Scott Munson Cutlip (July 15, 1915 in Buckhannon, West Virginia – August 18, 2000 in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

) was a pioneer in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

education.

Biography

Cutlip was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia, the son of Okey Scott Cutlip and Janet Munson. He was raised by his uncle George Carper Reger. Cutlip started in

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s with the ''Buckhannon Record'' in 1933. Moving to

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

in 1935, he worked for the West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Company for three years. In 1939 he obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. His career in public relations began in 1941 with the West Virginia State Road Commission. In

he continued to study journalism and political science, earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. In 1942 he entered the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, where he served with the Fifth Air Force from Australia. He joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin in 1946, teaching news editing and introducing the study of public relations. As Cutlip later explained, :"From 1947 through 1974 at Wisconsin it was my privilege to guide some 135 U.S. military officers, mostly U.S. Army, through their graduate programs — a program initiated by then Army Chief of Staff General Dwight D. Eisenhower on the recommendation of Arthur W. Page, an eminent public relations pioneer." In 1952 he co-wrote the first edition of '' Effective Public Relations'' with Allen H. Center. This

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

was reissued in the 11th edition in 2012. In 1957 Cutlip produced a

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

on public relations (updated in 1965), and in 1965 he authored a book on

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

in the United States. At the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

from 1976 to 1983, Cutlip served as dean of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.Obituary
by University of Georgia In 1994 and 1995 Cutlip published two histories of public relations that develop the practices through the stories of professional operators. Cutlip was a member of the Public Relations Society of America and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Philosophy of public relations

Cutlip issued the call to study: :"Public relations strategies and tactics are increasingly used as weapons of power in our no-holds-barred political, economic, and cause competition in the

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

marketplace, and thus deserve more scholarly scrutiny than they have had." Cutlip expressed the opinion that public relations is a "vital cog in the nation’s information system" in the prologue to his book ''The Unseen Power''. He describes the public system as consisting of "government – federal, state, and local, political parties, pressure groups, non-profit organizations, public relations personnel, and the channels of communication, manned by reporters, editors, and gatekeepers". He noted that since citizens depend on this system, practitioners have a social responsibility while they skilfully advocate on behalf of clients. At best, a public relations counselor may inform a CEO or

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of a client firm of necessities when contending with negative public opinion. For instance, advice may avoid a loss of

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

and thus prove valuable. More generally, public relations practitioners enrich public dialogue and consolidate the frayed threads of discord. Cutlip conceded that practice may contribute to congestion and corrosion of communication channels. As practitioners of the craft, Cutlip listed "propagandist, press agent, public information officer, public relations or public affairs official, political campaign specialist, lobbyist". The occupations operate under conditions of free speech. In a

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, it is the informed votes of citizens that rights a listing ship of state, according to Milton. Cutlip also cited Hugo Black of the U. S. Supreme Court re-affirming the free speech context of practitioners in 1961. University colleagues Merrill Jensen and Merle Curti challenged Cutlip to defend devious tactics of public relations practitioners. They saw public relations for its corrosive effect of undermining public trust and leading to cynicism. For his part, Cutlip noted that "only through the expertise of public relations can causes, industries, individuals and institutions make their voices heard in the public forum where thousands of shrill, competing voices daily recreate the Tower of Babel." "The impact of public relations counselling can be seen ... in the more socially responsible business leadership that emerged in the wake of the Depression and the New Deal."

Awards

In 1971 Cutlip was presented the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

Litt. D. by West Virginia Wesleyan College of Buckhannon. In 1972 Cutlip was recognized with the first Outstanding Educator Award presented by the Public Relations Society of America. In 1984 he received the Commander's Award for Public Service from the Department of the Army and in 2003 was inducted into the U.S. Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame. In 1987 he was nominated to the Hall of Fame of the Arthur W. Page Society. In 1990 Cutlip was admitted to the College of Fellows of the Public Relations Society of America. In 1995 the Society presented him with its Golden Anvil award. That year the International Association of Business Communicators presented him with a special award to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Association. In recognition of his contributions to journalism education, he was elected a member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Cutlip married Erna K. Flader of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on May 21, 1947. Erna Cutlip died in 1997. Scott was diagnosed with cancer several months before his death.

Legacy

The Scott Cutlip Scholarship is awarded to students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with an interest in public relations. Cutlip's contributions to public relations are commemorated in a special 1991 issue of ''Public Relations Review''.'' Public Relations Review'', vol. 17, no. 4 (Winter 1991), pp. 331-433.

Works

* 1952: (with Allen H. Center) '' Effective Public Relations'',

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was a major American publishing#Textbook_publishing, educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth cen ...

(8th edition in 2000). * 1965: ''Fundraising in the United States, its role in America's philanthropy'', 553 p, Rutgers University Press. * 1965: ''Public Relations Bibliography'', second edition, 305 p,

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...

. * 1994: ''The Unseen Power: Public Relations: A History'', Lawrence Erlbaum Associates . * 1995: ''Public Relations History: from the 17th to the 20th Century'', Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .

References

External links

Scott M. Cutlip papers, 1940-1996
at the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutlip, Scott 1915 births 2000 deaths Writers from Madison, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni University of Georgia faculty People from Buckhannon, West Virginia American public relations people Historians of public relations Public relations theorists Syracuse University alumni Military personnel from West Virginia United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Writers from West Virginia 20th-century American historians