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PR AND THE PAST IN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS: A ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM

PR AND THE PAST IN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS: A ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM. Keynote address by Professor Tom Watson, Bournemouth University & Chair, International History of Public Relations Conference UTS, November 13, 2012. Motto for today.

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PR AND THE PAST IN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS: A ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM

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  1. PR AND THE PAST IN LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS:A ROUND TABLE SYMPOSIUM Keynote address by Professor Tom Watson, Bournemouth University & Chair, International History of Public Relations Conference UTS, November 13, 2012

  2. Motto for today “Historians are dangerous and capable of upsetting everything” Nikita Khrushchev, 1956

  3. Other bon mots • “History: Gossip well told”: Elbert Hunnard • “History is simply one damned thing after another”: Winston Churchill • “History should always be studied in the morning, before anything else can happen...”: Peppermint Pattie (Peanuts)

  4. And from a noble Roman “The causes of events are even more interesting than the events themselves.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

  5. Why history? “We cannot fully understand the features of the present unless we see them in motion, positioned in trajectories which link our world with that of our forebears. Without historical perspective, we may fail to notice continuities which persist, even in our world of headlong change”(Tosh 2008, p.141)

  6. Agenda • PR history “state of play” • Based on IHPRC and JCOM 2008 papers • Historiography and scholarship • Future directions?

  7. “New History” “Historians had answered ‘what’ long enough; it was time to enquire as to ‘how’ things came about.” (Craven, in Harwood 1989, p.75)

  8. Key points • Move from Grunig’s four “models” • Time for less corporatist approach; “Reimagine” PR history • Proto-PR and “Public Relations” • Different directions in historiography

  9. Analysing output • 2008: 10 papers # • 2010: 32 papers (+2 keynotes) • 2011: 28 papers (+1 keynote) • 2012: 32 papers (+1 keynote) • TOTAL: 106 papers • 2010-2012: 180 abstracts (82 papers presented) # Papers from JCOM special edition

  10. Analysis by IHPRC themes #1 History and Events (37) #2 Professional & Practice (27) #3 National Histories (19) #4 Historiography (14) #5 Proto-PR (5) #5 Theories of Public Relations (5)

  11. By classification (Tosh 2006 & Watson) #1 Analytic (44+ #1 Descriptive (37+ #3 Critical (15+

  12. By classification (Bentele 2012) • National PR Histories: • Specific Events of National or International PR History: • Reflective, meta-theoretical or methodological studies:

  13. Where next - 1 Other voices “US scholars have always tended to assume that activities referred to as PR have been invented by Americans and exported elsewhere.” L’Etang 2008, p.328 • Example of Germany and Austria

  14. Where next - 2 Away from Grunigian models • Not appropriate for cultures “with different paths of historical evolution” L’Etang 2008, p.319 Proto-PR and Public Relations • Before 1875, it is Proto-PR: “not … seen as strategically planned activity in medieval times and … did not use the framing of language and best practice accumulated now” Watson 2008, p.20

  15. Historiographic directions “What historians write, about past events, about history” (Tucker 2009, xi) • Lamme & Miller (2010): “Removing the Spin: New Theory of Public Relations History” • Bentele (2009, 2010, 2012): Functional-Integrative Strata • McKie & Xifra (2012): Challenge existing historiography; postmodern analyses

  16. Lamme & Russell • “… time to remove the spin from public relations history” (p. 356) • Embrace the Embarrassing • Be historians, not promoters or censors of public relations’ history

  17. Bentele (2010) Two directions in 45 years of PR historiography: • Fact-and-Event Oriented (FEOT) – Facts in historical order; focuses on personalities and their activities • Model-and-Theory Oriented (MTOT) – Give social explanation for developments; uses models/theories to reflect conceptual basis

  18. Bentele model (2009)

  19. McKie & Xifra (2012) • Go beyond professional limits and occupational barriers; take globalisation and environmental impact into account • Research products of history; e.g. “invention of tradition”, nationalism campaigns • “Bottom up” research for the undocumented perspectives • History is “increasingly liquid and is being refashioned and retheorised”

  20. Let’s get dangerous • PR historiography ‘comfortable’ f0r too long • Take a more analytical, critical view • Move away from corporatist emphasis • “Reimagine” PR history from activist view • Build oral histories of unconsidered and ignored voices (e.g. Somerville et al on IRA and Loyalist PR in ‘The Troubles’) • Show PR’s strengths, failings, impacts

  21. Let’s cooperate • Increase cooperation between PR historians • Map the archives available for researchers • Comparative studies; track international PR across cultures • Get greater leverage for bids to research bodies and industry associations • Create a peer reviewed journal for PR history (WiP)

  22. Conclusion • Push the boundaries; Away from Anglo-American focus • Separate proto-PR from ‘public relations’ • Avoid Grunigian analysis • Seek new and “other” voices • Take a critical stance; “Reimagine” the history of PR • Be more dangerous • Cooperate across borders

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