James E Grunig

Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board
Public Relations and International Affairs: Effects, Ethics and Responsibility

Author(s): James E. Grunig
Source: Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 47, No. 1, POWER OF THE MEDIA IN THE
GLOBAL SYSTEM (Summer 1993), pp. 137-162
Published by: Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board
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Public Relations and
International Affairs:
Effects, Ethics and Responsibility
James E. Grunig
Gulf crisis, a teary-eyed 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl known

On 20 only
October
as Nayirah1990,
testifiedduring the escalation
to the Congressional Human of the Persian
Rights Caucus that she had seen Iraqi soldiers take babies from
hospital incubators in Kuwait and leave them on the floor to die.
Months later, an op-ed piece in the New York Times, followed by
stories on the television programs "60 Minutes" and "20-20,"
revealed that Nayirah was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassa
dor to the United States.
The hearing had been arranged by the Hill and Knowlton
public relations firm on behalf of an organization called Citizens
for a Free Kuwait — an organization funded primarily by the
exiled government of Kuwait. In a book on Robert Keith Gray,
then head of Hill and Knowlton's Washington, DC office, free
lance author Susan Trento reported that Hill and Knowlton had
provided witnesses for the hearing, coached them, wrote testi
mony, produced videotapes detailing the alleged atrocities and
ensured that the room was filled with reporters and television
cameras.1
Fewer than three months later the United States attacked Iraq.
By that time, Hill and Knowlton had received $10.7 million from
Citizens for a Free Kuwait. With the money, Hill and Knowlton
— among other things — organized a press conference with a
so-called Kuwaiti freedom fighter, "National Prayer Day" ser
vices for Kuwaiti and American servicemen and "Free Kuwait"
rallies at 21 college campuses. It also promoted an Islamic art tour,
Susan B. Trento, The Power House (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992) p. 381.
Journal of International Affairs, Summer 1993, 47, no. 1. © The Trustees of Columbia University
in the City of New York,
Journal of International Affairs
produced advertisements and video news releases, arranged lun

cheons with journalists and spent more than $1 million polling
the American people.2
Critics have asked whether or not these extensive and expen
sive activities by an international public relations firm led the
United States to war. The answer is probably no. As Trento put it:
H&K's efforts succeeded in the United Nations, the Congress and

the media because, in each case, there was a receptive audience.
The diplomats and congressmen and senators wanted something
to point to to support their positions. The media wanted interest
ing, visual stories.3
In short, the Hill and Knowlton campaign probably encouraged

decision makers and public opinion to move in a direction in
which they were already headed.
Even though the war probably would have occurred without
the campaign, one still must ask whether such campaigns are
ethical. As Trento noted:
In the end, the question was not whether H&K effectively altered
public opinion, but whether the combined efforts of America's
own government, foreign interests, and private PR and lobbying
campaigns drowned out decent and rational, unemotional debate.4
When practiced ethically and responsibly, public relations pro

vides a vital communication function for organizations, nations
and even the world, helping to develop an understanding among
groups and eventually reduce conflict. When practiced unethi
cally and irresponsibly, however, public relations can manipulate
and deceive. More often, though, such public relations merely
makes "decent and rational, unemotional debate" on issues diffi
cult.5
In this article, I will first describe a theory of public relations
and its role in a national and global communication system. Next,
ibid., pp. viii-ix, 381-2. Trento calculated the cost of the campaign from records filed
by Hill and Knowlton under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
ibid., p. 381.
ibid., p. 389.
ibid.
138
James E. Grunig
I will discuss ethical issues related to the use of public relations

firms by governments and political factions. I will then use this
theory to analyze several cases of international public relations.
Finally, I will analyze the effects and ethics of these international
campaigns and derive recommendations for how international
public relations can contribute to global diplomacy without ob
fuscating or corrupting the process.
Management and Diplomacy
The Management Function

Most people, including journalists, understand public rela
simplistically as an attempt to influence the media or mak
organization or person look good — in short, as image-ma
The term image is a nebulous, poorly defined concept that
over a dozen meanings.6 As a public relations theorist, in con
I conceptualize public relations as one of the critical manage
functions in modern organizations.7 Most public relations p
tioners work for organizations, either in a department of
organization or as a counselor in a public relations firm ser
client. Although some clients are individuals — such as
cians, movie stars or sports heroes — even these clien
backed by organizations.
Organizations, like people, must communicate with othe
cause they do not exist alone in the world. If people h
relationships with family, neighbors, friends, enemies
workers, they would have no need to communicate with an
Organizations also have relationships — with employees
Image often is used both to define the messages communicated by an organi

(such as "communicating a positive image") and as a synonym for num
psychological concepts such as perceptions, cognitions, attitudes and schém
everyday language, images are "projected," "manipulated," "polished," "tarn
"dented," "bolstered" and "boosted." As a theorist, therefore, I refuse to use the
and instead use more precise concepts such as messages, cognitions or schém
an explication of the meaning of image, see James E. Grunig, "On the Effe
Marketing, Media Relations, and Public Relations: Images, Agendas,
Relationships," paper presented to the 2nd Symposium of the Herbert Q
Communication Group, "Is PR a Science?" Berlin, Germany, 16-18 January 19
The theory described in this section can be found in greater detail in James E. G
ed., Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management (Hillsdal
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992).
139
munities, governments, consumers, financiers, supporters, de

