In our group we discussed five elements that we thought was interesting and important.
Early beginnings in America
1. Boston Tea party – best-known publicity stunt of all time, was the inspiration of Samuel Adams, a man with a refined sense of how symbolism can sway public opinion.
2. Sir Walter Raleighs – attempts to convince settlers to move to Virginia
3. PR is as old as Human Communication
4. Tom paine’s common sense - More than 120.00o copies of the phamhlet were sold in three months – example of political communication to a national audience.
The middle ages
5. Pope Urban II persuaded thousands of followers to serve God and gain forgiveness of their sins by engaging in the Holy Crusades against the Muslims.
6. The Roman Catholic Church was a major practitioner of public relations throughout the middle ages.
I have learned more in my own era now than I did when I first read it by myself.
It was a bit surprising to know that PR might be as old as human communication. I honestly thought that PR was sort of “new” in our history. I mean if it is almost as old human communication then it is really old because human communication goes way back in time to the Ancient Greece
I also learned that the Roman Church was a major practitioner of public relation. I did not know that. And I was a bit surprised. Maybe because it was a Church and not that I have any prejudice, but I just had another idea of Church.
