Public Relations and the Corporate Persona ─ The Rise of the Affinitive Organization

Large, predominantly US, corporations have long used public relations to demonstrate that their missions chimed with dominant societal values for much of the last century. Through the construction and conveyance of these corporate personas, they attempt to convince citizens that they share common aspirations - and moreover that their corporate "soul" works as a beneficent force in society.

Through examining a series of key examples from the last 80 years, this book argues therefore that PR works to create a sense of shared reality between the corporation and the average citizen. It has been instrumental in conveying across generations, that the corporation is an affinitive corporate persona - a fellow companion in the journey of life. The construct is obviously ripe for manipulation, and the role of PR in creating and promoting corporate persona in order to align corporations and stakeholders is potentially problematic. When issues like wage inequality and climate change present, preserving the corporate status quo may be negative.

This book not only critically analyses how PR and its role in the corporate persona works to solidify power, but also how it might use that power to achieve broader beneficial ends. Scholars and advanced students of public relations, organizational communications and communication studies will find this book a challenging and illuminating read.

Burton St. John III is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Old Dominion University,?USA. He was formerly involved in public relations for the US postal service. He is author of the book Press Professionalization and Propaganda: The Rise of Journalistic Double-Mindedness, 1917-1941 (Cambria Press, 2010). He also co-edited News with a View: Essays on the Eclipse of Objectivity in Modern Journalism (McFarland, 2012) and Public Journalism 2.0: The Promise and Reality of a Citizen-Engaged Press (Routledge, 2010). His academic work has appeared in Journal of Communication Management, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Journalism History, Public Relations Review, The Communication Review, American Journalism and the Journal of Mass Media Ethics. St. John’s background features 15 years of public relations experience for the U.S. Postal Service. During that time, he served as a regional communications manager for an eight-state area where he oversaw strategy and tactics for media relations, special events, retail and marketing communications, speechwriting, employee communications, crisis communications and congressional relations. He provided crisis communications counsel for the Postal Service in the aftermath of the 2001 anthrax mailings and the re-opening of the contaminated Trenton, New Jersey mail facility.