Content area
Full Text
Papers from the CCI Conference 2008
Edited by Michael Goodman
1 Introduction: public information to public relations: 1950 to the third millennium
Public relations (PR) began in India over 2,000 years ago when the Indian Emperor Asoka institutionalized public information through rock edicts and official reporters ([19], [20] Reddi, 1997a, b, p. 24). Reddi (cited in [23] Singh, 2000) maintains that India's history in public communication spans centuries and can be explained in three component parts and phases: propaganda, publicity and public information, and PR, as it is known today. In tracing the history of modern PR in India, the struggle for independence can be considered as the starting point. The scope and applicability of modern PR is a new concept, though it has been practiced in India for decades ([11] Kaul, 1988).
The 1950s witnessed growth in exports dominated by foreign companies such as Dunlop, Unilever (Hindustan Lever) and Philips. Family run Indian business houses such as the House of Tata grew to control and direct domestic trade and commerce. More and new industrial activity developed, together with a booming print media industry:
PR by its present nomenclature was not commonly known but practiced through in-house peripheral activities such as government liaison, sundry assignments, publicity and support to corporate and product advertising work ([12] Kaul, 1998, p. 20).
Managing political relationships and other sorts of "manipulation was invariably a top management function with PR generally in tow"; such was the practice of the time ([12] Kaul, 1998, p. 20).
The 1960s witnessed rapid industrial development with much diversification. The private sector proliferated and the public sector managed the core industry. With the Government of India (GOI) as the sole investor in public sector enterprises (PSEs), the bureaucracy became answerable to parliament, accountability and transparency became imperative in PSE management and PR became a necessary concomitant to public sector ethos from the very start ([12] Kaul, 1998, p. 20). Since PSEs were funded by taxpayers, they had to be accountable to the public, which necessitated the need for having big PR departments ([15] Mehta, 1997). During this period, as with many other countries, most PR practitioners were recruited from the press, which supported the main PR activity of media exposure through newspapers and radio. Other...