Though publicity and press agency work (essentially getting clients’ names into newspapers) were common in the 19th century, PR as we know it is generally considered to be a 20th century phenomenon. It was born during a period of increasing hostility toward big business. Early in the century, investigative reporters began exposing the rampant corruption of corporate America. Among the most popular of these journalists’ exposés were Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil Company and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. The latter sparked the creation of the Federal Food and Drugs Act in 1906. In response to the scrutiny, corporations began taking steps to improve their reputations. Several railroad companies retained exjournalists and ex-press agents to handle publicity issues. The Publicity Bureau, founded in 1900, was retained by railroad companies and other businesses that feared they were next in line for legislation. Soon thereafter, a few other publicity agencies popped up, and several organizations, including the United States Marine Corps and the University of Pennsylvania, set up their own publicity offices.

尽管宣传和新闻代理工作（本质上是把客户的名字登上报纸）在19世纪很普遍，但我们所知道的公关通常被认为是20世纪的一种现象。它诞生于对大企业日益敌视的时期。本世纪初，调查记者开始揭露美国企业界猖獗的腐败现象。其中最受欢迎的这些记者的曝光是伊达塔贝尔的历史标准石油公司和厄普顿辛克莱的丛林。后者引发了1906年联邦食品和药品法案的制定。作为对审查的回应，公司开始采取措施提高自己的声誉。几家铁路公司聘请了前记者和前新闻代理人来处理宣传问题。成立于1900年的宣传局被铁路公司和其他企业所保留，因为他们担心自己会成为下一个立法对象。不久之后，其他一些宣传机构也出现了，包括美国海军陆战队和宾夕法尼亚大学在内的一些组织也成立了自己的宣传办公室。