Public Relations and the Making of Modern Britain. Stephen Tallents and the birth of a progressive media profession

Notes:

Scholarly work based on doctoral thesis. Deals with the evolution of public relations in Britain and the crucial role in it of Sir Stephen Tallents, largely in the interwar years through to the immediate post war years. In particular covers the use by government and its agencies of public relations initiatives, the devices used and their outcome. Looks in particular at their use by Tallents at the Empire Marketing Board, the BBC and the General Post Office with chapters - 'Beginnings - the Empire Marketing Board, 1926-33' [pp29-62]; 'Triumph of public relations. The GPO, 1933-35' [pp101-30]; 'The limits of public relations - the BBC and the Ministry of Information' [pp131-63]. Covers also their use at the Festival of Britain; the formation of the Institute of Public Relations; and the documentary cinema