1. Who you listened to (read about), what their professional title is (was) and WHEN were they
were influential. (Google them to find out if they are still active professionally, or when they
were most active in the profession)
2. What is the focus of their talk/profile?
3. What is (are) the main point (s) you learned about from this talk/profile?
4. How does what you learned about this PR pioneer and his/her story impact how you think
about the PR profession as you understand the practice today?
Arita Musaj
When completing this assignment, (1) I focused on Joseph Varney Baker (1908-1993), a
pioneering African American public relations professional. He was most influential in the mid
1900s where he worked many jobs such as city editor at a newspaper for African Americans
called Philadelphia Tribune, a director of Division of Negro Research and Planning for the state
Department of Labor and Industry, then as director of Negro Work for the Republican State
Committee. Then left his job as city editor to provide public relations counsel for the
Pennsylvania Railroad, after which he created his own public relations firm known as Joseph V.
Baker Associates. (2) The focus of his profile is how he was one of the first, if not the first
African American pioneer to open doors for Black professionals in the field of public relations
and advertising. His profile also emphasizes Baker’s achievements on his other “firsts” ; other
milestones in his life where he was the first Black/African American to hold high positions in the
field of journalism. Some of his “firsts” include but don’t limit to being the first Black journalist
to write for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and he was the first African American in public relations to
become known for acquiring significant accounts from large corporations in the U.S.. (3) The
main points