Journal of Public Relations Education (JPRE) Vol. 4, Issue 1 Spring 2018 Book Review of "Public Relations and the Corporate Persona: The Rise of the Affinitive Organization" by Burton St. John III; review by Christie Kleinmann

1. Public Relations Education
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Journal of
JPRE
Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2018
A publication of the Public Relations Division of AEJMC
ISSN 2573-1742

2. Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2018
A publication of the Public Relations Division of AEJMC
ISSN 2573-1742
© Copyright 2018 AEJMC Public Relations Division

3. Journal of Public Relations Education
Editorial Staff
Emily S. Kinsky, West Texas A&M University, editor-in-chief
Tiffany Gallicano, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, senior associate editor
Lucinda Austin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, associate editor
Chuck Lubbers, University of South Dakota, associate editor of reviews
Kathleen Stansberry, Elon University, web manager
Note from the Editor-in-Chief:
This issue reflects an enormous amount of work done prior to my editorship. The previous
editor-in-chief, Chuck Lubbers, had the research articles for this issue and most of the next
issue already queued up prior to me moving into this role on Jan. 1, 2018. A special thanks to
Chuck for his work with authors and reviewers in 2017 to get us ready for Volume 4 in 2018.

4. Table of Contents
Research Articles
1-24 Developing a Blueprint for Social Media Pedagogy: Trials,
Tribulations, and Best Practices
Ai Zhang and Karen Freberg
25-48 Competition and Public Relations Campaigns: Assessing the
Impact of Competition on Quality of Projects, Partners, and
Students
Christopher McCollough
49-79 Score! How Collegiate Athletic Departments Are Training
Student-Athletes About Effective Social Media Use
Stephanie A. Smith and Brandi A. Watkins
80-100 Media Relations Instruction and Theory Development: A
Relational Dialectical Approach
Justin E. Pettigrew
Teaching Briefs
PRD GIFT Winners from AEJMC 2017
101-105 Public Relations Ethics, “Alternative Facts,” and Critical
Thinking, with a Side of Tuna
Jacqueline Lambiase
106-111 Improving PR Campaigns with a Roll of the Dice: Assuming
New Identities to Strengthen Diversity and Inclusion
Kelly B. Bruhn
Book Review
112-115 Public Relations and the Corporate Persona: The Rise of the
Affinitive Organization
Christie M. Kleinmann

5. Public Relations and the Corporate Persona:
The Rise of the Affinitive Organization
Book Review by
Christie M. Kleinmann, Belmont University
Author: Burton St. John III, Professor, Old Dominion University, USA
London, UK: Routledge, 2017
176 pages
Hardback, ISBN-13: 978-1138945012, $160.00
E-book, ISBN-13: 9781315671635, $55.00
A trusted companion, a fellow traveler, and a sage guide, perhaps
not the top distinguishing characteristics of American corporations in
the 21st century, but, based on recent scholarship, these three corporate
personas define much of American business in the last 90 years. In
Public Relations and the Corporate Persona: The Rise of the Affinitive
Organization, communication scholar Burton St. John III asserts that
businesses emulate a corporate persona, such as the trusted companion,
fellow traveler, or sage guide, that reinforces the mutuality of business
and citizens and joins them on the shared path of self-actualization.
Using a critical lens, St. John presents four perspectives of the corporate
person: the legal perspective, the marketing perspective, the constructivist
perspective, and the storytelling perspective. These perspectives are
deconstructed through the public relations materials of five corporate
entities: the National Association of Manufacturers, PR News, Norfolk
and Western Railroad, Standard Oil of California (SOCA), and the reality
television show Undercover Boss. St. John also includes a chapter on
social media and its role in the storytelling perspective.
Corporate Persona of Trusted Companion
The economic crash in 1929 eroded public trust in American
business, leading to an increased desire for government to ensure
Journal of Public Relations Education
2018, Vol. 4, No. 1, 112-115

