Page 128 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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PULITZER,
they
are varied; JOSEPH include information management, attitude surveys, advertising,
media planning, event planning, and counseling.
Public relations has its roots in puffery or publicity. P. T. Barnum is consid-
ered one of the first to use publicity to entice audiences and gain exposure from
the media. Two influential figures in public relations history altered that per-
ception of the profession and lent it a professional air—Ivy Lee and Edward
Bernays. Both men used public relations techniques, especially interpersonal
communication and media events, to create positive images and communication
between a client and its audiences (stockholders, government officials, custom-
ers, employees, or competitors).
Public relations practitioners may be hired by a corporation or group directly
or work in a public relations firm that handles many different types of clients.
Government agencies usually have their own public relations staffs. However,
political candidates frequently use the services of a public relations firm during
a campaign. (See also Damage Control; Photo Op; Political Persuaders; Spin;
Strategic Political Communication; White House Office of Communication.)
SOURCES: Erik Barnouw, ed., International Encyclopedia of Communications, 1989;
Dennis L. Wilcox, Phillip H. Ault, and Warren A. Agee, Public Relations Strategies and
Tactics, 1992.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford

PULITZER, JOSEPH (1847-1911) was the newspaper publisher who set in
motion the yellow journalism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Born in Hungary, he came to this country during the Civil War as a military
recruit. Under the Civil War draft system, a draftee could hire a substitute, and
that's how Pulitzer got his chance to come to this country. He served in the
army for a year and then went to St. Louis to become a reporter for a German-
language newspaper. Legend has it that he chose St. Louis because a practical
joker told him that this would be the best place to learn English; in fact, it was
a city with one of the largest German populations.
Pulitzer bought his first newspaper, the St. Louis Dispatch, in 1878 and then
combined it with another failing newspaper, the St. Louis Post, thus forming
the Post Dispatch. He also was active in St. Louis politics. He was one of the
city's three police commissioners. He worked hard for the liberal Republican
movement and helped nominate Horace Greeley for president in 1872. Both
Greeley and the liberal Republican movement failed, and Pulitzer turned to the
Democratic Party.
He bought the New York World in 1883 and turned it into a vehicle to promote
his political party's rhetoric. Looking to make itself more interesting to readers,
the World was something of a paradox with sensational news coverage and a
solid, serious editorial page. It crusaded against corruption in government and
took the side of the common man. The result was a highly profitable newspaper,
and in 1887 Pulitzer started the Evening World in New York.