Originally published as Journal of Communication Management, Volume 12, Issue 4

ISBN: 1363-254X

Guest edited by: Tom Watson

Public relations historical scholarship has been largely pioneered by researchers in the United States, with the notable exception of Jacquie L’Etang in the United Kingdom. Amongst the outcomes of this Special Edition has been a reinforcement of the depth of US scholarship in articles by Karla Gower, Timothy Penning and Patricia Curtin, which also challenge the “great man” model that for so long has posited Ivy Lee and Edwards Bernays as being responsible for evolution of public relations as a practice. Historians will benefit from Jacquie L’Etang’s conceptual paper on Writing PR History which is based on her experiences and the theoretical and methodological challenges she has faced. Robin Croft, Trevor Hartland and Heather Skinner look back in history to 10th Century and the start of the planned manipulation of the Glastonbury myths in creating the national brand of England and of Englishness. Natalia Rodriguez Salcedo brings to light the history of public relations in Spain from the late 19th Century onwards. Tony Jaques from Australia spotlights the role of Howard Chase in the creation of ‘Issue Management’ and its adoption as part of contemporary practice. This Special Issue also plays its part in supporting the community of public relations historians by assisting the launch of www.prhistorywiki.org, a clearing house for scholars.

Contents:

Public relations before “public relations” in Spain: an early history (1881-1960)

The first "public relations" campaigns did not appear until the very late 50s, this article is an attempt to point out the precursors of this activity in the private sector in Spain in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The aim is to investigate whether the reality of the term existed before the 1950s, under different names, and therefore to understand the true origin of the profession in this country. Up to now history took the arrival of the term "public relations" in Spain as the starting-point for historical study. Undeniably, the act of giving something a name implies its recognition, but it also hinders the search for precursors to that activity. A closer look reveals the existence of precedents in the first half of the century though under other names such as "educational" and "prestige" advertising, or "propaganda" campaigns. Despite being considered as isolated experiences, they prove the phenomenon precedes the name of "public relations".

And did those feet? Getting medieval England "on message"

This paper looks back in history to 10th Century and the start of the planned manipulation of the Glastonbury myths in creating the national brand of England and Englishness. This paper highlights what today would be described, pejoratively, as official 'spin'. In this case, though, there are two important differences: firstly that the narrative content in the PR message substantially changes over the centuries, and secondly that there is a duo of main 'practitioners' involved in the campaigns (church and state). We believe that in three main periods of history their interests coincided to engender a narrative corpus around the Abbey of Glastonbury. In common with other masterstrokes of public relations, these narratives evolved from tales to beliefs, and from beliefs to legends: many of these are now firmly embedded in the national consciousness.

US corporate public relations in the Progressive Era

This paper explores the concept of public relations in the Progressive Era to gain a greater understanding of the historical development of corporate public relations in the United States. Most historical studies of public relations in the United States have described the development of the field as a linear progression or evolution from press agentry, to public information or publicity, to two-way communication. This study suggests that that linear evolutionary model is only partially accurate. At least some corporations in the Progressive Era had a greater understanding of the two-way street than corporations in this period normally are given credit for.

Writing PR history: issues, methods and politics

This paper argues that PR history-writing has profoundly shaped the discipline and that its US bias may have limited theoretical developments. Existing (largely US) PR historical writing is analysed in terms of its theoretical impact through the ‘four models’ and it is argued that this typology is not appropriately applied to other cultures with different paths of historical evolution. As a way of demonstrating this point, key aspects of British developments in the 20th century are drawn out to reveal a dozen ‘models’ of PR practice that could potentially form the basis of theoretical research.

Howard Chase: the man who invented Issue Management

This paper is to assesses the work of Howard Chase within the history of public relations, his role in the birth and development of issue management, and his relevance for contemporary practice. While Chase is widely acknowledged as the founder of issue management in 1976, his writings reveal that he saw this “new science” as only one part of a much broader restructuring of management design in which he positioned public policy and profit as corporate objectives of equal importance. Analysis confirms his work was innovative and of historical significance, but it has been increasingly outdated by evolution of the discipline he created.

First impressions: US media portrayals of public relations in the 1920s

This paper traces negative and limiting media depictions of public relations to their origins in the 1920s in order to see if modern media characterizations of “public relations” are new or a legacy of the past. Numerous contemporary studies show the public relations profession has been portrayed incompletely and negatively in the media for decades. This qualitative content analysis of portrayals of public relations in the New York Times and TIME Magazine in the 1920s shows that these depictions today are rooted in that decade when the term "public relations" first entered the American lexicon. The 1920s were a time when the newly emerging profession first struggled to define "public relations" as a more noble and advanced occupation distinct from the stereotypical hype and stunts associated with "press agents" and "publicity men" of the early 1900s.

Fred Harvey Company public relations and publicity (1876-1933)

This paper examines the entrepreneurial Fred Harvey Company's early public relations and publicity efforts to determine what they add to our knowledge of the development of public relations in the United States. This historical analysis uses mainly data gleaned from an in-depth examination of the two archival sources available: the Fred Harvey Company photographs and papers at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ (at about 10 linear feet, the most complete collection of Harvey materials), and the Fred Harvey Collection at the University of Arizona (photographs, correspondence, and miscellaneous records).

Launching PRimary Source: http://www.prhistorywiki.org, a clearing house for public relations history

This brief essay introduces public relations historians to PRimary Source, a new search tool designed to help them, their students, and public relations professionals locate archives and manuscript collections relevant to the field.

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