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The Greatest PR Clip of All Time

October 9, 2007

Imagine the New York Times taking your press release and running it verbatim. Unbelievable, right?! Well, it happened with the very first press release ever written.

Born in 1877, Ivy Lee is considered to be the father of modern PR and recognized for writing the first press release.

On the morning of October 8, 1906, a Pennsylvania Railroad crash killed 53 people in Atlantic City. That afternoon, Ivy Lee wrote the first press release and counseled his client to arrange for a special train to take reporters to the scene. Ivy wanted to get as much accurate information out to the press in order to prevent false rumors from circulating about the accident.

Impressed by the innovative approach to corporate communications, The New York Times printed Ivy’s first press release verbatim on October 30, 1906 as a “Statement from the Road.” Both newspapers and public officials praised the Pennsylvania Railroad for its openness and honesty.

How’s that for the first clip of the first PR clip book!? Nice. Below is a copy of the original clip (and therefore also the first press release ever written) as published in the October 30, 1906 edition of The New York Times. It ran on page two as a continuation of the front page headline story about the crash (the front page can be viewed by clicking the image above). And that’s the story of the first and greatest PR clip of all time. The end.

Filed Under Educational, History, Media, Public Relations

Comments

2 Responses to “The Greatest PR Clip of All Time”

Valeria Maltoni on October 9th, 2007 7:29 pm

There are so many interesting stories like this one in the Philadelphia past. The first marine insurance company, INA, was founded here http://www.cigna.com/about_us/company_history.html and now you know what the acronym CIGNA stands for.

In 1906, at the time of your train wreck:

* Fires from the San Francisco earthquake leave nearly five square miles of the city in ruins. INA and subsidiaries promise to pay losses in full-a total of $4,772,000.

That was some money then!

Dan Schawbel on October 10th, 2007 6:56 am

Times have certainly changed. Cheers to the social media press release.

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