Week 6
Public Relations and the Media- A marriage of convenience?
Halo...Greetings from yours truly.....
The relationship between Public Relations and the media has long been understood as mutually interdependent of each other. Public Relations practitioners had always relied on the media as a platform to launch their materials to their audiences. The evolution of Public Relations practices, as described in earlier readings, have resulted in journalists being increasingly funnelled to Public Relations outlets to obtain their sources of information.
As both professions mature, I wonder whether this relationship is changing and whether the media views towards Public Relations has grown more positive or more negative.
Personally I suspect that negative perception persists among the media about the underlying intentions of the Public Relations practitioner. Interestingly, I discovered this in my Journalism Module. We were constantly reminded not to base our news story on the crafted versions of media releases as they merely reflect “their” agenda. I believe this notion of applying a dose of healthy scepticism applies to all sources (including government sources) for a good journalist.
Nonetheless, in my course of doing the Annotated Bibliography Assignment, I encountered an academic article titled “Newspaper Editors' Perceptions of Public Relations: How Business, News, and Sports Editors Differ”. (JOURNAL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH)
This article mentioned that according to research spanning 15 years, journalists' negative views of public relations served as a key deterrent to productive working relationship between journalists and public relations professionals.
Hence, this serves to illuminate a key challenge facing public relations practitioners in respect to dealing with the media.
The readings made me think about Public Relations practice in that an intimate understanding on the workings of the media may assist PR operators in overcoming media related situations. Public Relations practitioners have to be mindful of factors that may determine whether their materials receive the attention of the media. In other words, public relations officers have to think like a journalist and realign their publications to accommodate the news style format, among other things.
Furthermore practitioners have to be sensitive to media deadlines and gain comprehension on what constitute as news worthiness for different news organisation. (Ex: Tabloids, magazines, financial newspaper, etc....)
Envelope Journalism
I wish to add another consideration that was diluted in the readings. There was no mention of the cultural dimension that Public Relations have to deal with in relation to the media. This relates to the envelope journalism culture that is still prevalent in many developing countries.
In Africa it is known as the brown envelope, in China the red envelope, and in Indonesia they just call it “amplop”. Regardless of the colour, the envelope contains money meant as an incentive for journalists.
Before accusing me of promoting bribery, I would like to highlight that this represents a stark reality of life in many developing countries. Plague by ridiculously low wages, journalists demand money for their transportation and other needs. In many instances, journalists refuse to attend media conferences without such incentives.
In Indonesia, even the government was not spared from such practices. “According to a survey by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on "envelope journalism", most regional governments budget some money for regional media coverage and for an annual contribution to a particular journalists' association”.
This week’s readings have devoted much discussion about media conferences and the factors necessary to set it up.
When and why hold a media conference?
Who and How to invite them?
By including my thoughts on envelope journalism, I hope it would give an added dimension to the discourse.
Some thoughts on Presentation...
The Article from "The student skills guide", discusses 8 oral presentation as part of basic preparation which is applicable for any form of discussion, presentation or debate. Whilst some believe that talking to a large audience hinges upon the characteristic of an individual, I believe presentation skills could be nurtured, not by mere reading of manuals, but through actual practice. I think that this degree course provide an excellent avenue for students to hone their mastery of presentation skills.
Secondly, the Article from “Presentation skills for students, speaking as part of a group”; reveals group dynamics and provides excellent suggestion; from the selection process of group members to handling the complexities of group function. It would prove useful especially to a person undertaking leadership role in a group.
I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were that despite the expanded role of Public Relations and its growing importance, PR practitioners still have to battle the deep rooted negative perceptions of the media. The readings emphasises the need to accommodate the media through understanding its role and workings in society. Personally, I gain a higher level of appreciation in studying Public Relations alongside Journalism. I believe that Journalism and Public Relations can develop from a superficial alliance to one which is based on mutual respect and professionalism.
(796 words)
9 comments:
Excellent entry this week. Well done. Melanie
Jufri I agree your comment on the fact that ‘media assists PR in overcoming media related situations’. At the same time PR also influences media and assists with news stories. If both the PR teams and media have a strong relationship between each other than it will be easy to have the information to flow easily between them. Up to date information will help build a better bridge of knowledge and make their jobs easier while managing a chrisis, a news story or even a national event.
It is rather interesting how you applied what we learnt in journalism to PR by bringing up the idea that "a dose of healthy skepticism" from the journalists would aid in maintaining the close relationship between the media and PR practitioners.
It is indeed thought-provoking to ponder over whether is it PR which has the power over media(journalists) or the other way round.
I think it's great that you made a connection between what you learnt in the Journalism modulke and this week's PR readings. Your points were valid and sound, and the research material that you posted was interesting and insightful.
Great job!
Public Relations practitioners have to be mindful of factors that may determine whether their materials receive the attention of the media.
Yes jufri! I definitely agree with you to a large extent. It is important for the PR practitioners to be 'attention-seekers' for their news materials. In addition, the most important factor will be the credibility, the level of public interest and the importance of the news materials.
If they can manage to achieve these basic pointers, they will be able to capture the basic attention of the media.
Thank You for all the generous comments......
Grace has highlighted an interesting point. Between the Media and PR, Who has power over who?
I believe this line of thought has contributed to an uneasy working relationship between the media and PR practitioners.
In most relationship.. if one party tries to exert too much influence on the other, it would most likely be an unbalanced alliance and hinder a harmonious bond.
As such, it becomes important for both Media and PR professional to recognise that they can complement each other without placing importance on the power status.
Envelop Journalism - This is a asian culture where people expect to be reinbursed or to at least gain some renumeration for their efforts.
This applies more to countries in which journalists are lower paid, and if the government did not crack down hard on corruption.
In many asian countries, it is a widely accepted practice, as even government officials do practice it. In S.E. Asia, it can be observed that in most countries, except singapore, this practice is still much in place and is expected to be adhered to.
Any failure to observe this unspoken practice would result in a lot of red tape, hindrance, causing much difficulty, be it journalistic endeavors, or business transactions.
Dear Lester,
Thank you for your comments
You mentioned that:
"This applies more to countries in which journalists are lower paid, and if the government did not crack down hard on corruption."
Respectfully, I would disagree that envelope journalism is purely the result of low wages and rampant corruption.
In developed nations like Japan and South Korea, it is rooted in culture.
For example, "ch'onji" or 'flattery money' is not seen as bribery. In fact, according to Halvorsen "it is so institutionalized that a reporter being assigned to a desk position in the newsroom receives a salary adjustment to offset his loss of ch'onji".
Imagine that....
One way or another.. I believe Public Relations practitioner should not ignore the cultural dimensions when dealing with the media in different environment.
"Personally I suspect that negative perception persists among the media about the underlying intentions of the Public Relations practitioner... We were constantly reminded not to base our news story on the crafted versions of media releases as they merely reflect “their” agenda."
I agree with your point on journalists having a more negative perception on PR practitioners than the other way round. PR practitioners tend to 'package' their stories for their own benefits.
Also, journalists tend to depend less on PR, say for news information. They can always turn to other sources whereas PR rely heavily on journalists for media coverage.
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