tractors and other publics. Organizations are successful when
they achieve their goals. Seldom, however, can they select these
goals alone. Publics also have a stake in organizations' goals, and
they strive to affect an organization's mission.8
Organizations that communicate well with stake-holders
know what to expect from them, and these publics know what to
expect from those organizations. The two entities may not always
agree or have a friendly relationship, but they do understand one
another. Although an organization with good public relations
may have to incorporate the goals of strategic publics into its
mission, in the long run it will choose better goals and will be able
to pursue these revised goals more effectively than if it ignored or
fought the goals of publics.
As a result, public relations can bring money or other resources
into an organization by allowing it to sell products and services
to satisfied consumers, secure funds from donors, bring in funds
from governments or other sources, or secure legislation and
policies that enhance an organization's mission. Public relations
can also save an organization money that might have been spent
because of lawsuits, regulations, unfavorable government poli
cies, boycotts, strikes or training of new employees.
Public relations is an essential management function, there
fore, because of its contribution to the long-term, strategic man
agement of the organization. Organizations use strategic
management to identify opportunities and dangers in the envi
ronment; to develop strategies for exploiting the opportunities
and minimizing the dangers; and to develop, implement and
evaluate their choices. Without strategic management, organiza
tions typically "live from day to day and react to current events."9
Public relations contributes to the planning process by communi
cating and building relationships with publics that support the
Public relations scholars have well developed theories of the nature of publics, how
they develop and how they communicate. For a review, see James E. Grunig and Fred
C. Repper, "Strategic Management, Publics, and Issues," in J. Grunig, ed., Excellence
in Public Relations and Communication Management, pp. 117-58.
Rogene A. Buchholz, William D. Evans and Robert A. Wagley, Management Response
to Public Issues, 2d ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989) pp. 38-9.
140
James E. Grunig
mission of the organization, or that can constructively divert it

from its mission.
Still, most organizations carry out the same public relations
programs year after year without stopping to determine whether
they are still communicating with the most important publics.
David Dozier and Larissa Grunig have pointed out that at some
point in their history, most organizations probably develop their
public relations programs strategically — that is, the presence of
an important stake-holder probably motivated the initiation of
the public relations program. As time passes, however, organiza
tions can forget the initial reason for the efforts and continue
communication programs that are no longer strategic for targeted
publics.10 In particular, many public relations programs become
mindless attempts to gain media exposure with no particular
public in mind, or the endless spewing of such tools of public
relations as publications, press releases or video news releases.
International Organizations: Public Diplomacy

Such diverse organizations as governments, political parties,
revolutionary factions and multinational corporations are af
fected by publics in other countries, and many of them have
developed public relations programs. Recently the growth of
international media, global business and global politics has
strengthened the role of international publics. Two public rela
tions scholars, the Austrian Benno Signitzer and the American
Timothy Coombs, have attributed the growth of international
relationships to the expansion of communication technology and
broader public participation in the process of foreign affairs.11
Modern governments and other international organizations thus
find themselves using public relations strategies as they conduct
what political scientists have called public diplomacy.
Signitzer and Coombs traced the similarities between theories
of public relations and theories of public diplomacy. Traditional
David M. Dozier and Larissa A. Grunig, "The Organization of the Public Relations
Function," in J. Grunig, ed., Excellence in Public Relations and Communication
Management, pp. 395-418.
Benno H. Signitzer and Timothy Coombs, "Public Relations and Public Diplomacy:
Conceptual Convergences," Public Relations Review 18, no. 2 (Summer 1992) pp.
137-47.
141
diplomacy was based on formal relations between governments

or government-to-government communication. Diplomacy was a
process of talking over differences, clarifying aims and exploring
alternatives to maintain peace with other states. It entailed highly
skilled communication among trained envoys.12
According to Signitzer and Coombs, "the field of diplomacy is
shifting from traditional diplomacy toward public diplomacy."13
Whereas so-called old diplomacy regarded an appeal to the com
mon people on an issue of international policy as an act of vulgar
ity, many governments and other organizations are now turning
to publics for their opinions.14 Signitzer and Coombs defined
public diplomacy as "the way in which both government and
private individuals and groups influence directly or indirectly
those public attitudes and opinions which bear directly on an
other government's foreign policy decisions."15 Today, they
added, governments speak to other governments but they also
speak and listen to the people, and
the actors in public diplomacy can no longer be confined to the

profession of diplomats but include various individuals, groups
and institutions who engage in international and intercultural
communication activities which do have a bearing on the political
relationships between two countries.16
Although Signitzer and Coombs could find only one scholar of

public diplomacy, the German Hans Jürgen Koschwitz, who used
the term public relations, they pointed out the obvious similarity of
the field to the theory of public relations outlined above. In
particular, they found a strong resemblance between the tough
minded and tender-minded schools of public diplomacy, and the
concept of models of public relations that have been the target of
a great deal of research in public relations:
Beverly Lindsay, "Integrating International Education and Public Diplomacy:

Creative Partnerships or Ingenious Propaganda?" Comparative Education Review 33,
no. 4 (November 1989) pp. 423-36.
Signitzer and Coombs, p. 138.
Harold G. Nicolson, Diplomacy, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963).
Signitzer and Coombs, p. 138.
ibid., p. 139.
142
James E. Grunig
The tough-minded hold that the purpose of public diplomacy is to

exert an influence on attitudes of foreign audiences using persua
sion and propaganda... .Objectivity and truth are considered im
portant tools of persuasion but not extolled as virtues in
themselves....The tender-minded school argues that information
and cultural programs must bypass current foreign policy goals to
concentrate on the highest long-range national objectives. The goal
is to create a climate of mutual understanding.. ..Truth and veracity
are considered essential, much more than a mere persuasive tactic.7
To a public relations scholar, therefore, the field of public

diplomacy consists essentially of the application of public rela
tions to strategic relationships of organizations with international
publics. In the words of Dennis Wilcox, Philip Ault and Warren
Agee, "International public relations may be defined as the
planned and organized effort of a company, institution or gov
ernment to establish mutually beneficial relations with the publics
of other nations."18 The way in which organizations use public
relations to build relationships differs greatly, however. Some so
called models of public relations are more effective and ethical
than others.
Models of International Public Relations
J. Grunig and Hunt identified four models of public r

