The Voice of Business: Hill & Knowlton and Postwar Public Relations

by Miller, Karen S.

• ISBN13: 9780807824399
• ISBN10: 0807824399
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

In 1933, John W. Hill opened the New York office of what would become the most important public relations agency in history: Hill & Knowlton, Inc. By 1959, the combined sales of its clients--which included Procter & Gamble, Texaco, Gillette, and Avco Manufacturing as well as the steel, tobacco, and aviation industries' trade associations--amounted to 10 percent of the gross national product.The Voice of Businesschronicles Hill & Knowlton's influence on American public discourse in the years following World War II.Guided by its founder's conservative ideals, Hill & Knowlton developed a twofold mission: to influence public discussion about issues important to its clients and to educate Americans about big business. Karen Miller shows how the agency tried to manipulate public opinion, political debate, and news media content about such issues as postwar military aircraft procurement, the deregulation of margarine production, President Truman's seizure of steel mills in 1952, and the cigarette health scare of 1953-54. Though its campaigns did not change many opinions, she says, Hill & Knowlton affected the public indirectly by reinforcing the ideas of its clients and other conservatives.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi	(2)
Abbreviations	xiii
Introduction	1	(8)
PART ONE. POLICIES AND PRACTICES	9	(62)
1 Forged in Steel: Founding Hill and Knowlton	9	(20)
2 Air Power Is Peace Power: Postwar Trade Association Public Relations	29	(22)
3 Client as Consumer: Selling Hill and Knowlton	51	(20)
PART TWO. INFLUENCING DISCOURSE	71	(78)
4 The Great Margarine Controversy: Public Relations and Politics	71	(20)
5 The Mills Are Seized: Public Relations and Public Discourse	91	(30)
6 Smoke and Mirrors: Public Relations and the News Media	121	(28)
PART THREE. CHANGES AT HILL AND KNOWLTON	149	(46)
7 A Voice with an Accent: Hill and Knowlton Abroad	149	(20)
8 Hill and Knowlton since 1955	169	(20)
9 Hill and Knowlton and Postwar America	189	(6)
Appendix. Client Lists	195	(4)
Notes	199	(32)
Bibliography	231	(22)
Index	253