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PR: Past and future

A brief history of the PR industry, and some thoughts on where it’s all heading

By Emily Morrison

A brief history of PR

  1. Early examples in US specialised in promoting circuses, theatrical performances and other public spectacles.
  2. Many early US PR practices were developed to support the expansion of the railroad network.
  3. 1st world war propaganda was an early example of PR.
  4. Edward Bernays is regarded today as the profession’s founder. ‘Propaganda’ was a bad word because of Nazi connotations… “so we chose Council on Public Relations”.
  5. One of Bernays’ earliest PR assignments concerned the freedom of women to smoke cigarettes.
  6. Also check the wikipedia history of PR
  7. Or go to www.prmuseum.com for more history.

The future of PR

  1. New ways of communicating are developed all the time.
  2. The PR industry is shifting communication strategies to meet these advancements.
  3. Blogs etc mean clients expect quicker responses – the world has shrunk.
  4. Another development is the growth in Corporate Social Responsibility – the ethical face of an organisation.

This article is part of the unicornjobs.com guide to Working In PR & Communications. Click here to go to the guide index.

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