Visiting Edward L. Bernays -Part 2- PR profession would be stronger with licensing
This is the second blog in a three-part series highlighting my one-on-one visit with Edward Bernays, the oft-named “father of public relations." Bernays passed away 15 years ago this week.
Bernays was persistent. He never gave up on the idea that PR professionals should be licensed.
At the time he and I spent an afternoon at his Cambridge, Mass. home, Bernays was orchestrating the filing of a bill with the
Massachusetts Legislature calling for the licensing of public relations practitioners. The bill proposed a fine of not more than $1,000 for anyone who did not obtain a license but who used the words “public relations, communications or corporate communications” in their job title. The idea stimulated lots of debate, mostly negative, and never passed.
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Bernays through the years |
He believed that any state that got this done “would become a leader in the U.S. for giving a vocation a status comparable to lawyers, architects and doctors.” He spoke about this for over an hour and then handed me a “what is a profession” definition written in 1974 by the N.Y. Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
Bernays was direct and feisty. He peppered his dialogue with many “in-your-face” words to make his point and command your attention. “Today there are 51 different names for public relations, and they don’t mean a damn thing. Any crook, nitwit, dope, charlatan or ignoramus can use them.”
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Bernays with Walter Cronkite and his |
Bernays’ sense of humor was visibly intact. He recalled the time a woman told him she was “in public relations.” Bernays said “What do you do?” She repeated that she was “in public relations.” “I didn’t ask you that,” Bernays repeated. “What do you do?” The woman replied “I give out circulars in Harvard Square.” He loved that story because it personified his ardent belief that the public needed to be protected. “People can be rooked by somebody who just wants their money without really knowing what the hell they are doing.”
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In 1990, Bernays was named one of Life Magazine's 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century. |
In discussing PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), he said it did not take proper action in cases of ethical violations of members. “PRSA gives you an APR (Accredited Public Relations), but they don’t kick out APRs who are being unethical.” He went on, “When PRSA was being formed, I discussed organizing the equivalent of the American Bar and AMA for PRSA. But they were so eager to get money, they decided anyone with two friends and $15 could get in.”
Bernays was a teacher at heart. He patiently explained the historical basis for licensing and registration, that it was born in the Middle Ages and later formalized in England in the 1700s. “All kinds of new vocations– doctors, lawyers, surgeons, architects, accountants – were formed into associations. They were all worried to death, especially the surgeons, that anyone could use the titles without the credentials. They asked Parliament to license and register them with a Hippocratic oath with the individual agreeing to give up the title if ever convicted. This idea spread to the U.S. in the 1800s and the various existing states passed comparable laws. This is as true today as it was in the early 1800s.”
A lot of people disliked (hated) Bernays’ idea of licensing PR professionals. It was a violation of first amendment rights, stifling to entrepreneurialism and big brother domination.
A lot of people disliked (hated) Bernays’ idea of licensing PR professionals. It was a violation of first amendment rights, stifling to entrepreneurialism and big brother domination.
But there’s a more complex reality in existence today than when Bernays was alive.
Like virtually every other business, the Web has dis-intermediated the public relations industry. Thousands of trained practitioners has given way to hundreds of thousands, a larger number of whom are not reputable and potentially damaging to our industry, their clients and society as a whole.
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"Torches of Freedom" |
Despite this reality, I’m guessing most PR professionals still dislike the concept of licensure. They would say ‘If a person wants to hire someone who’s not professional and doesn’t have reputable experience, then they have the right to do so. Similarly, the PR practitioner shouldn’t be denied rightful employment.’
While I understand and largely support these views, Bernays ultimately believed it was imperative to protect society from “charlatans.”
Personally, I’d like to see a middle ground solution.
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