— four typical ways in which organizations practice pu
tions.19 These models were originally developed to expl
history of public relations in the United States, but t
describe international public relations. The press agentr
describes public relations programs aimed solely at a
favorable publicity for an organization in the mass
often in a misleading way. P.T. Barnum's promotion of h
in the 1800s was one of the earliest examples of press ag
he made up stories about Jumbo the elephant, the midg
Thumb and a 100-year-old nursemaid to George Was
ibid., p. 140.
Dennis L. Wilcox, Phillip H. Ault and Warren K. Agee, Public Relations: Stra
Tactics, 3rd ed. (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) pp. 409-10.
James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt, Managing Public Relations (Fort Worth, TX:
Brace, Jovanovich, 1984) Chapter 2.
143
Press agentry is also common in the work of publicists who

promote sports, movie stars, products, politicians or senior man
agers.
The public information model is similar to press agentry because
it too is a one-way model that sees public relations only as the
dissemination of information. With the public information
model, an organization uses so-called journalists-in-residence —
public relations practitioners who act as though they are journal
ists — to disseminate relatively objective information through the
mass media and controlled media such as newsletters, brochures
and direct mail.
Both press agentry and public information are one-way models
of public relations: They describe communication programs that
are not based on research and strategic planning. Press agentry
and public information are also asymmetrical or unbalanced
models: They attempt to change the behavior of publics but not
of the organization. They try to make the organization look good
either through hype — press agentry — or by disseminating ac
curate but only favorable information — public information.
The other two models are more professional, sophisticated and
effective. The two-way asymmetrical model uses social science re
search to identify attitudes and to develop messages that appeal
to those attitudes that persuade publics to behave as the organi
zation wants. The Hill and Knowlton campaign for Citizens for a
Free Kuwait provides an example of this model. According to
Trento, Hill and Knowlton
paid pollster Richard Wirthlin over one million dollars to produce

a survey of the American public that ascertained which issues
moved people towards accepting American military intervention
on behalf of Kuwait. The number one answer was Iraqi atrocities
against the Kuwaitis.20
It was thus logical to select Nayirah's account of Iraqi soldiers

taking babies from incubators as the most persuasive message to
deliver at the widely publicized congressional hearings.
Trento, p. viii.
144
James E. Grunig
The two-way asymmetrical model seems to work reasonably

well when the organization has little conflict with a public. When
the organization and public disagree, however, the model usually
exacerbates the conflict and often leads to campaigning against
one another, litigation and regulation. The fourth model, the
two-way symmetrical model, overcomes these deficiencies. It de
scribes public relations that is based on research and that uses
communication to manage conflict and improve understanding
with strategic publics. It is symmetrical because it assumes that
both the organization and practitioner may change their behavior
as a result of a communication program. These models of public
relations have been studied extensively in the United States, both
to confirm that they actually describe public relations practice
and to evaluate their effectiveness and ethics.21 In addition, sev
eral researchers have identified these same four models in Tai
wan, India and Greece, although the more sophisticated two-way
models are practiced less in these countries than in the United
States.22
At the same time, these researchers found two other models of
public relations not previously recognized in the United States.
Of most relevance here is the personal influence model, which
seems to describe many of the activities of public relations firms
operating on behalf of international clients in the United States.
Many former government officials have gone to work for these
firms or have started their own firms because of their extensive
personal contacts. When they practice the personal influence
model, practitioners try to establish personal relationships —
friendships, if possible — with key individuals in the media, gov
ernment or political and activist groups. Practitioners in the three
countries referred to relationships with these key people as con
For reviews of this research, see James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig, "Toward a
Theory of the Public Relations Behavior of Organizations: Review of a Program of
Research," Public Relations Research Annual 1 (1989) pp. 27-63; James E. Grunig and
Larissa A. Grunig, "Models of Public Relations and Communication," in J. Grunig,
ed., Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, pp. 285-326.
For a review of this international research, seeJamesE. Grunig et al., "Models of Public
Relations in an International Setting," paper presented to the Association for the
Advancement of Policy, Research and Development in the Third World, Nassau,
Bahamas, November 1991.
145
tacts — contacts from whom favors can be sought. The personal

influence model generally is an asymmetric model, and its prac
tice often borders on unethical practice. It can be practiced sym
metrically and ethically, however. Then the model becomes one
of interpersonal relations rather than personal influence.
The Question of Ethics

In contrast to the popular view of the field, public relations
theorists emphasize the importance of social responsibility and
ethics in public relations.23 Social responsibility enters the
theory because of the nature of relationships between orga
nizations and publics. Relationships occur because an
organization's actions have consequences for publics and
they in turn affect the organization — in the words of Preston
and Post, they are "interpenetrating systems."24 Because of the inter
penetration of organizations and publics, the organization must
be responsible to those publics if it is to have good relation
ships with them. Thus in public relations theory, public rela
tions and public responsibility become nearly synonymous
terms: Public relations is the practice of public responsibility.
Many public relations practitioners, of course, try to fool publics
or obfuscate the consequences of organizational behavior, but
over the long term these practices seldom build effective rela
tionships.
The quality of relationships depends on the model of public
relations practiced, which leads to the question of ethics. The
asymmetrical models can be practiced ethically, but the ethics
of the matter are difficult. Practitioners must be able to confirm
that the organization knows what consequences are best for both
the organization and the public — and the public does not —
and that it is right to resolve the conflict by changing the public
alone and not the organization.
Because the two-way symmetrical model bases public relations
on negotiation and compromise, it is generally more ethical than
23. See, for example, Grunig and Hunt, Chapter 3.

