Exxon Valdez Spill 1989

History
Public relations as a distinctive business tool got its start in the early 20th century with help from the “father of public relations” Edward L. Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud. Public relations became considered even more essential as consumers and investors got increasingly savvy and media-connected. The formal practice of what is today called public relations is less than 100 years old. With the initiation of the hostile takeover era in the 1970s and the swelling interest in the stock market of the 1980s, companies became more involved than ever in public relations as a means to boost stock price and shape public opinion of their corporate image. More PR firms began to specialize in publicity to the financial community, also called investor relations. However during its relatively brief history, public relations has been defined in many widely differing ways. Later on as public relations was recognized and employed by more organizations, definitions began to in...