and other environmental issues. The 1970’s saw the age of improvements in the stock market and investor rights. Companies were expected to give out information that may have any effect on the value of the stock. The 1980’s saw the idea of public relation as a management function invented while in 1990 this management could be incorporated by individuals to build concrete management issues. In 2000 public relations grew as a concept of “Relationship management.” This means that individuals that the authority to create solid relationships with an organization’s publics. (Seitel, 2007)
Conclusion
The public relations field has grown tremendously over the past years. In the modern society women play a great role in the advancement of public relations. Many companies and institutions today are much more open to the society on various issues. The Internet is playing a great role in helping companies share information to the public which was not the case in the past. Public relation is in the increase in the fields of mass media and other communication media where the public are free to talk on various issues affecting their lives.
References List
Bernays, E. (1945). Public Relations. Boston, MA: Bellman Publishing Company.
Seitel, F. P. (2007). The Practice of Public Relations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.