24. Lee E. Preston and James E. Post, Private Management and Public Polio/: The Principle
of Public Responsibility (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975) pp. 24-7.
146
James E. Grunig
the other models.25 It does not force the organization to make the
choice of whether consequences are beneficial or harmful to the
public as well as to the organization. Rather, two-way symmetri
cal public relations allows the question of what is right to be
settled by negotiation — since nearly every side to a conflict such
as nuclear power, abortion, gun control, war or international
policy believes its position to be right. In its Code of Ethics, the
International Public Relations Association (IPRA) essentially de
scribes the symmetrical model when it states in Item 7 that mem
bers "shall undertake to establish the moral, psychological and
intellectual conditions for dialogue in its true sense."
At first glance, asymmetrical — and unethical — public rela
tions seems to have been prevalent in international public rela
tions throughout history, especially during times of conflict.
Propaganda — defined here as one-sided, usually half-truthful
communication designed to persuade public opinion — is not a
new aspect of warfare or of international politics. Michael
Kunczik, a German scholar of mass communication and public
relations, reported that in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71,
"the enemies vilified one another" in a way that far exceeded
Nayirah's claims of taking babies from incubators. The semi-offi
cial French publication Public said that the Germans "slaughter
the wounded, set ambulances on fire, they kill the children, ravish
the women, murder the old men and burn the houses. Wolves,
foxes, tigers and hyenas, they fatten themselves on our blood." In
addition, Bismarck supposedly "abducted a nun and had sired 50
children out of wedlock. The Prussian king 'Wilhelm-Attila' was
supposed to be in alcoholic delirium."26
Propaganda reached a zenith in the First World War. Kunczik
reviewed studies of British propaganda by J.A.C. Brown and
Harold Lasswell, who reported "tales of Germans cutting off the
hands of children, boiling corpses to make soap, crucifying pris
oners of war, and using priests as clappers in cathedral bells...."
Ron Pearson, "Beyond Ethical Relativism in Public Relations: Coorientation, Rules,

and the Idea of Communication Symmetry," Public Relations Research Annual 1 (1989)
pp. 67-86.
Michael Kunczik, Images of National and International Public Relations (Bonn, Germany:
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 1990) p. 76.
147
One of the most notorious horror stories stemmed from a hyster

ical American woman who, a few weeks after the war had started,
claimed to have seen "50 Belgian Boy Scouts whose hands had
been chopped off."27 The United States also had a propaganda
agency during the war, called the Committee on Public Informa
tion or the Creel Commission, whose job it was to "issue propa
ganda and censor the news."28 Many of the early leaders of
American public relations, including Edward L. Bernays and Carl
Byoir, began their careers with that commission.29
History, of course, cannot justify misleading public relations
today. At least one public relations scholar, Ray E. Hiebert, the
editor of Public Relations Review, considers some asymmetrical
public relations activities during wartime to be leadership and to
be ethical. In an article on public relations in the Gulf War, he
argued:
I would suggest that to insure some continuity, which is essential
for stable government, and especially for winning a war, public
officials must exercise leadership in winning the collective mind of
the people. And political leaders today use public communication
and public relations to do just that — to inform, influence, change,
or at least neutralize public opinion.30
In contrast to Hiebert, Scott Cutlip — a pioneer public relations

educator and the author of one of the first textbooks now in its
sixth edition, Effective Public Relations — saw the public relations
activities surrounding the Gulf War as a corruption of the public
information system — of which he considers public relations a
vital part.31
I take essentially the same view of ethics as Cutlip. I believe that
when practiced symmetrically, public relations is a valuable com
ibid., p. 81.
Scott M. Cutlip, "Lithuania's First Independence Battle: A PR Footnote/' Public
Relations Review 16, no. 4 (Winter 1990) p. 13.
For a discussion of the history of public relations, see Grunig and Hunt, Chapter 2.
Ray E. Hiebert, "Public Relations as a Weapon of Modern Warfare," Public Relations
Review 17, no. 2 (Summer 1991) p. 108.
Scott M. Cutlip, "The Historic Legacy of Public Relations," Fifth Annual Harold
Burson Distinguished Lecture, Raymond Simon Institute for Public Relations, Utica
College, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 10 April 1991.
148
James E. Grunig
ponerit of the public communication system of a country and of

the world. On the other hand, public relations can obfuscate
issues and interfere with global communication and conflict res
olution when it is practiced nonstrategically — that is, through
blind faith in the power of the media — and asymmetrically.
I will return to these practical and ethical questions again at the
end of this article after using the theories of public relations
introduced thus far to examine a number of historical and recent
examples of international public relations activities of govern
ments and other organizations.
Cases of International Public Relations
Although concern about the effects and ethics of intern

public relations activities seems to be recent, public r
firms and counselors have in fact been working for gove
and other international organizations at least through
century. According to Cutlip:
The need for foreign governments to explain themselves a

promote trade and tourism in the United States became appa
shortly after the tum of the century when America shed it
tionism and moved onto the world stage in the wake of the
ish-American War. These needs have intensified through the
century as nations grew more interdependent and a fiercely
petitive world economy emerged. These needs have been met
are being met by a proliferation of public relations professi
specializing in the representation of foreign governments
serving variously the roles of promoters, propagandists, and
byists. 2
The terms, "promoters, propagandists, and lobbyists," seem to

describe the press agentry, two-way asymmetrical and personal
influence models of public relations, respectively. Cutlip then
describes some familiar examples of governments and groups
with strategic interests in publics in the United States:
The stakes involved in this representation are high and often

crucial for a South Africa under public opinion siege in the United
Scott M. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments," Public

Relations Review 18, no. 1 (Spring 1987) pp. 13-14.
149
States for its apartheid policies, for a Canada seeking to gain U.S.
cooperation in solving the acid rain problem, for a rebel band of
Contras seeking U. S. support in the effort to overthrow a
Sandinista government in Nicaragua, or for an Angolan rebel
seeking U. S. arms.33
One of the first well-documented cases of foreign representa

tion came in the aftermath of the Creel Commission. Edward L.
Bernays34 represented the Lithuanian National Council in an ef
fort to gain U.S. recognition when the country declared its inde
pendence from Russia in 1918, after being freed from German
occupation.35
Bernays and Carl Byoir both worked for the Creel Commis
sion.36 As part of his duties, Byoir built relationships with, and
directed propaganda toward, European ethnic groups in U.S.
cities to develop support for the war effort — an early example of
the strategic management capability of public relations. When no
formal groups existed, Byoir helped to organize them. One of
these groups was the Lithuanian National Council. After the war,
Byoir asked Bernays to develop a campaign for Lithuania, and the
National Council became one of Bernays' earliest clients.
In the campaign, Bernays used many of the techniques of the
public information model — especially newspaper articles, "dis
tributed broadside to editors of newspapers, syndicate features
and trade papers."37 But Bernays pioneered the two-way asym
metrical model. He called it the segmental approach: "It identifies
a major interest of the reader with a cause, intensifies his interest
and stimulates actions." He elaborated:
We approached Lithuanian research by group interests and then

