Exploring Public Relations – Ralph Tench (1)

But Schick (1994) declares that ‘the intention of with- holding a truth is to deceive’. Martinson (1996: 46) says that if the public relations practitioner is to practise ethical persuasion, they ‘must adopt truthfulness as a norm… have internalised it as a value and … be ever vigilant in recognising that those inevitable temptations to communicate somewhat less than substantially complete infor- mation must be taken for what they are — tempta- tions to manipulate others for the practitioner’s own, or a Client’s, selfish ends’.

m Autonomy of audiences: The idea of the au- tonomous, active audience is important for the creation of ethical persuasion. It underlines the im- portance of dialogue; it suggests a notion of equal- ity. As Jaksa and Pritchard (1994) argue, ‘human beings … should not be treated merely as a means to an end; they are to be respected as ends in them- selves’.

The freedom of the audience to participate on equal terms was central to Habermas’s ideas of ethical dialogue (see Chapter 9 for details). = Communication ethics (see end of chapter). Given these indicators and the work on ethics ex- plored at the end of the chapter and in Chapter 15, let’s look at the process of persuasion and, in particu- lar, see what public relations practitioners can learn from social psychologists.

Persuasion and psychology The US post-war research (led by scholars at Harvard and Yale) into the psychology of persuasion was dri- ven both by the threat of the Cold War and fears of (as well as interest in) brainwashing, and the promise of the consumer boom in goods and services. Many organisations and advertising agencies recruited psy- chologists to help create powerful and effective mes- sages. This led to some concern about commercial brainwashing, which was highlighted by Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders (1957).

It was seen as deeply sinister then, but the only technique he de- scribed which is no longer in regular use is subliminal advertising (where images are flashed on a screen too quickly for the brain fully to register them). It seems that we have become used to the fact that persuasion is an integral part of mass communication.

¢ Extra case studies ¢ Links to relevant sites on the web ¢ An online glossary to explain key terms PEARSON PO EEE ny Education We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in public relations, bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work.

To find out more about the complete range of our publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk Exploring mulelivem <-)e-halelat Ralph Tench Principal Lecturer and Public Relations Subject Group Leader Leeds Metropolitan University and Liz Yeomans Principal Lecturer Leeds Metropolitan University ja Prentice Hall FINANCIAL TIMES An imprint of Pearson Education Harlow, England » London + New York « Boston « San Francisco + Toronto + Sydney « Singapore * Hong Kong Tokyo * Seoul « Taipei « New Delhi » Cape Town + Madrid + Mexico City * Amsterdam * Munich « Paris » Milan Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 2006 © Pearson Education Limited 2006 All rights reserved.

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All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners. ISBN: 978-0-273-68889-1 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress 1059 =O 7 OnO N43 10 09 08 O07 Typeset in 9/12 Stone Serif 59 Printed and Bound by Mateu-Cromo Artes Graficas, Spain The publisher’s policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.

Bid(symexe)aicslales LCTUl(e(=vo mi cele] g About the authors ime) Kane) ge) Preface Publisher’s acknowledgements Part 1 The context of public relations 1 1 Public relations origins: definitions and history 2 2 Management and organisation of public relations 18 3 Role of the public relations practitioner 36 4 Media context of contemporary public relations and journalism 62 5 Public relations and democracy 78 6 Community and society: corporate social responsibility (CSR) 94 7 International context of public relations 112 Part 2.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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