> [!cite]- Metadata > 2025-11-18 01:49 > Status: #secondary #syllabus > Tags: `Read Time: 5m 8s` > Public Relations (PR) is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics, aiming to manage and influence public perception. It involves creating a favorable image and maintaining a positive reputation for the organization, its leadership, products, or political decisions. > [!Info]- Module 1 - The Origins: Propaganda, Democracy and the Mind > `Digging into the historical roots: WWI propaganda, early mass-psychology, and the birth of PR as a profession.` > ### **Readings** > [*Propaganda*](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275553/mode/2up) by Edward Bernays > > [*Crystallizing Public Opinion*](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.1607) by Edward Bernays > > [*Public Opinion*](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126489/page/n1/mode/2up) by Walter Lippmann > > [*The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind*](https://ratical.org/PandemicParallaxView/mp3s/The-Crowd-A-Study-of-the-Popular-Mind-by-Gustave-Le-Bon.pdf) by Gustave Le Bon > > ### **Watch** > [*The Century of the Self*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04&t=2125s) (Adam Curtis, BBC, 2005) — the best initiation ritual into this entire realm. > > ### **Concepts** > - Manufacture of Consent > - Herd Psychology > - The "pseudo-environment" (Lippmann) > - Elite Mediation of Reality > [!Info]- Module 2 - Freud, Drive Theory, and the Psychological Substrate > `PR leaned heavily on psychoanalysis - not for therapy but for manipulating desire.` > > ### **Readings** > [*Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis*](https://mindsplain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/introductory-lectures-on-psychoanalysis.pdf) by Sigmund Freud (skim for theory of drives, repression, transference) > > [*Civilization and Its Discontents*](https://ia801503.us.archive.org/20/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.218475/2015.218475.Civilization-And_text.pdf) by Sigmund Freud > > [*Behavioral Economics: A Very Short Introduction*](https://archive.org/details/behaviouralecono0000badd/mode/2up) by Michelle Baddeley (modern update) > > ### **Concepts** > - Unconscious motivation > - Desire vs. need > - Sublimation > - Projection & identification > - Emotional contagion > > ### **Why It Matters** > Edward Bernays took his uncle Sigmund Freud’s insights on repression and said: “What if, instead of curing people, we guided their libido toward products and politics?” > [!Info]- Module 3 - The Birth of the PR Industry > `This is the 'how' of the early profession: techniques, case studies, scandals.` > ### **Reading** > [*The Engineering of Consent*](http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/politics/bernays_1947.pdf) by Edward Bernays (essay) > > *“Declaration of Principles”* by Ivy Lee (1906) > > [*Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics*](https://studylib.net/doc/25687907/public-relations-strategies-and-tactics--11th.-edition) by Wilcox & Cameron (for modern baseline) > > ### **Historical Case Studies** > The Torches of Freedom campaign (Bernays + Lucky Strike) > > The United Fruit Company & the 1954 Guatemalan coup > > Ivy Lee’s work during the Ludlow Massacre > > ### **Concepts** > > - Press releases > - Third-party authority > - Staged events (“pseudo-events”) > - Media framing > - Crisis management > [!Info]- Module 4 - Theoretical Frameworks of PR > Where PR theory overlaps with sociology, rhetoric, systems theory, and media philosophy. > > ### **Core Readings** > *Rhetoric* by Aristotle (ethos, pathos, logos as proto-PR) > > *Understanding Media* by Marshall McLuhan > > *The Attention Merchants* by Tim Wu > > *Manufacturing Consent* by Herman & Chomsky > > ### **Key Theories** > - Agenda-setting theory > - Framing theory > - Two-step flow (Lazarsfeld) > - Spiral of silence (Noelle-Neumann) > - Diffusion of innovations (Rogers) > - Systems theory in PR (Grunig & Hunt’s Excellence Model) > > ### **Tools** > - Message Discipline > - Stakeholder Mapping > - Narrative Construction > - Media Ecosystems > [!Info]- Module 5 - Ethics, Manipulation, and Ideology >`PR inevitably circles back to morality, because its core mechanism is influence.` > > ### **Readings** > *Trust Me, I’m Lying* by Ryan Holiday > > *The Image* by Daniel Boorstin > > *Capitalist Realism* by Mark Fisher (for ideology critique) > > *The Society of the Spectacle* by Guy Debord > > ### **Themes** > > - Spectacle as governance > - Hyperreality and simulation (Baudrillard as bonus reading) > - Corporate social responsibility as strategic performance > - Crisis misdirection > - Transparency vs. persuasion > >Here is the philosophical undercurrent: PR often functions as an anesthetic, numbing collective discomfort so systems stay stable. > [!Info]- Module 6 - Contemporary Practices & Media Ecology > `How PR operates in the digital era, where everyone is a broadcaster.` > > ### **Readings** > *Influence* by Robert Cialdini > > *Nudge* by Thaler & Sunstein > > *Contagious* by Jonah Berger > > ### **Concepts** > - Virality as engineered behavior > - Influencer ecosystems > - Parasocial dynamics > - Identity-based targeting > - Micro-segmentation > - Reputation management > > ### **Tools** > - Social listening > - Sentiment analysis > - Media monitoring > - SEO & algorithmic shaping > [!Info]- Module 7 - Critical Perspectives: PR as Soft Power `Understanding PR in geopolitical, corporate, and cultural contexts.` > > ### **Readings** > *The Soft Power of Cool* by H. Steven Green > > *Branding the Nation* by Melissa Aronczyk > > *The Shock Doctrine* by Naomi Klein > > *Propaganda and Persuasion* by Jowett & O’Donnell > > ### **Topics** > - Nation-branding > - Corporate diplomacy > - “Astroturfing” grassroots movements > - Think tanks as PR entities > - Military information operations > [!Info]- Module 8 - Capstone: Practice, Analysis, and Creation > `Close the loop by learning how to _do_ PR while staying aware of its psychological and ideological roots.` > > ### **Suggested Activities** > > - Deconstruct 3 PR campaigns (historic, commercial, political) > > - Diagram the stakeholders and hidden interests behind each > > - Write a mini PR strategy (for a brand, cause, or fictional project) > > - Reflect on ethical implications using Fisher, Debord, and Freud > > ### **Rabbit Holes** > - Neuroeconomics > - Semiotics > - Behavioral design > - Dark patterns > - Cognitive bias catalogues > [!Note]- Antiverse Notes > This syllabus functions as a high-level “Atlas Map” of the PR domain. > - Bernays → Engineering of Consent → Desire-shaping → Consumer Identity > - Lippmann → Pseudo-environment → Media as mediator of reality > - McLuhan → Medium as message → PR as environment shaping > - Fisher → Ideological anesthesia → PR as realism maintenance > - Cialdini → Reciprocity → Social proof → Applied persuasion mechanics --- ### **References** [Public Relations Wiki](https://pr.fandom.com/wiki/Special:AllPages)