wrote short pieces based on the research — one about Lithuanian
embroidery, to interest women; another, "Lithuanian Business
ibid., p. 14.
Edward L. Bernays is now 101 years old, invented the term "public relations counsel"
and often is called the father of public relations.
Cutlip, "Lithuania's First Independence Battle." Bernays also described his work for
Lithuania in his memoirs, Edward L. Bernays, Biography of an Idea: Memoirs of Public
Relations Counsel Edward L. Bernays (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) pp. 188-93.
Edward Bernays and Carl Byoir formed what was to become one of the largest U.S.
public relations firms in 1930, Carl Byoir and Associates.
Bernays, p. 189.
150
James E. Grunig
Awaits American Exporters," to intrigue businessmen; a third on

Lithuania's language — even a piece on prohibition in Lithuania!
Each story contained the message that Lithuania, the little republic
on the Baltic, the bulwark against Bolshevism, was carrying on a
fight for recognition in accord with the principle of self-determina
tion laid down by President Wilson. This theme would appeal to
the Americans' identification with liberty and freedom. I hoped it
would spur constructive action on the part of the public, such as
letter writing to members of Congress and newspapers.38
A second famous historical case occurred about 10 years later

when another pioneer public relations practitioner, Ivy Lee, rep
resented the U.S. subsidiary of the German company, I.G. Farben,
the German dye trust.39 Lee had moved public relations away
from the press agentry model in the late 1800s and pioneered the
public information model, particularly in representing the Rocke
feller family and the Standard Oil Company.40 I.G. Farben was
closely aligned with Hitler's Nazi government, and the company
management realized that Hitler's policies were damaging rela
tionships with the United States. Lee served as a counsel to I.G.
Farben but reportedly never promoted the company or Nazi
policies.41
Although Lee called himself a publicity counselor, he seemed
to believe in the principles of the symmetrical model. Lee be
lieved that publicity would not bring public acceptance of bad
policies, and that bad policies must be changed before they could
be publicized. He also believed that open communication could
bring about world understanding, and he viewed Nazi Germany
as a client that could be helped to understand the shortcomings
of its policies. Thus, Lee advised I.G. Farben that Hitler's policies
should be changed or that it should disassociate itself from them.
Unfortunately, the Germans did not take Lee's advice. Members of
ibid.
ibid.; Brad E. Hainsworth, "Retrospective: Ivy Lee and the German Dye Trust," Public
Relations Review 18, no. 1 (Spring 1987) pp. 35-44.
Grunig and Hunt, Chapter 2.
Hainsworth, p.40.
151
Congress later attacked Lee as a traitor, and he was attacked in the

press, which labeled him "Poison Ivy." He died in disgrace in 1934.42
The Carl Byoir firm also promoted tourism in Germany at this
time — with apparent connections with the Nazi government —
and Congressional concern about this representation of Hitler's
government led to the passage of the Foreign Agents Registration
Act (FARA) in 1934.43 That act, which was amended four times
from 1942 to 1964 and is still in force, requires representatives of
foreign governments — including public relations practitioners
— to register and label the material they issue, originally with the
State Department, and later with the Justice Department. A later
amendment required the labeling of all informational materials
issued by foreign agents — including public relations agents.
One of the first public relations firms specializing in interna
tional clients was the Hamilton Wright Organization (HWO).44 The
firm began in 1905 when Hamilton Wright I traveled to the newly
acquired Philippine Islands to research and write stories to pro
mote tourism there. Like Hill and Knowlton in the 1990s, Wright
invented a front organization, the Pacific Commercial Museum of
San Francisco, to sponsor his trip. The firm continued until 1969
through three Hamilton Wrights — father, son and grandson.
The HWO primarily promoted trade and tourism, specializing in
pictoral journalism. Among its clients were nationalist China,
South Africa, Mexico, Morocco, the Ivory Coast and Puerto Rico.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by J. William
Fulbright, investigated representation of foreign governments in
1963, and the Wright firm was asked to testify at more hearings.
The recommendations of that committee, as we will see below,
still seem relevant today. In 1964, the Public Relations Society of
America (PRSA) censured H.R. Wright III for guaranteeing place
ment of news stories to clients — a violation of its code of ethics.
The Wrights always maintained, however, that they provided
publicity, not propaganda — the public information rather than
the two-way asymmetrical model.
42. Ray E. Hiebert, Courtier to the Crowd (Ames, LA: Iowa State University Press, 1966), pp.
286-310.
43. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments;" Kunczik, p. 116-17.
44. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments."
152
James E. Grunig
Numerous examples can be cited throughout this century of

public relations firms representing international clients — a
majority being right-wing dictatorships. According to Kunczik,
"Time and time again...PR firms will stoop to represent the inter
ests of dictatorships."45 Examples provided by Kunczik include
Carl Byoir and Associates representing the Cuban dictator Gen
eral Machado in 1931;46 Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly represent
ing President Marcos of the Philippines in 1985;47 and Ruder &
Finn representing Iran in 1975.48 Gray and Company49 repre
sented Haiti's Baby Doc Duvalier, although Haiti reportedly
never paid the bill.0 Likewise, Gray and Company represented
King Hassan II, "the ruthless dictator of Morocco" in 1985, pro
ducing an interview with Hassan that, Trento claimed, "CNN and
Channel 5 in Washington ran...like their own."51
One of the most extensive international communication pro
grams was conducted by South Africa over several years aimed
at the United States and Western Europe.52 An extensive covert
campaign managed by Eschel Rhoodie, the Secretary of Informa
tion, ended in the Muldergate Scandal — named after Rhoodie's
superior Connie Mulder, South African Minister of Information.
The campaign was aimed at the United States and Western Eu
rope. Among other things, money from a secret fund was used to
help bankroll an effort to buy the Washington Star, in order to
counteract the influence of the Washington Post. After the secret
program was exposed, South Africa openly tried to cultivate
relationships with U.S. opinion leaders to try to promote under
standing of the country's problems. Most of the efforts were
typical media relations and promotional activities of the asym
metric models — carefully selecting messages that put the best
Kunczik, p. 117.
ibid., p. 116.
ibid., p. 128.
ibid., p. 129.
Gray and Company was Robert Gray's firm before a merger with Hill and Knowlton.
Trento, pp. 209-10.
ibid., p. 229.
Kunczik, pp. 155-65. Kunczik based most of his analysis on a book by Rhoodie called
The Real Information Scandal, which, he said, now is almost impossible to locate.
253
face on the situation, such as arguing that economic sanctions

