Practical public affairs in an era of change

in all available media. He cites Sam Adams’ precept, “Put the enemy in the wrong and keep him there.” We need look no further than the Capitol to note the effective manner in which the Clinton administration has followed this line of attack. Or we may look at current lobbying and be reminded of the effectiveness of the l&h-century committees of correspondence. The colonists also understood the need to get their story out first: ‘The Horrible Boston Massacre,” which, in fact, involved the deaths of just five. Noted historian Allan Nevins described the colonists’ ef&orts as “the greatest work ever done in America in the field of public relations.” Cutlip skillfully takes us through the growth of our nation, documenting how public relations was used to help political leaders from Republican Jefferson to Democrat Clinton. Although most of us are somewhat aware of Amos Kendall’s contributions to Andrew Jackson’s campaigns and administration, the author informs us of the many techniques he used, including a finely tuned usage of fact fmding and the “news leak.” Cutlip also describes the role of PR in developing support for the Union, the building of the great railroads, and attracting people to move to the West. Indeed, the Burlington railroad generated 2.5 million acres in just one grant, and modern PR history seems devoid of a corporate achievement of that magnitude. By 1869, excursions of newspapermen to see and report on the West generated glowing tales and encouraged many to settle there. And by 1888, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Burrelle were reading newspapers, clipping them on the kitchen table, and selling the clips for a penny apiece. Those who think that volume publicity is new are reminded that the 1893 Exposition sent out161,200 pieces of publicity, 31,687 printed pictures, issued 106,919 press passes, and recorded 4,616,620 words in papers and periodicals. And Cutlip reminds us that the Department of Agriculture was formed to provide tiormation and assistance to farmers. Cutlip closes the text with a worthy admonition: “It is time for the journalist and practitioner to take stock of their work and determine if what they are doing really is truly in the public interest that both journalists and practitioners profess to serve. Courage to those who give it a try.” Frank Winston Wylie Emeritus Professor of Journalism California State University, Long Beach

Lloyd B. Dennis, ed. Practical PzGblicAJiGs in an Em of Change Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 456 pages, $29.95, paper This anthology is an unusual book in that it seeks its place among public relations text offerings of the last two decades or so, not so much by its content, but in the narrow way it defines its intended market niche. 312

Vol. 22, No. 3

Book Reviews

That niche is the some 20,000 public affairs practitioners in the U.S. who, editor Lloyd Dermis estimates, make a living contacting governmental officials and agencies at local, state and federal levels. While the anthology-the work of 40 contributors-narrowly defines its intended audience, the book’s editorial appraoch is a wide-ranging, encyclopedic recapitulation of current American public relations practice. This editorial approach is contrary to the recent pattern of public relations textbooks. As the market for such texts has become increasingly saturated in the last 20 years or so, and shelf space increasingly competitive, new and revised texts in the field have tended toward the subject-specific-seeking an outreach to a large, generalized audience of public relations professionals. This book, on the contrary, is a broad-gauged “how-to” instructional work intended to provide public af&rs practitioners and allied academicians and students with a practicum of current public relations. These, Dennis says, constitute the target audience of the book, %&in the context of the overall public relations profession.” Seasoned public relations practitioners (as contrasted with public affairs specialists) will find that the book recapitulates the scope of the practice, rather than exploring new ground. Its editorial sweep, by design, is wide-ranging and tends toward the basic. This last assessment should not be construed as a weakness of the book. Among its 40 contributors are some of the most respected public affairs practitioners in the U.S. They have done their work exhaustively and well. Their undergirding premise is that for public affairs efforts and programs to be successful in today’s eclectic and yet fractured environment, they require the wideranging application of public relations theories and practices. Included among these are internal and external communications; issues identification and management; crisis management; and research. The book is identified in its foreword as a successor to the Public A#zim Handbook, published by the American Management Association in 1982. The sponsor of the new version is the Public Relations Society of America. Presumably PRSA’s outreach effort by way of sponsorship of the publication is intended to generate some new PRSA memberships from the public afhairs sector. Such a goal, however, is not stated in the book. Stephen H. Baer Communications Consultant Pasadena, CA

Joann Ellison Rodgers and William C. Adams

itfediu Guidefi Academics Los Angeles: Foundation for American Communications,

72 pages, $10,1994

The book is an excellent value and contains perhaps the best culling of data on dealing with the media. However, while it is addressed to Fall1996

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