6. Vol. 4(1), 2018 Journal of Public Relations Education 113
economic stability. To restore trust in business, the National Association
of Manufacturers (NAM) used public relations strategies and tactics to
present a persona that shared the goals and values of American citizens.
Specifically, NAM conveyed three key messages: that it shared values
common to Americans, that it was a beneficent fellow actor in society,
and that turning to planned economy would interfere with the mutually
beneficial relations between the individual and private business (p. 45).
Through these public relations efforts, St. John concludes that the persona
of the caring fellow American was effective in establishing mutual benefit
and encouraging fellow citizens in protecting free enterprise. Norfolk
and Western Railroad illustrate a similar use of corporate persona in
public relations. Using its organizational newsletter Norfolk and Western
Magazine, Norfolk and Western developed the persona of defender and
fellow advocate in the preservation of American free enterprise.
St. John continues to illustrate the corporate persona of trusted
companion with SOCA and its publication, Standard Oiler. Through this
public relations tactic, SOCA maintained the preservation of the free
enterprise message illustrated by NAM and the Norfolk and Western
Magazine but from a Foucauldian perspective of self-governance.
Using this persona, SOCA often used the first-person “we” to portray
the mutuality of interests between the corporation and the individual as
self-reliant and capable, in comparison to an inefficient and intrusive
federal government (p. 99). This corporate persona of trusted companion
directed citizens to the already-existing affinity between the individual and
corporation through shared corporate-individual worldviews and goals.
Corporate Persona of Fellow Traveler
Public Relations and the Corporate Persona also considers the
role of public relations in corporate persona by reviewing the weekly
editions of PR News from 1950-1952. Through this analysis, St. John
found that PR News believed public relations “had the responsibility to
help organizations tell their fellow citizens about the importance of the

7. 114
free enterprise system” and positioned public relations as a “mentor and
teacher” (p. 61). In doing so, PR News characterized business as a fellow
traveler on a shared journey of free enterprise, a journey that would bring
mutual benefit to the individual and the corporation. St. John carefully
articulates the role of public relations in this process, noting that the
shared journey is not one created or sustained by public relations. Rather,
public relations offered an organization’s persona the “place” to identify
shared values and destinations. Public relations was a “courtship of re-
affirmation” that confirmed the affinitive organization and citizens (p.
102).
Corporate Persona of Sage Guide
From the reality show Undercover Boss, St. John illustrates a
sage guide persona in the fast food industry. In Undercover Boss, a top
executive assumes the position of a lower-level employee to learn about
the organization. By doing so, the executive is often personified as a
“powerful persona descending into the world of the common person,
taking on that lifestyle so as to learn large lessons about humility and
empathy” (p. 109). However, when the executive reveals his identity, s/
he is portrayed as a sage guide who instructs, rewards, and encourages
employees. This sage guide personifies the common American values
of self-reliance and self-advancement and becomes a source of
encouragement for those acting on those values (p. 120). As a result of this
persona, employees can reflect on the “wise counsel of the corporation”
and take steps toward achieving self-actualization (p. 120).
In Public Relations and the Corporate Persona, St. John concludes
that through corporate persona, organizations create a shared sense of
identity with citizens that allow organizations to influence and even direct
political, economic, and social structures. As such, this text is a timely
examination of corporate persona in American business. With declining
public trust in business, St. John offers an important examination of
previous efforts to restore public trust in business and free enterprise.
Review by Kleinmann

8. Vol. 4(1), 2018 Journal of Public Relations Education 115
Further, Public Relations and the Corporate Persona offers a largely
unexplored critical examination of corporate persona and public relations’
role in shaping our perceptions and shared perceptions.
The text concludes with a critical analysis of business today,
noting that “the American public sees precious few recent examples of
a corporate personality that asserts a common good with the individual”
(p. 162). Rather St. John encourages organizations and public relations
professionals to move beyond the product-driven associations prevalent
today and resonate shared American values. He also encourages future
research in social media and corporate persona and how corporate persona
may be perceived online.
Public Relations and the Corporate Persona is a valuable read
for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students in public relations,
corporate communication, or strategic communication programs. The
text’s rich case studies and quantitative analyses offer both breadth and
depth on the issue of corporate persona, and the book raises pertinent
questions on the role of public relations in this process. Further, critical
studies would benefit from this text as it challenges existing public
relations practices and poses important areas for future research.
Editorial Record: Submitted to the editor-in-chief by the associate editor of reviews on
March 2, 2018. First published online May 21, 2018.