MAC 143 Study Guide - Final Guide: Dominick Fernow, Association Football, Filmstrip
28 Jun 2018
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Final Exam Chapters 12, 11, 9, 7, and 16 - Evan Elkin
Chapter 12 Terms
● public relations - the total communication strategy conducted by a person, a government, or an
organization attempting to reach and persuade an audience to adopt a point of view
○ different than advertising: more complex messages that many evolve over time and that may
be transmitted to the public indirectly (often thru news)
● press agents - first PR practitioners were theatrical press agents - those who sought to advance a
client’s image through media exposure, primarily via stunts staged for newspapers
● publicity - a type of PR communication that uses various media messages to spread information about
a person, a corporation, an issues, or a policy to elevate entertainment culture to an international level
● lobbyists - people who try to influence the voting of lawmakers
● deadheading - giving reporters free rail passes with the tacit understanding they would writing glowing
reports about rail travel
● propaganda - communication strategically placed, either as advertising or as publicity, to gain public
support for a special issue, program, or policy (national war effort)
● press releases - news releases are announcements written in the style of news reports that give new
information about an individual, a company, or an organization and pitch a story idea to the news
media; when issuing press releases, PR agents hope that their client information will be picked up by
the news media and transformed into news reports
○ PR agents can manage the flow of information, controlling which media get what material in
which order
● video news releases (VNRs) - thirty- to ninety-second visual press releases designed to mimic the
style of a broadcast news report; news stations in small TV markets regularly use material from VNRs;
news stations have been criticized for using video footage from a VNR without acknowledging the
source; VNRs give PR firms some control over what constitutes “news” and a chance to influence
what the general public thinks about an issues, a program, or a policy
● public service announcements (PSAs) - fifteen- to sixty-second audio/video reports that promote
government programs, educational projects, volunteer agencies, or social reform; broadcasters have
been encouraged to carry free PSAs; less pressure and non minimum obligation for TV/radio to air
PSAs - usually scheduled between midnight and 6am
● pseudo-event - any circumstance created for the sole purpose of gaining coverage in the media;
usually press conferences, TV and radio talk-show appearances, or any other staged activity aimed at
drawing public attention and media coverage
● lobbying - the process of attempting to influence lawmakers to support and vote for an organization’s
or industry’s best interests; some lobbyists contact government officials on a daily basis; ethical
problems: earmarks - specific spending directives that are slipped into bills to accommodate the
interests of lobbyists and are often the result of political favors or outright bribes
● astroturf lobbying - phony grassroots public affairs campaigns engineered by public relations firms; PR
firms deploy massive phone banks and computerized mailing lists to drum up support and create the
impression that millions of citizens back their client’s side of an issue
● flack - derogatory term to that reporters and editors refer to PR agents as
○ flak -antiaircraft artillery shell or a protective military jacket symbolizes the journalists the
protective barrier PR agents insert between their clients and the press
Review Questions: 2-4, 6-14
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1. How did railroads and utility companies give the early forms of corporate public relations a bad
name?
a. Railroads employed press agents to win favor in the court of public opinion
b. Help obtain federal funds→complain local FR took long
1. Buy favorable news stories about rail travel from newspapers through direct bribes
2. Deadheading-give reporters free rail passes while agreeing to write glowing reports about
travel
●Large rail companies wanted government to control rates & reduce competition
^Improved service if government kept a close watch
**Smaller firms forced out of business
^Consumers go to other means of transportation
2. What contributions did Ivy Lee make toward the development of modern PR?
Ivy Ledbetter Lee
●Sell more products if associated with positive public image
●Honesty & directness is better than deceptiveness
●Penn Station admit its mistake, vow to do better & let newspapers in
●Rockefeller/ Standard Oil Company→violent strike=deaths
^1) Fact sheets to press 2) brought in press for photos 3) Rockefeller hand out dimes to