would hurt blacks most. The personal influence model was also
used, in the form of sponsoring golfing trips to South Africa for
U.S. business executives who might invest there. The effect of the
effort was more embarrassment with the scandal than interna
tional support. In Kunczik's words, the "image polishing efforts"
of the entire Rhoodie campaign were almost meaningless in the
face of massive global pressure against South Africa's policy of
apartheid.
An example of international public relations for clients other
than right-wing governments can be found in Bernays' campaign
to change India's reputation in 1951 and 1952 from that of "cliches
such as man-eating tigers, child brides, sacred cows, un
touchables, wolf-children, snake charmers, and exotic religious
sects" to one of a young, democratic state.53 Similarly, British,
Swiss and U.S. public relations firms represented both Nigeria
and the secessionist province Biafra during the civil war of 1967.54
Biafra tried to influence media coverage of the war, while the
Nigerian government tried to reach political leaders. According
to Kunczik, neither effort had much effect on the outcome of the
55
war.
Most of these campaigns have relied on the press

public-information models — the difference being
which information disseminated is misleading — t
coverage and polish the image of the client. For
British public relations firm Shandwick ran an info
paign for the government of Brunei in 1987 to correct
sensational international news coverage," which fo
Sultan of Brunei, the head of state, rather than on
True to the public-information model, Shandwick
press packets, books and "advertorials" to correct th
ibid., pp. 118-21.

ibid., pp. 145-52.
ibid, p.152.
Alan Mole, "The International Public Relations Programme on Behalf of the
Government of Brunei Darussalam," in Danny Moss, ed., Public Relations in Practice:
A Casebook (London: Routledge, 1990) pp. 162-72. Kunczik has also reported that
countries frequently resort to buying political ad vertising when they believe they have
been reported incorrectly in the international media (Kunczik, p.136).
154
James E. Grunig
The news media generally have little hesitation in using these

stories, and often rely excessively on public relations sources for
international coverage. Cutlip concluded, for example, that the
1963 Fulbright hearings
made it abundantly clear that these practitioners had assumed a

substantial portion of the news-gathering and news-reporting
functions in foreign news, and yet these agencies cannot be ex
pected to report objectively in the public interest. The news media
have progressively abandoned their news-gathering function to
public relations practitioners.57
Likewise, skilled practitioners of media relations typically have

little difficulty placing news stories and cultivating relationships
with the media. Larissa Grunig, for example, evaluated the quality
of relationships of a sample of international organizations with
several strategic publics. Least problematic was media relations:
Across organizations the most cooperative and autonomous rela

tionship was between the mass media and the organization. I found
at least somewhat cooperative relationships between the typical
organization and its clientele, the community and government. Op
position comes largely from stockholders and activists, and to a
somewhat lesser degree, labor unions.58
In short, public relations practitioners can influence media

coverage of their clients, but it is questionable whether this cov
erage has much effect beyond clogging and perhaps obfuscating
the channels of communication. Although practitioners regularly
place stories about international clients, it is questionable
whether members of strategic publics expose themselves to the
information or are merely affected by it. As Mole reported, for
example, in claiming great success for Shandwick's campaign for
Brunei:
Although the programme to date has led to a significant improve

ment in both tire extent of media coverage afforded to Brunei and
57. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments," pp. 29-30.
58. Larissa A. Grunig, "Strategic Public Relations Constituencies on a Global Scale," Public
Relations Review 18, no. 2 (Summer 1992) pp. 132-3.
155
in the accuracy of the coverage received, the influence this has had
on final target audiences has yet to be fully evaluated.59
Such conclusions actually are quite typical for practitioners of the

press agentry and public-information models.
In addition to media relations, public relations practitioners
devote major efforts on behalf of international clients to lobbying,
both direct and grassroots. With direct lobbying, practitioners
meet personally with government representatives. Alternatively,
with grassroots lobbying, they cultivate relationships with strate
gic, supportive publics whose representatives in turn write, call
or personally contact government representatives. Israel, for ex
ample, seems to be particularly adept at cultivating such relation
ships with Jewish groups in the United States, which, in turn, seek
U.S. government support for Israeli policies. These communica
tive relationships may follow either the asymmetrical personal
influence model or the more symmetrical interpersonal relations
model. A review of activities reported under the FARA for public
relations firms representing China and Angola suggests that both
models may operate.
In 1992, Kathryn Law reviewed the records at the Department
of Justice for registered representatives of Angola and China.60
For Angola, both competing political parties, the ruling Popular
Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA) and the competing Na
tional Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), were
represented by public relations firms, consultants, law firms and
foreign representatives. China was represented by consultants,
law firms, public relations firms, foreign representatives, the Tea
Council, and printing and distribution companies which printed,
solicited advertising, and distributed Chinese publications in the
United States. For Angola, the two political parties accounted for
most of the foreign representatives; for China most agents repre
sented tourism, travel and trade interests.
Mole, p. 169.
Kathryn E. Law, "International Public Relations: A Comparison Between American
Representation of Angola and China," paper presented in partial fulfillment of the
nonthesis requirements for the Master of Arts in Journalism, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD, December 1992.
156
James E. Grunig
For Angola, the public relations firms reported that they pro
vided counsel and advice; monitored economic, political and
trade trends in the United States; issued written materials such as
press releases and background information; and arranged meet
ings and contacts with government officials, the business com
munity, financial and banking institutions, non-profit
organizations and academics at universities and "think tanks." In
short, these reports suggest that public relations firms did help
the Angolan parties with media relations and lobbying. They also
suggest that the firms helped with making what could be sym
metrical contacts with representatives of strategic publics and
that they could be providing symmetrical advice on the accept
ability of policies among U.S. publics.
For China, the activities reported by public relations firms
included counsel and advice, meetings and contacts and written
materials. One firm served primarily as a "relationship broker"
between Chinese and U.S. travel companies. Another firm also
reported lobbying Congress and the Executive Branch and mak
ing contacts with the business community. For China, then, the
public relations firms seem mostly to be working to open travel
to China and to open markets for Chinese products in the United
States. Together, these reported activities suggest a pattern of
strategic management of public relations by the two countries.
Conclusions
Effects of International Public Relations

