Corporate power
Miller, David, and William Dinan
(2007) ‘Public Relations and the Subversion of Democracy’ in Miller and Dinan
(eds.) Thinker, Faker, Spinner, Spy:
Corporate PR and the Assault on Democracy. London: Pluto Press
Miller and Dinan outline
Grunrig’s four-part model of PR, which acknowledges undemocratic practices, but
suggests that PR has moved on to more legitimate approaches:
“It distinguishes ‘press agentry’, which is most commonly
identified with promotional media work; ‘public
information’, which uses one-way communication to promote a given message,
perhaps in the public interest; the two-way
asymmetrical model, in which feedback and perhaps market research and
public opinion polling are used to manipulate audiences more effectively; and a
two-way symmetrical model which is
alleged to help ‘create mutual understanding’ between an organisation and its
publics.” (Miller and Dinan 2007: 16)
Which of the above categories would you place
the following information campaigns in?
Getting enough sleep, see also this article (especially the paragraph on sleep council half way down)
Miller and Dinan (2007:17) argue
that in reality, some PR firms engage in “misinformation, lies and dirty
tricks”:
“Take one key example, the use
of the spin tactic known in the industry as the ‘third party’ technique. This recognises that corporate views
openly stated might garner a sceptical reception. Rather than engage in open debate, the spin doctor’s advice
is to disguise the source of the message by inducing others to spread it”
(Miller and Dinan 2007: 17-18)
Try to identify an example of
this ‘third party’ technique from an online search. Make sure that your source is reliable!
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