Redefining Public Relations

A framework  for journalists reporting disasters.  PR professionals lead the way in a brewing crisis.

PR in the 21st CenturyPublic Relations is undergoing a radical change in the way it is practiced. So-called traditional mass media, are seeing a drastic change in the way they influence the public. As large daily newspapers become obsolete, news is being delivered in a score of blindingly fast and clever ways.  Gone are multiple news cycles. Today, we experience one rapid-fire, news cycle. Technology such as Twitter, Instant Message, blogs, wikis and digital “smart phones” that  record sound and images, type short messages and send them via satellite half-way around the world. Public Relations can’t “Spin” a unique version of the truth because the public can gain access to the details faster than the media. So the men in the Grey Flannel Suits of the 1950s and the (M)admen of Madison Ave in the ’60s have lost their hold on telling America’s story. The Pentagon Papers, Watergate, Love Canal, and Three Mile Island? It began to wake America up. People were lied to. Public relations and journalism can never be the same again.

 What would be different about covering those events in the 21st century? Many things. For starters, the newsrooms of the 21st century might not have the staffing or the experience to dig into these difficult stories. Beyond that, once the story started rolling, it would achieve light speed within hours.  PR and news people will make their greatest contribution helping to keep the story on message.

When was modern PR first used?  Public relations is generally considered a product of the 20th century.  It probably started during WW I in response to the need to prepare American public opinion to enter the First World War.  The British proved hugely successful in their campaign against Germany, even though 1/3 of America was of German descent.  Following the war, large corporations began experimenting with it. For instance, Edward Bernays used “social engineering” techniques borrowed from his uncle, Sigmund Freud, to promote causes such as getting women to smoke cigarettes in public. Sales of cigarettes soared.

World War II saw a refinement of all that was used in the first World War — movies, newspapers,  poster art, and a few new tricks such as radio broadcasting.

Fast forward to 1947, and the U.S. Air Force is no longer part of the Army.  It’s declared a separate military service with no traditions — and no baggage.  It’s leadership starts by making an intellectual contribution creating the Rand Corporation, a non-profit “think-tank” where the Air Force could go to ask questions on virtually any subject.  The first report?  It’s written in 1947 and assesses the feasibility of a “world circling spaceship”. At the same time, the Air Force sent a few young officers to graduate school at Boston University to study journalism and mass communication. The result was a program in public relations in all but name. If the Air Force was going to build spaceships, it needed public support. As Tom Wolfe was to say ten years later, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.”

After an impressive array of accomplishments that included communication satellites, and aircraft that helped shrink the world for military and civilians alike, the torch of innovation was passed to a university-based generation that has immersed itself in digital media.  If the Air Force was dazzled by breaking the speed of sound in 1947 (approximately 700 miles per hour), in 2008, we are aware of information traveling at the speed of light and entire countries humbled by teenage hackers.  All this happening while Rand’s imaginary spaceship has become hundreds of communications satellites, interstellar science probes, and a permanent space station.

As the Air Force prepares for a world ten to 25 years away, how might we use PR to make educated assumptions regarding humanities needs and wants in the next 25 years?

This course is primarily designed for students interested in non-profit and governmental agency PR jobs, but most of the material covered will be applicable in a for-profit setting.  No prior course is required.  We will take part in threaded discussions four days each week (no classwork on Fridays or the weekends).  The course is only six weeks long, so students have to keep up with readings and class participation.  If you have an emergency, let me know. I’m reasonable and we can usually work something out.  Most classbooks are available online from the UMass Library. You may have to purchase several inexpensive paperbound books (total cost: $30, or so). There are several short quizes and a final paper.

So far, no one has written a text that explains how PR and journalism are influencing the media landscape in the 21st century.  2009 may prove to be a seminal year to study these changes as journalism is on a fast track to losing newspaper readership, magazine circulation, and TV viewers. Meanwhile, as reporters lose jobs, public relations has become a healthy industry (the U.S. Dept. of Labor says that PR is a “growth” profession).

Why is journalism losing good people and public relations seeking them out? Part of the answer lies with technology. Specialty news gathering is being done by PR people and they are getting very good at it.  Science writers? Go to universities and national labs; Business writers? Again, go to universities and government agencies;  Space travel? Medicine? Same story.

Even in politics and international events we see fewer foreign news bureaus and more public affairs officers representing the UN, various non-governmental agencies, the Pentagon.  For better, or worse, our news is coming almost directly from non-traditional sources.  Public relations is filling a void and for those PR folks who act professionally, the future is bright.  It won’t be easy, however. The pressure to omit information, bend the truth, or lie will always be there.  Just remember, however — lie once and your credibility in PR is gone.  And, in the end, that’s how you tell the good ones.  So, let’s look at some useful books:

Un-Spun: finding facts in a world of disinformation; Brooks Jackson & Kathleen Hall Jamieson; 2007, Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-6566-0