"My view is different. Public relations are a key component of any operation in this day of instant communications and rightly inquisitive citizens"
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“My view is different” isn’t just a throat-clear; it’s a power move. Adams frames himself as the adult in the room, rejecting whatever older, closed-door instinct he’s pushing against. Then he makes the pivot that matters: public relations isn’t ornamentation, it’s infrastructure. Calling PR “a key component” treats perception as part of the machinery of doing business, not a cosmetic layer applied after decisions are made. That’s the intent: normalize reputation-management as operational necessity.
The phrasing does quiet ideological work. “Instant communications” suggests a world where information outruns hierarchy, where a rumor can travel faster than a ledger entry, and where silence reads like guilt. Adams isn’t praising transparency so much as acknowledging a new terrain: you either manage the narrative or get managed by it. His nod to “rightly inquisitive citizens” is the velvet glove. It flatters the public’s curiosity as legitimate, even moral, while also implying it must be handled. Inquisitiveness becomes a natural force, like weather; PR is the umbrella.
Contextually, for a 19th-century businessman, this sounds like a modern corporate memo smuggled into an earlier era: the dawning realization that commerce now happens in a public theater. The subtext is faintly defensive: citizens ask questions not because they’re nosy, but because institutions have given them reasons to. Adams’ “different view” is a concession that legitimacy now requires performance, not just profit.
The phrasing does quiet ideological work. “Instant communications” suggests a world where information outruns hierarchy, where a rumor can travel faster than a ledger entry, and where silence reads like guilt. Adams isn’t praising transparency so much as acknowledging a new terrain: you either manage the narrative or get managed by it. His nod to “rightly inquisitive citizens” is the velvet glove. It flatters the public’s curiosity as legitimate, even moral, while also implying it must be handled. Inquisitiveness becomes a natural force, like weather; PR is the umbrella.
Contextually, for a 19th-century businessman, this sounds like a modern corporate memo smuggled into an earlier era: the dawning realization that commerce now happens in a public theater. The subtext is faintly defensive: citizens ask questions not because they’re nosy, but because institutions have given them reasons to. Adams’ “different view” is a concession that legitimacy now requires performance, not just profit.
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| Topic | Marketing |
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