Dec 16th 2010
As Stuart Ewen notes in “PR! A Social History of Spin”, the standard
businessman's attitude towards the public was one of “hardened
arrogance”.
--
Lee observed that the rise of national newspaper chains and syndicated
journalism in America since the 1880s, combined with the extension of
the franchise, had profoundly changed society. Now, for the first time,
there was something that could accurately be called “public opinion”, a
shared consciousness and conversation across the country—and it was to
be feared. Lee noted how the emerging mass media were acting as the
conduit for the anti-capitalist message of Progressivism, the
liberalising reform movement that peaked in America in the early 20th
century. He realised not only that it was essential for businesses to
counter this message, but that the same conduit could be used to spread
pro-business sentiment.
--
In “A Century of Spin”, another history of the industry, David Miller
and William Dinan note how PR conquered China in the 1980s, in the wake
of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. In 1984 the first state firm set up an
internal PR department, followed a year later by the country's first PR
agency, a joint venture between Burson-Marsteller (a big American firm)
and the Xinhua news agency. These days PR enjoys as heady a growth rate
as any other industry in China.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar