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PR! - A Social History of Spin Paperback – November, 1996

by Stuart Ewen (Author)

19 customer reviews

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The early years of the twentieth century were a difficult period for Big Business. Corporate monopolies, the brutal exploitation of labor, and unscrupulous business practices were the target of blistering attacks from a muckraking press and an increasingly resentful public. Corporate giants were no longer able to operate free from the scrutiny of the masses.“The crowd is now in the saddle,” warned Ivy Lee, one of America's first corporate public relations men. “The people now rule. We have substituted for the divine right of kings, the divine right of the multitude.” Unless corporations developed means for counteracting public disapproval, he cautioned, their future would be in peril. Lee's words heralded the dawn of an era in which corporate image management was to become a paramount feature of American society. Some corporations, such as AT&T, responded inventively to the emergency. Others, like Standard Oil of New Jersey (known today as Exxon), continued to fumble the PR ball for decades. The Age of Public Relations had begun.In this long-awaited, pathbreaking book, Stuart Ewen tells the story of the Age unfolding: the social conditions that brought it about; the ideas that inspired the strategies of public relations specialists; the growing use of images as tools of persuasion; and, finally, the ways that the rise of public relations interacted with the changing dynamics of public life itself. He takes us on a vivid journey into the thinking of PR practitioners—from Edward Bernays to George Gallup—exploring some of the most significant campaigns to mold the public mind, and revealing disturbing trends that have persisted to the present day. Using previously confidential sources, and with the aid of dozens of illustrations from the past hundred years, Ewen sheds unsparing light on the contours and contradictions of American democracy on the threshold of a new millennium.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stewart Ewen is professor of media studies and chair of the Department of Communications at Hunter College. He is also a professor in the Ph.D. programs in history and sociology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He is the author of the acclaimed Captains of Consciousness, Channels of Desire, and All Consuming Images, the last of which provided the basis for Bill Moyers's award-winning PBS series The Public Mind. He lives in New York City.

Product details

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; 10/16/96 edition (November 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465061796
ISBN-13: 978-0465061792
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 19 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #335 in Books > Business & Money > Marketing & Sales > Public Relations
- #1297 in Books > Business & Money > Marketing & Sales > Advertising
- #3754 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Communication & Media Studies

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Public Relations: To inform or persuade?

May 22, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Public relations (PR) has become so pervasive that its very existence almost goes undetected. Some of it remains on such a level of subtlety that many observers would never notice. Seeing PR requires knowing what to look for. It lurks in obvious places such as advertising and political dialogue. But it can also appear in less obvious places such as photography, movies, television shows and news stories. Once it makes itself known the realization that the modern world is literally covered with PR hits home like a flail to the torso. This realization can dig so deep that one's own identity can even come into question. How much of who we are, what we believe in, and our framework of the world has come from public relations offices? Probably a fair amount. Decoding this miasma of stratified information would encumber a lifetime. Stuart Ewen, the author of this very ambitious history of public relations, struggles with this same question in chapter two. After all, Where is the objective frame of reference for studying something as über alles as PR? Perhaps such a perspective exemplifies philosopher Thomas Nagel's "view from nowhere."

"PR! A Social History of Spin" covers a lot of infrequently covered ground. How many have heard of the now defunct United States Committee of Public Relations (CPI)? Or the philosophy of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)? It's all here. Roughly, the book covers attitudes towards and potential controlling of "the crowd" or "the public" from 1907 to the 1980s. The definition of "public relations" remains elusive throughout, but it takes on various meanings through the delineation of its history over some 400 pages. In the end, "public relations" involves a mosaic of multifarious concepts, attitudes and methodologies. All involve projecting specific ideas of reality to "the public" at large. As this book shows, voluminous creativity has gone into this idea.

The book opens with the author's visit to arguably one of the most influential, and least known publicly, practitioners of public relations: Edward Bernays. Some think he was even more influential than his uncle Sigmund Freud. Bernays applied many of Freud's psychoanalytic ideas to mass persuasion. He created an industry and, arguably, a way of life still in effect today. His endless list of PR accomplishments includes breaking the social taboo against women smoking and providing a framework for public relations. This framework, from the 1947 essay "The Engineering of Consent" includes three main elements: 1. Study the public as "raw materials"; 2. sway the public through emotional, not intellectual, appeals; 3. Create news via stagecraft. These elements, according to the author, still guide PR today.

