The History of Public Relations Essay Example

The History of Public Relations Essay Advanced News Public Relations were discovered in 52 B. C. E. in ancient Rome. It became a profession in the 20th Century in the United States. There, public relations were becoming popular through the development of railroads. It is stimulated in today’s rapid growing business world. The field of Public Relations is a very essential aspect with having a perfect image. Public relations professionals work diligently at creating good and reliable relations between a firm and many different individuals it represents. It deals with a variety of strategies and methods. There are multiple definitions of public relations, which makes it difficult to understand. Public Relation writes, Lattimore, Baskin, Heiman, Toth and Van Leuven provides the definition, Public relations is a leadership and management function that helps achieve organizational objectives, define philosophy, and facilitate organizational change. Public relations practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics to develop positive relationships and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations. Public relations practitioners develop, execute, and evaluate organizational programs that promote the exchange of influence and understanding among an organizations constiuent parts and publics (2004). Edward Bernays was an admirable figure born in Austria in 1892. After attending Cornell in 1912, he began developing his powers of persuasion as a promoter of theatre. Bernays built a career that lasted for four decades, selling consumer products to political candidates. He was a big thinker, and his stratagems were very complex, which drove others to think the way he does. We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Public Relations specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Public Relations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Public Relations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For example, for the American Tobacco Company Edward persuaded people to think that in order to stay fit smoking will make that possible. He continuously promoted that â€Å"being thin was in†. Even though smoking can never be known as something good, he portrayed it to be a symbol of women’s liberation. That campaign in particular demonstrated Bernays’ innovative thinking and intellectual brilliance. He doesn’t partake in any form of smoking, but was able to persuade thousands to try it, increasing the company’s business. Another strategic approach in this campaign was asking the press to not inform people about the evidence of tobacco’s health risks, even though it was the wrong decision to make. Bernays believed that there was no such thing as bad publicity. The last years of life that he had were spent on getting even greater and his promotional skills to become a legacy in history. Today he is still known as the â€Å"father of public relations† and has left a thumbnail history of the development of the public relations industry in the United States (David). Public Relations have been popular since the twentieth century and were discovered back to ancient civilizations. It is the practice of persuading people through using communicational skills. An example is Edward Bernays who views public relations to be based on the persuasion of attitudes. It is important to have a viewpoint based off of what the majority may find interesting. This will soon target a positive view point from customers. To keep customers satisfied and comfortable with investing money into a company, it is always important to keep their best interest in mind. Through advertising and marketing, the message of the company’s purpose must be clear for customers to understand. Marketing is one of the important fields that are greatly influenced by public relations. Many organizations view public relations to be part of the marketing department. Whether it is under marketing or in its own field, a successful organization requires a well ran public relations department. There are many publics that the PR practitioner must abide by and each is controlled by various communicational skills. Publics that are inside the organizations are managers, clerks, and stock holders. Publics that are outside of the organization will be considered as the government and press. Each of these publics plays a significant role in a well-structured PR organization. There are many functions of public relations that are organizational and social. Organizational functions include: media relations, employee relations, and community relations. These are considered as organizational functions because they sustain a good relationship between the company and their consumers. Media relations focuses more so with the press. It grants the press privileges to advertise an organization the best way possible to gain popularity, which in result makes the company money (Public Relations). Employee relations are about the internal publics of the company. For example, those who work for a company have accurate information on the company’s growth and downfalls to help them excel the company’s performance in the future. Public relations are all about positivity, but are up to the people within the company to carry it out. Last, community relations reflect what the company stands for. It allows for the company to maintain its reputation of good will. The press connects on a marketing basis that insures healthy exposure for the business that is being represented. Maintaining relationships amongst other businesses, strategizing sales plans, and managing inventory of their product are just a few of their duties. They may also be involved in advertising or even in promoting. Marketing communications relates to the field of marketing that includes, constructing displays for promotional events and pamphlets that summarize what the product is and its functions. Marketing communications is what drives the costumers into buying their product. If the sign is appealing to the eye, and if the words that are used are persuading, then the community will buy into the company (Sommerfeldt). Public Relations is based on management, supervisory and technical functions that allows the organization to maintain relationships with other companies to prosper. There are many duties and expectations that public relations have. They include: representing the company well at conferences, attaining honors and awards, conducting business with the press, and having great communicational