First Official Test

In October of 1906, a train derailed while crossing an electric bridge over water.  This resulted in the deaths of 53 people from drowning, and quickly drew national attention.  This incident, while horrific in light of the deaths, was one of the first official moments of public relations in action.

Ivy Lee actually traveled to Atlantic City to court the journalists.  While the executives at the Pennsylvania Railroad company objected, it actually resulted favorably.  As I mentioned earlier, Lee passed out written statements ‘from the railroad’, and the New York Times printed it word for word, rather than relying on a journalist’s interpretation of the event.  By snipping the flow of information while it was still budding, Lee was able to manipulate the public’s opinion regarding the accident.  Lee’s release may seem cookie cutter for this situation (“The Pennsylvania Railroad company is leaving nothing undone to get at the cause of the incident”) but it was really the first time that a corporate entity acknowledged the need to place themselves within the press circle.

Lee was later hired by the Pennsylvania Railroad company as a full time employee, marking the first instance of a public relations man at the executive level.