MDIA1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Bayeux Tapestry, Edward Bernays, University Of New South Wales
29/03/18 UNSW notes | MDIA1002 Monique Munro
1
Media & Communication Contexts
Week 6 notes
MDIA1002 Lecture
PUBLIC RELATIONS Traditional models of engagement
• Assessment one feedback
- Attention to detail
- Brevity and clarity
• A little history
- Press Index - A Brief History of Public Relations (PR)
- Pr about Julius Caesar 49 b.c. - sent reports of his epic achievements in a daily
publication entitled ACTA DIURNA
- 1066 - the bayeux tapestry - depicts Norman conquest of England - first infographic
- 17th catholic church - catholic church invented word propaganda and were the first
to use it
- 1807 - Thomas Jefferson - first to use term public relations when addressing us
congress
- 1889 - Westinghouse established first PR department to fight Thomas Edison's
general electric current in the 'battle of currents'
- 1906 - Ivy L. Lee - created the first official press release to help Pennsylvania railroad
manage on electric train work
- NYT - printed it verbatim (the PR dream, the media release will be printed)
- Ivy lee - associated with talking about the ethics of pr practice - declaration of
principles: Influence business to recognise the benefit of altering business practices
to conform with ethical standards
- Edward Bernays
- Theories of mass psychology and schemes of corporate and political persuasion -
famous for making cigarette being appealing to women
- Feminism and Propaganda: Torches of Freedom
- Convicting fashion designer to include the specific dark green in the seasons clothes
to make cigarette packaging attractive
• WHAT IS PR?
- -More than just advertising,
- Overall strategies and concepts
- https://www.pria.com.au/aboutus/what-is-public-relations/
- "the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual
understanding between an org (or individual) and its (or their) publics".
- http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined
- "Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial
relationships between organisations and their publics."
• Related terms
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
29/03/18 UNSW notes | MDIA1002 Monique Munro
2
- Public affairs
- Corporate communications
- Corporate relations
- Community relations
- Publicity
- Media agency
- Less positive - flak, spin doctor, organized lying
• Definitions
- Bainbridge p164 - "PR has huge implications for how our society functions, driving
change and fundamentally altering the way human beings organise themselves"
- Bainbridge et al 2016 p 166 - "PR is the controlled release or exchange of info in
various ways and through various outlets, most notably through the news media."
+Snapchat, Instagram, Fb are very important to PR today
- "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits of the masses"
and "an important element of a democratic society"
- "fashioning and projecting credible renditions of reality itself"
+Shaping meaning, reality (eg, Edward Berneys: It is okay for women to smoke)
- All the things PR people do:
+Advertising management on strategies and policy issues
+Deelopig a opas or orgaisatios puli relatios progra
+Answering public enquires
+Issuing media releases and statements
+Providing journalists with background
+Managing an organisations social media activities
+Orgaisig speial eets suh as ope das, tours ad ehiitios
+Acting as a go-between for journalists in arranging interviews with spokespeople
• Media releases: key points
- What are they? information, usually in written form, about an org, a person,
product, event or issue that is given to journalists in the hope that they will publish
it. Media releases are written like a news story, approved by the org or individual, in
whose name it appears, and are widely distributed (Mahoney 2013)
- The most effective way of providing information to media outlets abput an event,
issue or program.
- Why are media releases used? Efficiency, credibility, targeting, agenda setting,
economy (Lamb and Mckee, p.89)
- Gain interest of the media outlet provide them with the angle of how to position the
story
- Why start here?
○ The are redudat - pr might start with social media coverage first
○ The are a ti part of uh ore ople pr strategies - primary use is to provide
officially-sanctioned quotes for journalists
○ They are an important cross-over
- What is the cross-over with news?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
