Publicity as policy: the changing role of press and public relations at the BMA, 1940s-80s

Abstract

Relationships between policy and publicity or public relations (PR) have been questioned since the emergence of professional public relations in the early-twentieth century. In the field of health and medicine organised PR activity began to flourish in the decades following World War Two. Its presence became evident in government departments, in professional associations, voluntary bodies and campaigning groups. Increasingly, policy decisions had to be publicly performed through rituals like the press conference. This chapter documents the development of press and PR activity at the British Medical Association (BMA) from the 1950s to the 1980s. The BMA provides a well-documented case, which can be used to suggest broader shifts in the association between policy and publicity.