Reading Questions, Chapter 1, 2 & 3
PR! By Stuart Ewen
Chap. 1
1. Who is Edward Bernays, and why is he is important enough, according to Ewen, to be the subject of the first chapter of the book?
2. How does Bernays define PR, or the work of "a public relations person"?
3. What is the relationship between PR and news, according to Bernays?
Chap. 2
1. Ewen discusses testing public relations techniques in his class "the CULT(ure) of Publicity". How did the class do this? Do you have any concerns about the ethicality of what Ewen and his class did? Why or why not?
2. Ewen quotes Bernays again in discussing his class. In particular, he discusses the idea of "newsworthy events [that] are planned deliberately to accomplish a purpose, to influence our ideas and action" (p. 22-23). Think of some examples of such events that you are familiar with from your own experience, from reading/watching news, or from class readings and discussions, and be prepared to discuss them.
3. Ewen discusses four specific techniques of PR near the end of the chapter. They can be labeled as: 1) creating circumstances; 2) simulating enthusiasm; 3) using visual techniques to create a mood; 4) creating impressions while bypassing/downplaying substantive content. Be prepared to discuss exactly what kinds of practices Ewen has in mind for each of these, and think of extra examples of each.
4. Think about Ewen's arguments about studying PR in terms of "the motives, the assumptions, and the history of power" (p. 33). What are his arguments? Can you relate them to ideas we've discussed earlier in the course? Do you agree with them?
Chap. 3
1. According to Ewen, the second half of the 19th century through the first decade of the 20th was "a period of profound confusion and turmoil" (p. 40). What was the nature of this turmoil? What were the economic and psychological effects of it on the middle class? How were middle class attitudes about free enterprise/laissez-faire changing?
2. Who were the progressive journalists representative of? Why were they popular? What was the ideal meaning, for them, of "the term publicity" (p. 48). How was their ideal similar too, and different from the earlier bourgeois ideals of publicity we have discussed previously?
3. How and why, according to Ewen, did the middle class' concern with privacy change in the late 19th century?
4. What kinds of economic and technological changes were taking place in the press/media industries in this period?
5. What was the effect of the changes noted in questions 3 & 4, above, with regard to processes and content of public discourse?
6. What kinds of appeals did he "muckrakers" pioneer that transformed the way we conceptualize publicity and public opinion, according to Ewen?
7. What was "double-edged" about the success of progressive publicity (p. 59) according to Ewen?