To answer this question, there are three major steps. Those three steps will represent each of the three sections of this paper. Step one in the solution is to define, as accurately as possible, what is "publicity." Step two in the solution is to then determine what constitutes "good publicity" from "bad publicity." Finally, the paper will seek to make a value judgment concerning whether or not all publicity is good publicity."
In this paper, "publicity" will be used to mean those mentions (and re-mentions) of a product, person, good or service by the print or electronic media and that has not been paid for. In other words, if a company buys an ad that says "Buzz is a good beer" that message is "advertising" and tends to get ignored (because there are so many other competing advertising messages in the world. If, however, a newspaper or TV show says, within the framework of a story, that "Buzz is a good beer" then that becomes "publicity."
Publicity, therefore, can be said to be the art (or science) of gaining exposure for your company, product or service without directly paying for it. Instead of purchasing expensive advertising, the company (usually with the aid of a publicist) uses publicity to "spread the news" about the product for less cost and higher-impact. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary adds this definition:
"pub+lic+i+ty n. a) Information that concerns a person, group, event, or product and that is disseminated through various media to attract public notice; b) Public interest, notice, or notoriety achieved by the spreading of such information; c) The act, process, or occupation of disseminating information to gain public interest; d) Condition of being public (Websters New Collegiate, p. 1068.).
Edward Bernays (profiled in the next section) is often called "The Father of Publicity" and he suggests that there are many here are many reasons to use publicity as a marketing technique. In his opinion...