Removing the Spin: Toward a New Theory of Public Relations History

Abstract

REA4OvwC m SPIN: TOWARD A NEW THEORY OF PIJEL'C &UlTONS h%TORY institutionalization of persuasive organizational communication strategies and techniques. In the process, we seek to correct misunderstandings about public relations history which have (mis)informed public relations theory for more than 20 years and to describe and understand the historical relationship between public relations, the mass media, and the historical contexts in which public relations emerged. By doing so, we seek to depart from what L'Etang (2008, p. 321) called the patterning, or colligation, of history, which can artificially inflate or diminish the historical role of people and events, and "reappraise the criteria used to establish the meaning of value in the field" (Creedon, 1989, p. 29). The effect of these efforts, then, will be to remove the spin-the conscious positioning of public relations history that has heretofore dominated scholarly understanding of the field's development. SIGNIFICANCE TO MASS COMMUNICATIONPublic relations history has been of great interest to disciplines lying outside the mass communication field, such as social history (Ewen, 1996;

The evolution of public relations measurement and evaluation

“…Lamme and Russell's monograph, Removing the spin: Towards a new theory of public relations history (Lamme & Russell, 2010) argues that from George Washington onwards, US presidents monitored newspapers in order to gain intelligence on what was being said about them and the views of fellow citizens. In the 19th century, many industries and groups also tracked media coverage and public opinion.…”

“…From the late 1970s onwards it has been identified as an important issue for research and practice implementation (McElreath, 1980(McElreath, , 1989Synnott & McKie, 1997;Watson, 2008;Watson & Noble, 2007). The evolution of public relations measurement starts much earlier, with some suggesting that media monitoring practices can be identified from the late 18th century onwards (Lamme & Russell, 2010). It is, however, from the beginning of the 20th century, when 'public relations' began to be widely used as the description for a set of communication activities, that measurement practices can be identified.…”

The two way symmetrical public relations and digital communication technologies: Between theory and praxis

“…Na osnovu pomenutih periodizacija, Grunig i Hant (Grunig & Hunt, 1984) prvi su izradili sintetičko-analitički model razvoja prakse odnosa s javnošću (Raaz & Wehmeier, 2011;Lamme & Russell, 2009;Hoy et al, 2007) i ostavili dalekosežan uticaj na razvoj teorijskog razmatranja PR-a. Grunig i Hant su moderni razvoj odnosa s javnošću integrisali u četiri modela:…”

Advertising value equivalence—PR's orphan metric

“…From George Washington onwards, US presidents monitored newspapers in order to gain intelligence on what was being said about them and the views of fellow citizens (Lamme & Russell, 2010). In the 19th century, industries and groups from railroads to temperance societies and evangelists also tracked media coverage and public opinion.…”