Review article
https://doi.org/10.47960/2712-0457.2026.S2.8.44
PR 2.0 - PUBLIC INFORMATION AS THE SECOND PARADIGM OF PUBLIC RELATIONS: IVY LEE AND THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN CORPORATE PUBLIC RELATIONS
Miro Radalj
; Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper examines public information as the second paradigm of public relations, here designated PR 2.0, and reassesses Ivy Ledbetter Lee’s contribution to modern corporate public relations. Historical and conceptual analysis distinguishes Lee’s public statement of professional standards from the establishment of permanent organizational communication functions. PR 2.0 is treated as an ideal type defined by an identified source, accessibility to journalists, timeliness, factual accuracy and verifiability, public relevance, and continuity of organizational communication. Two procedural criteria, source transparency and procedural openness, are distinguished from three that apply to the account itself: factual accuracy, contextual completeness, and fair representation. Lee’s Declaration of Principles committed his bureau to accurate information, yet his work for the Rockefellers during the Colorado coal strike of 1913-1914 and its aftermath shows how far practice could fall short of that commitment. The rise of corporate public relations is examined in relation to Progressive reform, muckraking journalism, corporate power, public opinion, and the spread of publicity bureaus across sectors. The paper uses the term-controlled transparency for a model in which an organization seeks legitimacy through timely, verifiable information while keeping control over what is selected and how it is framed. Building on Grunig and Hunt’s public information model, the paper extends it analytically by treating accuracy as a basis of professional legitimation, institutionalization as the organizational condition that sustains continuous information provision, and controlled transparency as the structural limitation created by the source’s continuing control over selection and framing. Lee’s significance rests on his public formulation of this commitment to accuracy, without implying technical priority or consistently transparent practice.
Keywords
Ivy Lee; public information; transparency; corporate public relations; public relations history
Hrčak ID:
353037
URI
Publication date:
1.11.2026.
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