The picture that emerges from this review of public
theory and descriptive cases of international public r
tivities is similar to that resulting from analyses of publi
practitioners in general.61 If public relations is practiced
to the principles of strategic management, public res
and the two-way symmetrical model, it is an importan
of the global communication system — facilitating sy
For a preliminary analysis of the results of a five-year study of pub

departments in organizations in the United States, Canada and the Uni
see James E. Grunig et al., Excellence in Public Relations and Communication
Initial Data Report and Practical Guide (San Francisco, CA: International A
Business Communicators Research Foundation, September 1991).
157
communication that helps to build relationships among organiza

tions and publics and to develop policies that are responsible to
those publics. Most practitioners profess to hold these ideals for
their work, although most do not have the knowledge or training
to carry them out.
The majority of public relations practitioners who work for
international clients enter the business because of experience in
journalism, advertising or politics. Because of this background,
they devote most of their efforts to media relations and lobbying
— typically practicing the press agentry, public information or
two-way asymmetrical models of public relations. These practi
tioners, no doubt, do affect media coverage and open contacts in
government for their international clients, but the effect is ques
tionable.
Robert Albritton and Jarol Manheim conducted a content anal
ysis of the coverage of five nations in the New York Times —
Argentina, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and Turkey — after
these countries contracted public relations firms. They found that
the public relations firms were successful in reducing the amount
of coverage, particularly of negative news, making the valence of
coverage more favorable and suggesting that the interests of the
country were compatible with U.S. interests.62 Manheim and Al
britton argued that the media are vulnerable to manipulation
because they devote limited resources to international affairs.
They also argued that the improved coverage produced by public
relations firms affects people's so-called images, or cognitions, of
these countries because, for most, the media are their only source
of information about other countries.63
Their argument, however, assumes that most users of the
media are exposed to these news stories and that they develop
cognitions, attitudes and behaviors from the exposure. In con
trast, Kunczik pointed out, "In all countries the great majority of
people are totally disinterested in international affairs and a small
Robert B. Albritton and Jarol B. Manheim, "Public Relations Efforts for the Third
World: Images in the News/'Journal of Communication 35, no. 1 (Winter 1985) pp. 43-59.
Jarol B. Manheim and Robert B. Albritton, "Changing National Images: International
Public Relations and Media Agenda-Setting," American Political Science Review 78, no.
3 (September 1984) pp. 641-57.
158
James E. Grunig
group of people are well-informed. It is these opinion leaders and

decision makers one has to reach."64 J. Grunig has characterized
these respective groups as active and passive publics. Passive
publics are exposed to news haphazardly and seldom develop
broad or deep cognitions from the exposure.65 They can be influ
enced by biased and manipulated media coverage, but the effect
is not deep and does not last long. On hot issues, such as the Gulf
War, passive publics can be influenced enough to affect opinion
polls or to produce expressions of support or opposition — but
seldom to affect behaviors.
Active publics, in contrast, seek out information on problems
or issues that involve them and that they recognize as problems.
They seek information from the media, but they seek it from other
sources as well — such as interest groups or personal contacts.
Limited or biased media coverage thus is more of a hindrance to
active publics than an influence on their behavior. It simply makes
the development of understanding more difficult. Public rela
tions practitioners can facilitate communication with active pub
lics through the media if they open the organizations they
represent to symmetrical relationships with reporters — helping
reporters to cover their organizations without trying to dominate
the nature of that coverage. Often, they confuse the communica
tion when they use one of the three asymmetrical models.
More than anything, such typical international public relations
activities may simply increase the income of public relations
firms. For example, Trento reported that Citizens for a Free Ku
wait terminated its contract with Hill and Knowlton a week
before the United States attacked Iraq, as it was reportedly dis
pleased with the costs.66 Kunczik also advised organizations car
rying out international public relations activities to "be
distrustful of PR firms; the greatest caution is always appropriate,
in fact indispensable, or money will soon be wasted."67
Kunczik, p. 254.
For a review of the research on this "situational" theory of publics, see J. Grunig and
Repper, "Strategic Management, Publics, and Issues."
Trento, p. 382.
Kunczik, p. 245.
159
Ethics of International Public Relations

As noted earlier, the asymmetrical models can be ethical if their
practitioners can be certain they know what is best for the publics
they try to influence. In contrast, the two-way symmetrical model
is inherently ethical because it opens the question of right and
wrong to dialogue, collaboration and compromise. In practice,
the asymmetrical models almost always present ethical problems.
For example, public relations practitioners must make an ethical
decision about which clients to represent. Bemays reported that
he checked regularly with U.S. government sources such as the
State Department and the CIA to see if representation was in the
national interest.68 Robert Gray also reportedly checked with the
CIA about the national interest before taking on controversial
clients.69
Oppressive governments often seek public relations counsel,
and U.S. government agencies have often supported them. Thus
asymmetrical practitioners must develop their own criteria to
decide whether they will represent such governments. Kunczik
concluded that representing oppressive governments has little
long-term effect in enhancing their reputations: "...[CJlearly the
best form of image cultivation is for them to be democratic, to
observe human rights and to pursue policies of openness."70 The
ethical decision is much easier if public relations practitioners
follow the two-way symmetrical model. Under that model, they
could represent an oppressive government but their advice
would be to communicate with strategic publics affected by the
government's policies — probably revise the policy — and then
continue to communicate openly with publics. Such symmetrical
counsel would conform to the Code of Ethics of the IPRA, which
states in Item 1 that practitioners should help to achieve the moral
and cultural conditions defined by the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Obviously, many oppressive gov
ernments would not want symmetrical counsel. If so, an ethical
public relations practitioner would not take them as clients.
68. Kunczik, p. 119.