skills amongst employees (Brigden). Being successful in all four of these areas is not to impress others, but to enhance one’s career in public relations. Also these areas apply not only towards public relations, but also in media relations. Advertising plays a role in public relations, but is not entirely about making a product look appealing to consumers. PR involves informing and educating people and the target group about an organization. Advertising requires having an effective PR. Effective PR develops a bond with the customers to satisfy their needs and to provide good service to leave a good impression (Iyer). This will set growth within the company, making sells increase due to the well- structured effective PR. A very important technique within Public Relations is to control the downfall of the company through five important aspects. They involve: Crisis Detection, Crisis Management, Crisis Communication, Crisis Containment, and Crisis Recovery. I strongly believe my interest in public relations grows more day by day and I strongly believe that I am suitable for a position as such. My skills, abilities, and qualities all together allow me to be qualified at a public relations agency. I possess excellent writing skills, creativity and drive to accomplish all tasks, great organizational skills, multi-tasking ability, and ability to work well as part of a team, accuracy and attention to detail. To sum up I believe that I meet all the requirements to be in public relations. Works Cited 1. Public Relations.   Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, (2011): 1. 2. Bridgen,  Liz. Emotional Labour and the Pursuit of the Personal Brand: Public Relations Practitioners Use of Social Media.   Journal of Media Practice V. 12 No. 1 (2011) P. 61-76, 12. 1 (2011): 61-76 3. Conrads,  David. Theres No Such Thing as Bad Publicity.   Christian Science Monitor, 90. 192 (1998): B11-B-1. 4. Dan, Lattimore. Public Relations: the Profession and the Practice. S. l. ]: Mcgraw Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print. 5. Iyer,  Ganesh, David Soberman, and J. Miguel Villas-Boas. The Targeting of Advertising.   Marketing Science, 24. 3 (2005): 461-476. 6. Sommerfeldt,  Erich, and Maureen Taylor. A Social Capital Approach to Improving Public Relations Efficacy: Diagnosing Internal Constraints on External Communication.   Public Relations Review V. 37 No. 3 (September 2011) P. 197-206 , 37. 3 (2011): 197-206. 7. Public Relations.   Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, (2011): 1.

The eNotes Blog To Teach a Mockingbird LetsDiscuss

To Teach a Mockingbird LetsDiscuss A school district in Biloxi, Mississippi, recently made waves when it decided to pull Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird from required reading in its school. The reason? The language made students â€Å"uncomfortable.† Banning books has long been a problem in the United States  and one that (justifiably) infuriates the general public. If we are a country founded on freedom and, therefore, free speech, censoring books in the public school system is one of the most defiant actions against the Bill of Rights. Yes, books may contain ideas or introduce lifestyles that make us uncomfortable, but it is the right and even the responsibility of each student to make their own assumptions and opinions. By banning books, we are simply taking away knowledge that enhances and expands student perspectives- the exact opposite of what education should be. Teachers also play a large role when teaching To Kill a Mockingbird and discussing powerful topics. Controversial books generally deal with thematic content that can be difficult to teach appropriately. To Kill a Mockingbird has, for years, been a springboard for discussion on racism, a topic that can be difficult to bring up in classrooms. Unfortunately, there may be detrimental effects when a teacher overlooks certain aspects of the novel. For example, what are the full implications of Lee’s artistic choices when developing her characters of color? Take Calpurnia: when students view her through Scout’s eyes, what potential lessons could students internalize about the role of black women? Banning books is not the answer, but perhaps the school district in Biloxi was onto something, just not for the right reasons- districts can select only a few number of works they choose to teach a year, and  To Kill a Mockingbird has traditionally been on the syllabus for decades. Perhaps there should be room for more recent works that touch on the same topics in a different approach. Conversely, it has remained on the syllabus for extremely valid reasons, as it pushes students to expand their perspectives. All of this leads to a pivotal question: should we continue to teach To Kill a Mockingbird in high schools? Let’s explore both sides. No, We Should Not Teach To Kill a Mockingbird: I first read To Kill a Mockingbird in eighth grade, and it’s a novel I still hold dear to my heart because of the classroom discussions that left a lasting impact on me. I remember learning about lynchings and about the United States’s ugly past; I became more aware of the world I lived in and how the US treats black people and how history influences where we are today. These are huge, important lessons that I believe need to be taught in school. To Kill a Mockingbird was an effective way to do that. However, I recently realized who this book is intended for: white people. My school was primarily white and in my English class, specifically, we had no black students. I didn’t even think about the implications of what being a black student and learning about race from a very white perspective would be like. As author Alice Randall  points out, â€Å"the black child who has been verbally abused by being called a ‘nigger’ in the schoolyard could be more hurt hearing that word taught in the classroom† To Kill a Mockingbird is regularly taught to readers at a young-ish age. While eighth graders and high schoolers are typically able to possess the reading comprehension to understand it, they may not be in the position to fully understand it. It may be more appropriate for adults, with its thematic content and nuanced subject matter, but six-year-old Scout’s point of view misleads many to believe that it is targeted at a younger audience. To Kill a Mockingbird can be taught to be more than just teaching empathy or understanding that the â€Å"n-word is bad.