Privileging an activist vs. a corporate view of public relations history in the U.S

Public Relations Review 38 (2012) 347–353

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Public Relations Review

Privileging an activist vs. a corporate view of public relations history in

the U.S.

W. Timothy Coombs ∗, Sherry J. Holladay

Nicholson School of Communication, P.O. Box 161344, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1344, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords:

Public relations history

Activism

Activists

Corporate-centric

a b s t r a c t

This article elaborates on the argument that the history of U.S. public relations has

been distorted by the emphasis on corporate functions of public relations. The dominant

corporate-centric view of U.S. public relations history often claim that public relations

developed as a response to activists who attempted to interfere with business operations.

That myopic, corporate-centric view has perpetuated a negative view of public relations as

merely a tool of “big business”. In the past as well as the present, corporations have been

learning from and co-opting activists’ innovative public relations techniques. By alterna￾tively grounding U.S. public relations history in the works of activists, we open possibilities

for re-imagining the field and legitimizing activists’ works as a positive, central component

in public relations theory and research.We end by providing resources educators can utilize

to teach a more balanced view of public relations history in the U.S.

© 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

This essay argues for the value of expanding the corporate-centric history of U.S. public relations to include the public

relations works of activists in the First Reform Era and Second Reform Era. Acknowledging the works of these activists

demonstrates the history of public relations is not simply rooted in corporate reactions to activists and can be traced back

to activist actions designed to seek societal change. In the past as well as the present, corporations have been learning from

and co-opting activists’ public relations techniques.

Current criticisms of public relations often are rooted in this corporate-centric view of public relations as well as in the

way in which public relations has been portrayed as subverting journalistic and democratic processes through a lack of

transparency and an abundance of resources. Interrogating the way the history of U.S. public relations has been depicted

is not simply an academic exercise. Although we see it as central to broadening students’ education, it also holds promise

for re-imagining the field and legitimizing the works of activists as an important component in public relations theory and

research.

This paper begins with our definition of public relations and moves to shortcomings in the corporate-centric approaches

to U.S. public relations history, including the neglect of activism in the First Reform Era, Progressive Era, and the environ￾mental movement. The development of the Internet offers opportunities for activism that, like the activism of earlier eras,

is mimicked and co-opted by corporate public relations. We end with a discussion of current criticisms to demonstrate how

early criticisms of public relations have continued to plague public relations over the years.

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 217 549 2664; fax: +1 407 823 6360.

E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (W.T. Coombs), [email protected] (S.J. Holladay).

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.11.010