Bernays' thought represents one major branch of public relations. The book covers both perspectives in depth. On one side sit those who believe that those in power should sway "the masses" with methodologies of persuasion. In other words, they should create a reality to keep the public "in check." Bernays exemplifies this position (perhaps "Bernaysians" would serve as a fitting moniker?). On the other side sit those who think public relations should inform, not persuade the public. The "Progressive Publicists" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries propounded this idea. To such thinkers, information provides the panacea for social ills. An informed public is an empowered public. The swing between these nearly opposing poles pervades the history of public relations, though the book suggests that the followers of Bernays have triumphed. Conceding this, a short concluding chapter asks what implications Bernaysianism carries for modern democracy.

An interesting chapter explores the public relations of the Roosevelt New Deal administration. As frustration towards business practices skyrocketed throughout the 1930s, public relations was used fervently against Wall Street. The New Deal even utilized both branches of public relations to create support for social welfare programs. Using both emotional and intellectual appeals, FDR kept the New Deal alive until a massive business backlash following the war. During the late 1940s and 1950s, business borrowed New Deal tactics for their own ends. Social programs, taxation, and communism fell under the axe of this era's PR. Looking at today's landscape, this approach proved extremely successful. By appropriating New Deal rhetoric of "the greater good," late 20th century business practitioners were able to undermine many of FDR's social programs. As television entered the public sphere, the public relations industry saw a golden opportunity. And they took it. As early as 1955 a book entitled "Telephone News on Television" provided guidance for mass persuasion via television.

The book's bulk deals mainly with post-war public relations. Not until the book's fifth and final part does television enter the discussion. The post 1950s era gets largely sequestered to chapters 15 and 16. Those looking for contemporary perspectives on PR will only find nibbles here. Though the book nonetheless remains incredibly relevant today. Also, its publication date of 1996 pretty much precludes any discussion of the now most pervasive PR tool: the internet. And though the author's political stance stands out like neon, the book provides a fascinating, potentially life-altering, perspective on modern media and modern life. The thick pages of "PR! A social history of spin" carry massive implications for anyone living in a modern democracy. People from any political persuasion will benefit.

8 people found this helpful

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Can't go wrong reading this book!

May 2, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I first bought/read this book over a dozen years ago. It was an enlightening read providing a lot of insight into the world of public relations and advertising. I've recommended this book to friends as a great primer and most agree this is a great read. I've read several works since on the subject matter and while this was my "first" it's hard to compare them as this one did such a great job.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great depth and understanding of the field which is represents

May 13, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Just what I was looking for. Full of information. Great depth and understanding of the field which is represents. I highly recommend for anyone looking to understanding the public marketing of items.

One person found this helpful

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A customer

Best book on the subject of PR

February 15, 2000

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I've recently been investigating the history of public relations for a class I'm teaching. Having surveyed the literature on the subject, this one is head and shoulders the best, more informative and insightful than other books. The historical depth, and range of analysis--linking public relations to broader social realities--are extraordinary.

16 people found this helpful

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An interesting history of our "intellectual" environment.

February 1, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have not read the entire book yet...have just gone through parts I was looking for answers to. So no long review now. However I would recommend Ewen as a significant writer and an informative and enjoyable to read book.

Comment

The book is in great condition, perfect for school

September 3, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Thanks! I received my book quickly. The book is in great condition, perfect for school, and saved me money.

Comment

February 11, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Was received quicker than expected in great shape. Too bad the book isn't as good as the service -- it is required reading for school.

Comment

A book about thought control

October 4, 2001

Format: Paperback

A teacher colleague and I read this book when it was first published. We would go to the teachers' lunch room almost everday with an ongoing discussion of what we read.
To understand the history, power and influence of public relations and advertising in this country, PR is a must read. In lucid analysis, Ewen lays out how the public relations industry in this country helps to shape the consumer thought of citizens. He shows how this industry grew out of
an elitist view of the masses of people in this country that they did not need to be expose to certain information or processes that converen or controll society--both politically and economically. That instead, their thoughts, ideas, and their access to certain knowledge needed to be controlled and that certain information needed to be manufactured in order to push people to act in a certain way.
He explains, for example, how elitist writers like Walter Lippman "had written that the key to leadership inthe modern age would depend on the ability to manipulate "'symbols which assemble emotions after they have been detached from their ideas. The public mind is mastered, he continued, through an 'intensificatioin of feeling and a degradation of significance.' " In other words, corporations, and their public relations workers essentially use symbols to further their agendas, which is basically to make huge amounts of profit.
I look forward to reading other books by Ewen.

20 people found this helpful

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