Calling Ivy Lee

Some refer to him as "The Father of Public Relations." Whether Ivy Lee actually deserves that title I will leave to others to decide, but, boy, we sure could use him now. A former journalist, Lee made his name in public relations when the Rockefellers hired him in the 1920s to help navigate a dicey situation that came to be known in the national press as the "Ludlow Massacre." In its, several dozen folks, including women and children, were killed by strike-breakers hired by Rockefeller to break up a mining protest. Rockefeller was blamed for the multiple deaths and, as a result, fell very much out of favor with the general public. The Rockefeller company turned to Lee for help.

In working with the press, Lee was a strong believer in not trying to manipulate or shape public opinion via spinning or media events. Instead, Lee was a major proponent of providing the public - and the press - with facts. As many as he could collect and as many as they requested. He had confidence that given facts, the public would ultimately make the choices that were not just best for them, but also fair to the sources of those facts. This concept of public relations worked out well for the Rockefellers and helped project Lee into becoming a major figure in the evolution of public relations.   

I reflect on Lee now because his brand of public relations is rarely practiced in today's world of communication. Nowadays, all of us are buried by spin doctors, fake news and spokespersons hired  because they are slick at talking at rather than with folks. The result of their efforts is a general population that is highly divided and distrustful of the entities that define our society, including all levels of government, the media, and even faith-based organizations. In short, particularly when it comes to communication, we the people are a mess. We could use less of those who seek to manipulate and far more of those, like Lee, who worked to inform.