69. Trento, p. 210.
70. Kunczik, p. 282.
160
James E. Grunig
If the two-way symmetrical model is used as an ethical guide,

several problems with the typical practice of international public
relations come into focus. The 1963 Fulbright hearings identified
most of them:
1. Trips and junkets for news personnel paid for by public

relations practitioners with foreign government funds;
2. Failure to label releases as the products of foreign agents;
3. Dishonesty in client-agency relations by "puffing" activities

on behalf of client governments;
4. Contributions to U. S. political campaigns;
5. Employment of government officials as part-time "consul

tants" for a foreign agent;
6. Front or conduit organizations formed to act as cover orga

nizations to keep sources of support for a cause hidden from
public view; and
7. Failure to identify a foreign agent's association with a for
eign principal in dealing with our government or other
American publics.71
Two symmetrical principles of openness seem most crucial.

The first is full disclosure of the fact that informational materials
such as press or video releases have been produced by a public
relations firm or representative for an international organization
the name of which is also disclosed — both in accompanying
material, as required by FARA, and in the text of informational
materials. Such disclosure would go beyond current practice of
keeping the contributions of public relations practitioners ob
scure. The Code of Professional Standards of the PRSA states in
Item 7, for example, only that a member shall "be prepared to
identify publicly the name of the client or employer on whose
behalf any public communication is made." The media, of course,
would have to leave the statement of disclosure in any story they
use and be willing to admit they worked with public relations
71. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments," p. 16.
161
practitioners. In addition, in symmetrical practice practitioners

would emphasize helping reporters develop their own stories
rather than using press or video releases verbatim.
A second principle is that practitioners discontinue the use of
front organizations and openly acknowledge the name of their
real client. That principle would conform to the Code of Conduct
of the IPRA, which states in Item C5: "A member shall not create
any organization to serve some announced cause but actually to
serve an undisclosed special or private interest of a member or his
client or his employer, nor shall he make use of it or any such
existing organization," and with Item 8 of the PRSA code, which
states, "A Member shall not use any individual or organization
professing to serve or represent an announced cause or profess
ing to be independent or unbiased, but actually serving another
or undisclosed interest."
Open, symmetrical communication as exemplified by these
two changes in current public relations practice would enhance,
rather than cloud, "decent and rational, unemotional debate."
Symmetrical public relations would eliminate most ethical prob
lems of international public relations. More importantly, it would
make public relations more effective in producing international
understanding and collaboration.
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Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board

Public Relations and International Affairs: Effects, Ethics and Responsibility

Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

Gulf crisis, a teary-eyed 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl known

produced advertisements and video news releases, arranged lun

H&K's efforts succeeded in the United Nations, the Congress and

In short, the Hill and Knowlton campaign probably encouraged

When practiced ethically and responsibly, public relations pro

I will discuss ethical issues related to the use of public relations

Management and Diplomacy

The Management Function

Image often is used both to define the messages communicated by an organi

munities, governments, consumers, financiers, supporters, de

mission of the organization, or that can constructively divert it

International Organizations: Public Diplomacy

diplomacy was based on formal relations between governments

the actors in public diplomacy can no longer be confined to the

Although Signitzer and Coombs could find only one scholar of

Beverly Lindsay, "Integrating International Education and Public Diplomacy:

The tough-minded hold that the purpose of public diplomacy is to

To a public relations scholar, therefore, the field of public

Models of International Public Relations

J. Grunig and Hunt identified four models of public r

Press agentry is also common in the work of publicists who

paid pollster Richard Wirthlin over one million dollars to produce

It was thus logical to select Nayirah's account of Iraqi soldiers

The two-way asymmetrical model seems to work reasonably

tacts — contacts from whom favors can be sought. The personal

The Question of Ethics

23. See, for example, Grunig and Hunt, Chapter 3.

Ron Pearson, "Beyond Ethical Relativism in Public Relations: Coorientation, Rules,

One of the most notorious horror stories stemmed from a hyster

In contrast to Hiebert, Scott Cutlip — a pioneer public relations

ponerit of the public communication system of a country and of

Cases of International Public Relations

Although concern about the effects and ethics of intern

The need for foreign governments to explain themselves a

The terms, "promoters, propagandists, and lobbyists," seem to

The stakes involved in this representation are high and often

Scott M. Cutlip, "Pioneering Public Relations for Foreign Governments," Public

One of the first well-documented cases of foreign representa

We approached Lithuanian research by group interests and then

Awaits American Exporters," to intrigue businessmen; a third on

A second famous historical case occurred about 10 years later

Congress later attacked Lee as a traitor, and he was attacked in the

Numerous examples can be cited throughout this century of

face on the situation, such as arguing that economic sanctions

Most of these campaigns have relied on the press

ibid., pp. 118-21.

The news media generally have little hesitation in using these

made it abundantly clear that these practitioners had assumed a

Likewise, skilled practitioners of media relations typically have

Across organizations the most cooperative and autonomous rela

In short, public relations practitioners can influence media

Although the programme to date has led to a significant improve

Such conclusions actually are quite typical for practitioners of the

Effects of International Public Relations

For a preliminary analysis of the results of a five-year study of pub

communication that helps to build relationships among organiza

group of people are well-informed. It is these opinion leaders and

Ethics of International Public Relations

68. Kunczik, p. 119.

If the two-way symmetrical model is used as an ethical guide,

1. Trips and junkets for news personnel paid for by public