Press Agentry

Press agentry is the practice of attracting the attention of the press through techniques that manufacture news, no matter how bizarre. Methods associated with press agentry include staged events, publicity stunts, faux rallies or gatherings, spinning, [Page 639]and hype. A common practice in the late 1800s and early 1900s, press agentry is not part of mainstream public relations. Rather, it is a practice primarily associated with major entertainment-related events, such as Hollywood premieres and boxing events. The goal of press agentry is to attract attention rather than gain understanding. Although press agentry is considered an old-fashioned reference, even today, the term press agent is sometimes used interchangeably with publicist in traditional Broadway theater and motion picture industries. Today's entertainment industries are populated with publicists rather than press agents. Publicists are individuals skilled in media relations who attempt to get the name of their clients or events in the media by carefully constructing messages that inform, educate, and persuade. Some are astute in branding and positioning strategies to further the careers and success of their clients. In contrast, press agents want attention—good or bad—in most any form.

Press agentry has been called persuasion for short-term advantage through the use of truth bending and even distortion, but it can also be simply the staging of provocative acts to get publicity and draw attention to an individual, event, or cause.

The evolution of public relations is often described by four models: press agentry/publicity, public information, two-way asymmetric communication, and two-way symmetric communication. The earliest, which is the press agentry/publicity model, is described as one-way communication in which truth is not an essential component. The most sophisticated form of practice is the two-way symmetric model, focusing on mutual understanding, mediation, and two-way balanced flow of information. Therefore, it is understandable that one of the earliest proponents of the press agentry/publicity model was Phineas Taylor (P. T.) Barnum, the famed American showman and promoter who put Gen. Tom Thumb on exhibit and launched a mobile circus featuring Jumbo the elephant and freak shows. Barnum was a master of press agentry. For instance, he wrote letters both praising and criticizing his circus show to newspapers under an assumed name.

In the early part of his career, Edward L. Bernays was a master of press agentry. He persuaded 10 debutantes to hold up Lucky Strike cigarettes, manufactured by his client, the American Tobacco Company, as “torches of freedom” while participating in New York's Easter parade. In 1929, Bernays staged a global news event by organizing the “Light's Golden Jubilee,” a worldwide celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the electric light bulb for his client, General Electric. Bernays managed to secure several prominent individuals for the event, including carmaker Henry Ford, electricity scientist Thomas Edison, and President Herbert Hoover.

Henry Rogers, one of the founders of Rogers and Cowan, the largest and most successful West Coast entertainment publicity firm, became well known when he promoted an unknown contract player for Columbia Pictures named Rita Hayworth. He contacted Look magazine with a telegram from the Fashion Couturiers Association of America, a fictitious group, claiming that Hayworth was the bestdressed off-screen actress. Look magazine took the bait and put Hayworth on the cover and printed 10 pages of photographs.

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