How has public relations evolved? Public relations moved from one-way press agentry in the early 1900s to a discipline built on disclosure and two-way relationships. Ivy Lee's 1906 Declaration of Principles asked for accuracy and openness, Edward Bernays turned persuasion into a social science in the 1920s, and in 2012 the Public Relations Society of America redefined PR as a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships.
Originally published February 2025. Updated October 2026.
What are the main eras of public relations?
Public relations has passed through five eras, each defined by the dominant channel and the main demand on practitioners. The table summarizes them, and the sections below give the evidence.
| Era | Dates | Dominant channel | Defining demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press agentry and disclosure | 1900s to 1910s | Newspapers | Give editors facts, not only publicity |
| Persuasion as social science | 1920s to 1940s | Print and radio | Study audiences and shape opinion |
| Professionalization | 1940s to 1980s | Broadcast television | Codes of conduct, crisis response |
| Digital and social | 2000s to 2010s | Websites and social platforms | Two-way conversation, speed |
| Answer engines | 2020s | AI assistants and search summaries | Accurate, citable source material |
The dates are approximate because the eras overlap. Press releases still run, and so does the question of whether a company has told the truth. Treat the table as a map of emphasis, not a set of clean breaks.
Where did modern public relations begin?
Modern public relations is usually traced to Ivy Lee in 1906. That year Lee's firm Parker and Lee sent editors a "Declaration of Principles" during a coal strike, which the SAGE Encyclopedia of Public Relations lists as the document that defined his approach. Wikipedia describes it as the first statement that practitioners have a public responsibility beyond their duty to the client.
Lee later worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He joined the company full time in 1912 and is described as the first public relations person placed in an executive-level position. His lasting contribution was the idea that candor with the press is a strategy and not a courtesy, which many historians credit as the origin of modern crisis communications.
What did Edward Bernays change?
Edward Bernays changed public relations by treating public opinion as something that could be studied and shaped through research. He published Crystallizing Public Opinion in 1923 and Propaganda in 1928, and he opened a public relations counsel office in 1919, per a university course summary. His 1952 book Public Relations is described as the first public relations textbook.
Lee and Bernays offered different models. Lee's model rested on disclosure to the press, and Bernays' rested on audience research and persuasion. The tension between them is the one the profession still argues about, and the ethics section below shows what happens when persuasion outruns disclosure.
How did the profession organize itself?
The profession organized itself through trade bodies and codes in the mid-twentieth century. PRSA was founded in 1948, according to the SAGE Encyclopedia of Public Relations, and one of its first initiatives was a code of ethics. Other bodies followed, including the International Public Relations Association and the International Association of Business Communicators.
The codes created a shared standard that a firm could be measured against. The PR ethics guide covers the PRSA values and how the UK trade body PRCA enforced its code against Bell Pottinger in 2017.
What did the 1982 Tylenol crisis teach PR?
The 1982 Tylenol poisonings taught PR that a fast, public, costly response protects trust better than defending the product. Johnson & Johnson issued a national alert and a large recall, communicated openly and introduced tamper-evident packaging, according to Everything-PR's history of the profession and a course summary. Textbooks still use the case as a model of good crisis communication.
The lesson is the same as Lee's: disclosure first. Cases from this site show the full range of outcomes, from the Domino's 2009 crisis and comeback to the Penn State case, and the crisis communications guide sets out the response in order.
How did the definition of public relations change?
The definition changed from managing public attitudes to building relationships. PRSA ran a crowdsourced project in 2011 and 2012 and settled on this wording: "a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics," according to MediaPost's report on the project. PRSA chose "process" over the older "management function" to reflect a collaborative practice, as one university explainer on the definition notes.
The earlier definition, credited to Bernays and Lee, called public relations a management function that tabulates public attitudes and defines an organization's policies and interests. Compare the two and the change in emphasis is clear: the older version describes what an organization measures, and the newer one describes what an organization builds. The PRSA definition page covers the current wording in more detail.
How did digital and social media change PR?
Digital and social media changed PR by letting organizations reach audiences directly and letting audiences answer back. In 2016 Ronn Torossian argued that mature PR had to operate beyond press placement, with social media as a main distribution channel, storytelling as the engagement layer and credentialed younger voices as the reach engine. A decade later those three points describe ordinary practice.
