Steinberg, Charles Side
The mass communicators : public relations, public opinion and mass media
New York : Harper & Brothers, 1958
Abstract:
This book is an attempt to define the relationship between public relations and public opinion as conveyed by the content of the mass media of communication. It also explores the semantic principles of communication and public relations content.
At the present time, colleges and universities throughout the country offer undergraduate and graduate study in public relations and the communication arts, in addition to adult education and professional school courses. While there are satisf ...; [read all]
This book is an attempt to define the relationship between public relations and public opinion as conveyed by the content of the mass media of communication. It also explores the semantic principles of communication and public relations content.
At the present time, colleges and universities throughout the country offer undergraduate and graduate study in public relations and the communication arts, in addition to adult education and professional school courses. While there are satisfactory individuai studies available in the fields of public relations, publicity, public opinion, and propaganda, there does not appear to be any volume which relates the practice of public relations to the phenomenon of opinion formation by means of the mass inedia. In thè experience of thè author, public relations cannot be practiced in a vacuum; nor can it be reduced to publicity techniques. If public relations is to grow in stature as an ethical profession, its practitioners — as well as the press and the public — must invest it with professional recognition. This means that those who seek a genuine knowledge of the theory and practice of public relations will require an understanding of the principles of semantics, of the history and function of the mass media, and of the nature of public opinion, propaganda, and ethics.
The practice of public relations, involved as it is with public opinion and mass communication, is never free from criticism.
Healthy criticism is a constructive force. What is unfortunate, however, is the frequent tendency to view any attempt to inform and/or influence public opinion as a destructive force. The process of persuasion is not always negative or nefarious. Of course, public relations (like law, or medicine, or any other profession) can be destructive and even dangerous. On the other hand, public opinion formation which comes about through information and honest persuasion can make an affirmative contribution to democracy. In a democracy, there are multiple choices, many alternatives. In a free and competitive society public opinion, which always reacts to implicit controversy, is not shackled. The democratic way of life makes possible the art of persuasion from many quarters; and the fact that many interests practice the art of persuasion does, in a sense, serve the ends of democracy.
The author has attempted to describe public relations in terms of function; to explore public opinion research and each of the mass media as it relates to public relations; to indicate how public relations is practiced both in terms of policy and in terms of publicity, promotion, and advertising; and, finally, to explore the relationship between public relations and propaganda and to indicate at least some of the major ethical considerations inherent in the practice of public relations and the use of the mass media.
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