† To Kill a Mockingbird can be used as a perfect example of what white saviorism is, of understanding that Atticus is just as flawed as the rest of us, and that there is so much more to racism than just individuals who hold racist beliefs- it’s an entire system. The issue here is that it’s not always taught through this lens. Atticus Finch is often thought of as a beacon of morality, and his teachings on empathy have been used by children and parents alike. However, his character is more complicated than this. Written from Scout’s young perspective, it’s easy to see Atticus through her eyes, as a hero. If we look at him from a more critical lens, Atticus emerges as a white savior. In media, white saviorism is when the story focuses on a white character who acts to help a non-white character. Unfortunately, the non-white character is reduced to a prop while the white character is glorified. One could argue that Atticus shouldn’t be taught as a civil rights hero (as he so often is) since he only worked with the system, not against it. Malcolm Gladwell, in his article for The New Yorker, writes that â€Å"Finch will stand up to racists. He’ll use his moral authority to shame them into silenceWhat he will not do is look at the problem of racism outside the immediate context of Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Levy, and the island community of Maycomb, Alabama.† Furthermore, To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on Atticus and his attempt to â€Å"save† Tom Robinson but provides no insight into Tom Robinson’s perspective. In fact, To Kill a Mockingbird completely ignores the perspectives and viewpoints of any black characters. When Robinson is lynched, we do not have to deal with the devastating effects of the lynching (what happens to his family, etc.); instead, we get to safely lie in bed with Scout and have Atticus read to us as we happily end the novel. If we want to use literature to begin the discussion on racism in the US, perhaps we should turn towards works written by people of color, for people of color, about people of color. To Kill a Mockingbird does the opposite, focusing on Atticus and his relationship to Tom Robinson and his attempts to â€Å"save† him in an unjust society. I could go on about how Atticus compares himself to a Klan member, how he does little to confront the overt racists in Maycomb, and how he fails to practice empathy himself. He’s a complex character who possesses numerous nuances that are often overlooked when teaching the novel. His faults can lead to important discourse- discourse that we need in our society right now because so many of us fall into the trap of the â€Å"accommodation† mindset rather than â€Å"reformation† one to the systemic injustices in our society. This requires highly qualified teachers and ones who understand the complexities of the novel and how to teach it appropriately, a tall order for all schools in the nation that end up teaching To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a work of literary genius- do not get me wrong. But, what makes it such an everlasting piece of work are its often overlooked complexities when teaching it to our students. This can be harmful and especially problematic because there is so much more to the book than just a feel-good, coming-of-age novel. When it becomes misconstrued as just that, we lose sight of the more important ideas of the novel: race in the US- the very thing we use to defend To Kill a Mockingbird in the first place. Yes, We Should Teach To Kill a Mockingbird: We should teach To Kill a Mockingbird because students are neither too inexperienced nor too young to learn and understand deeper issues. It may require more effort to effectively teach this novel, but it undoubtedly pays off. Education is about pushing limits, making things uncomfortable, and forcing us to face the reality we live in. What good does it do to shield students away from things that could potentially make them uncomfortable? To Kill a Mockingbird forces us to confront things we may not necessarily want to confront. Racism, whether subtle or overt, still exists and by banning it, or not teaching it, only causes a disservice to students. This book is unparalleled in its emotional effects; it’s often the first novel  that students are introduced to them that really makes them feel, both enlightened but also inspired. Shouldn’t that count for something? And, sometimes those feelings also include discomfort which should not be a reason to toss it, but instead a reason to teach it. Leonard Pitts Jr., columnist, stated  that â€Å"some of those discomfited by Lees book are African American. It makes no difference. In literature, as in protest, the audiences discomfort is often a sign the message is being received. It can offer an invaluable opportunity to consider, reconsider, debate, teach, learn, reflect, and grow.† Lee’s timeless classic can be read at varying points in our lives, and while it may not be geared towards children, it should be introduced in schools at some point. That first introduction can be the beginning of larger discourse and hopefully an extended journey with understanding the book and all of its complexities. If perhaps the first time we read it and the concept of white saviorism or Atticus’s failure to practice empathy usually goes over our heads, we are still left with other important elements of the novel. As with many literary classics, we gain more from reading them after we’ve gained more life experience. It would be impossible to expect a teacher to cover every single lesson a book can provide. That’s why we have literature classes and why we teach books written hundreds of years ago- there’s always more to learn from a book and that should not be a reason to rule it out in the classroom. Furthermore, To Kill a Mockingbird is thought-provoking and stimulating to many students- qualities that can get students excited to actually read it. We are immediately pulled in by Scout’s voice and the riveting plot of Tom Robinson’s trial. It explores issues of morality, identity, and growing up, which are themes all children face today. And, yes, it explores racism, which is certainly something children need to begin to understand and discuss. To Kill a Mockingbird may have the potential to be problematic under certain circumstances, but ultimately it is a coming-of-age book that enlarges students’ perspectives while also providing hope, which is much needed in our society today. What do you think? Should we continue to teach To Kill a Mockingbird in high schools? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments! Featured image via hollywoodreporter.com.