kids ways Lee helped➔
3. How did Edward Bernays affect public relations?
Edward Bernays
●Developed propaganda that supported America’s entry into conflict & promoting President
Wilson as peacemaker
●Made smoking more publically acceptable for women→staged an event→cigarettes= “torches
of freedom” in an Easter parade & contact newspapers about symbolic protest
●Cultural elite must maintain control by winning the consent of the larger public
●Doris (wife)→opened up PR to women by helping her husband
4. What are press releases, and why are they important to reporters?
a. Press Release: announcements written in style of news reports give information out & pitch story
idea to media
b. ^Hope client information picked up by news media news report→
c. **Manage flow of information, controlling which media gets what material
5. What is the difference between a VNR and a PSA?
a. Video News Release: 30-90 second visual press release designed to mimic style of broadcast news
report small TV market use→
a.i. **Give control over what constitutes “news” & influence what the general public thinks
a.ii. sway opinion
b. Public Service Announcement: 15-60 second audio/ video reports promoting government
programs, educational projects, volunteer agencies & social reform
b.i. ^Scheduled at a less commercially valuable time
b.ii. informative
6. What is a pseudo-event? How does it relate to the manufacturing of news?
a. Pseudo-Event: any circumstance created for the sole purpose of gaining coverage in the media
b. EX. Press conference, TV/ radio talk show
c. **Staged activity aimed at drawing public attention & media coverage
7. What special events might a PR firm sponsor to build stronger ties to its community?
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a. encourage companies to participate in community activities (plant tours/open houses), making
donations to national and local charities, and participating in town events like parades and
festivals
8. Why have research and lobbying become increasingly important to the practice of PR?
a. Make sure government regulation is not a burden & does reduce control over a business
Lobby: process of attempting to influence lawmakers to support and vote for an organization’s/industry’s best
interest
Problems: specific spending directives that are slipped into bills to accommodate interests
of lobbyists but are result of political favors/ bribes
Astroturf Lobbying: phony grassroots public affairs campaigns engineered by public
relations firms
9. How does the Internet change the way in which public relations communicates with an
organization’s many publics?
a. Upload/ maintain media kits on websites
^Traditional news media access to information at any time
**Barriers between organization & groups PR professionals want to reach=broken (everyone can
access)
b. More personal interaction between clients & audiences
c. Appear without complete disclosure=unethical
10. What are some socially responsible strategies that a PR specialist can use during a crisis to
help a client manage unfavorable publicity?
a. track public opinion after a crisis and make decision (thru telephone calls and organized
satellite press conferences)
b. try to create a positive atmosphere of the company post disaster - create tv ads, change logo,
and brand names
11. Explain the historical background of the antagonism between journalism and public relations.
a. Some think PR=emerged to distort facts reporters worked hard to gather
Flack: refer to a PR agent, derived from military word flak-antiaircraft artillery shell
^Symbolizes protective barrier PR agents insert between client & the press
12. How did PR change old relationships between journalists and their sources?
a. Journalists complain to independent traditions even tho the news media has become more reliant
on PR→increasing amount of information
b. PR raid ranks of reporting for new talent
**PR needs journalists for publicity; journalism needs PR for story idea & access
●PR makes reporters lazy
Chapter 11 Terms
● product placement - the purchase of spaces for particular goods to appear in a TV show, movie, or
music video
● space brokers - individuals who purchased space in newspapers and sold it to various merchants;
newspapers welcomed space brokers who paid up front
● subliminal advertising - 1950s; refers to hidden or disguised print and visual messages that allegedly
register in the subconscious and fool people into buying products
● slogan - the phrase that attempts to sell a product by capturing its essence in words
● mega-agencies - large ad firms that formed by merging several agencies and that maintain regional
officers worldwide
● boutique agencies - devote their talents to only a handful of select clients
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MAC 143 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Final exam chapters 12, 11, 9, 7, and 16 - evan elkin. Public relations - the total communication strategy conducted by a person, a government, or an organization attempting to reach and persuade an audience to adopt a point of view. Different than advertising: more complex messages that many evolve over time and that may be transmitted to the public indirectly (often thru news) Press agents - first pr practitioners were theatrical press agents - those who sought to advance a client"s image through media exposure, primarily via stunts staged for newspapers. Publicity - a type of pr communication that uses various media messages to spread information about a person, a corporation, an issues, or a policy to elevate entertainment culture to an international level. Lobbyists - people who try to influence the voting of lawmakers. Deadheading - giving reporters free rail passes with the tacit understanding they would writing glowing reports about rail travel.