Platform use shows the scale. Pew Research Center's 2025 survey found that 84% of U.S. adults use YouTube and 71% use Facebook, and TikTok use rose from 21% in 2021 to 37% in 2025. The guide to forms of digital communication has the full figures, and the social media PR playbook and the guide to digital PR cover the working methods.
The planning model that grew out of this era is PESO, which groups paid, earned, shared and owned media. This page covers how the profession reached that point, and the PESO model guide explains how to run it in practice.
How did trust and ethics shape the profession?
Trust and ethics shaped the profession because each major scandal showed the cost of treating PR as concealment. Volkswagen admitted on September 22, 2015 that about 11 million diesel vehicles carried emissions-cheating software, and its CEO resigned the next day. In September 2017 the PRCA expelled Bell Pottinger for a campaign it found likely to inflame racial discord, and the firm entered administration a week later.
Trust remains a live problem. Edelman's 2025 Trust Barometer found that 63% of Americans trust the technology sector, down from 73% in 2015, as cited in the tech public relations guide. A company that cannot show its facts starts from a weaker position than it did a decade ago.
What does AI search change for PR?
AI search adds an audience that reads what the press and a company have published and summarizes it for buyers. A company's coverage, owned pages and named spokespeople now feed both a human reader and an AI-written answer. This is a reasoned effect: no source reviewed for this page measures how much AI answers rely on earned media.
The working response is practical. Publish accurate pages that state who, what, when and how much, earn coverage from credible outlets and check what AI assistants say about the company each quarter. The generative engine optimization page and the Citation Share definition cover the method, and the media relations guide covers the earned coverage on which it depends.
What pattern do the five eras show?
The five eras show the same cycle each time a new channel arrives: practitioners use it for one-way promotion, audiences push back, and a norm or code follows. Lee's declaration answered the secrecy of early press agents. PRSA's code and the crisis cases of the late twentieth century answered the excesses of persuasion. The Volkswagen and Bell Pottinger cases showed that the cycle applies in the digital era too.
Each new channel also added work without removing the old work. A 2026 team still writes releases, still pitches reporters and still needs a crisis plan, and it now also answers customers on social platforms and checks what AI assistants say. The practical reading is that the next channel will add duties as well, and the teams that keep their facts accurate and their response plans current will adapt fastest. This is analysis drawn from the cases above and not a forecast backed by a study.
What has stayed constant since 1906?
Three things have stayed constant: audiences want facts, trust is slow to build and quick to lose, and the press still decides what gets told. The table compares the 1906 principle with its 2026 form.
| 1906 principle | 2026 form |
|---|---|
| Give editors accurate facts | Publish verifiable facts on owned pages and in releases |
| Be open when something goes wrong | Issue a holding statement within hours, then update it |
| Treat the press as a partner | Build relationships with reporters, analysts and creators |
| Serve the public interest | Follow the PRSA code and disclose who is paying |
What should a PR team do now?
A PR team should audit what is already public, fix what is wrong and build a response plan before a problem arrives. Start with four moves.
- List the facts about the company that a reporter or AI assistant could check, and correct any that are out of date.
- Write a holding statement and name the people who approve it.
- Pick the two or three channels where your audience already is, using survey data and not guesses.
- Record a baseline of coverage and AI answers, and review it every quarter.
The PR plan guide turns those moves into a schedule, and the guide to the types of PR shows which specialty owns each task.
Frequently asked questions
Who is considered the father of public relations?
Two people share the title: Ivy Lee, for his 1906 Declaration of Principles and his work with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Edward Bernays, for building public relations on audience research.
How is modern PR different from spin?
Spin presents a favorable image whatever the facts, and modern PR rests on disclosure and relationships. The PRSA definition describes a process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
When did PRSA update its definition of public relations?
PRSA ran a crowdsourced project in 2011 and 2012 and adopted a new definition in 2012.
What did the Tylenol crisis teach PR professionals?
It taught that fast, open communication and a costly recall protect trust better than defending the product. Johnson & Johnson issued a national alert and recall in 1982.
How is AI changing public relations?
AI assistants summarize what outlets and companies have published, so accurate, citable source material matters more. How much AI answers rely on earned media is not yet measured in the sources reviewed here.
Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W AI Communications. He is the publisher of Everything-PR and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.