Section I: Introduction

I chose to research Edward L. Bernays for my treasure hunt because I am a public relations major and am interested in knowing more about him. Bernays is known as the “father of public relations” and I would like to know more about his background including his major accomplishments and failures. I am interested in how he started the field in which I will one day have a career. I also think it is important to discover why Bernays is remembered.

My intended audiences are students like myself who are majoring in public relations and who hope to have a career in this field and also students who are unaware of what public relations is and might possibly choose it as their major. I believe this is important because many people have a misconceived notion of what public relations actually is. A negative stigma is often associated with public relations and people believe that public relations is about putting a spin on the truth. However, that is not the truth and I believe by researching Edward L. Bernays and the roots of public relations the necessity of public relations and the integrity that accompanies the field will surface.

Section I-b: Keywords

UNC Library catalog:
Public relations AND Bernays
Father AND Public Relations

Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis:
General News, Major Papers
Bernays in full text w/5 public relations in full text

General News, Major Papers
Bernays in full text AND public opinion in full text

Search Engine: http://www.yahoo.com/
Edward L. Bernays AND public relations
Edward L. Bernays AND history

2. Bernays, Edward L. The later years: PR Insights, 1956-1986. New York: H & M Publishers, 1986. Davis Library Call # HM 263.B3955.

Non-print:

The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of Library Classics. The Image Makers. PBS Video. 60 min. PBS Video, 1998. Videocassette. UL Media Resources Center Call # 65-V1752.

Chernow, Ron. “First Among Flack.” The New York Times, 16 August 1998. Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis [Accessed: 31 January 2003].

Geist, William. “About New York; Selling Soap to Children and Hairnets to Women.” The New York Times, 27 March 1985. Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis [Accessed: 29 January 2003].

Geist, William. “What Really Makes New York Work: Secret Powers; Dan Klores: The Man Behind the Images.” The New York Times, 8 April 1990. Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis Academic [Accessed: 29 January 2003].

Lim, Doris. “Charting the PR profession.” New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, 30 November 2002. Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis Academic [Accessed: 29 January 2003].

Riordan, Patrick. “Gullible public buys spin doc's medicine.” The Tampa Tribune, 3 January 1999. Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis Academic [Accessed: 31 January 2003].

St. John III, Burton. “Public relations as community-building: then and now.” Public Relations Quarterly, Spring 1998. Available [Online]: Infotrac [Accessed: 29 January 2003].

Section IV: Web Sources

1. Title of Web page: The Museum of Public Relations
Web address: http://www.prmuseum.com
Description: This web site was established in 1997 as a resource for information on prominent public relations figures, such as Edward L. Bernays. The site supplies the visitor with information on the PR industry and how ideas are developed for industries, education and the government. This site contains a detailed timeline of Bernays’ life related to public relations.
Source of Web site: The Museum of Public Relations

2. Title of Web page: Public Relations Online
Web address: http://www.public-relations-online.net/index.html
Description: This web site offers information on the PR industry, its history, various agencies, education, and publications. It serves as a reference source for the PR industry. The PR history page contains a timeline, which emphasized certain in history that impacted the PR industry. The history includes information about Edward Bernays and his contributions to PR.
Source of Web site: Public Relations Online; Monique Solano, President; George Agens, Executive Vice President; Mary Johnson, Executive Administrator

3. Title of Web page: The University of Western Ontario’s Business Library
Web address: http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/bernays.html
Description: This web site provides biographical information about Edward L. Bernays and a listing of his books and other written work. Also available is a listing of articles and books written about Bernays as well as basic information on public relations.
Source of Web site: The University of Western Ontario

4. Title of Web page: The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth of PR
Web address: http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html
Description: The web site is an archived article on a book review from an issue PR Watch. The book, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth of Public Relations, written by Larry Tye was reviewed in an issue of PR Watch. The article goes over the main points of Tye’s book revealing some information about Bernays, his life and career in PR.
Source of Web site: PR Watch.org and the Center for Media & Democracy

5. Title of Web page: PR!: A Social History of Spin
Web address: http://www.bway.net/~drstu/home.html
Description: This web site was created by Stuart Ewen, the author of the PR!: A Social History of Spin, and offers book reviews, quotes, a book description and the first chapter of his book. The book description offers an overview of the public relations field, major campaigns and the patriarchs of the business (including Bernays).
Source of Web site: Stuart Ewen

Title: The Ups & Downs of Parental Controls: Censorship on AOL
(Topic: Net Controversy)

In a world where the Internet is one of the most popular and widely- used resources, especially by young people, there is concern about what children are seeing and able to see when they spend time online. The online experience has been altered with the fairly recent explosion of junk e-mail and pop-up advertisements that advertise pornography, enhancing body parts and great mortgage rates.
In response to the unwanted and often inappropriate solicitations AOL began a feature called “Parental Controls” in 1994. Since then many other online servers offer this feature as well as there are Internet filtering programs available. AOL’s controls have three levels. Kids Only is for children 12 and under, Young Teen is for those between the ages of 13 and 15, and Mature Teen is designed for those between 16 and 17. These categories are designed to filter out inappropriate material for the particular age groups.

Early versions of AOL’s parental controls did not live up to the promises made by AOL. The controls either over-blocked or under-blocked information. This left many parents worried and looking for ways to “tame the Internet.” (1). Some studies performed found that children were frequently able to view sites deemed objectionable and not allowed access to a few that were perfectly acceptable. The concerns were taken to AOL and other server and have been taken into consideration. There are many programs available, but AOL boasts that they’re version 8.0’s parental controls are the best around.

AOL was recently (Oct. 2002) given the WiredKids’ Internet Visionary Award for efforts to help keep children safe online (2). AOL received this award due to their “ongoing commitment to protecting children online.” (2)
AOL’s Executive Vice President of Product Marketing, David Gang, said, “Safety is priority number one for kids and parents on the AOL service, and with the enhancements we are making to Parental Controls… we are further strengthening our leadership in helping to protect children online… we’re further enhancing parents’ ability to help safeguard kids when they go online.”(2)
While great progress has been made to censor what children have access to or what pops up on their screen, caution should still be taken. The parental controls are not 100% guaranteed to protect children and filter out inappropriate material.

NOTES:
(1) Reeks, Anne, “Electronic sitters evolve, but some still beat others,” The Houston Chronicle, 23 January 2003, p. B3 Also Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis Academic [Accessed: 2 February 2003].
(2) “America Online Recognized by Leading Child Safety Organizations for Efforts and Products That Make the Internet Safer for Children and Families,” Business Wire, 14 October 2002, Available [Online]: Lexis-Nexis Academic [Accessed: 2 February 2003].

WEB SITES:
1. Title of Web page: AOL: Parental Controls
Web address: http://www.aol.com/info/parentcontrol.html
Description: This site provides parents with information on how to set up parental controls and the various levels offered.
Source of Web site: America Online

2. Title of Web page: PEP: Parental Controls/Internet Filters
Web address:lhttp://www.microweb.com/pepsite/Software/filters.html
Description: This site lists various parental control and Internet filter programs in the format of a chart, which makes it easy for parents to compare the programs to see which one has the most to offer.
Source of Web site: PEP: Resources for Parents, Educators and Publishers

3. Title of Web page: The National Coalition Against Censorship
Web address: http://www.microweb.com/pepsite/Software/filters.htmll
Description: This site has information pertaining to issues of censorship and also has information on studies done on AOL’s parental controls.
Source of Web site: The National Coalition Against Censorship