Journalism and PR:
Image Source: http://kylajanebanks.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/pr-and-journalism-friends-with-benefits.html
PR practitioners and journalists seem to
have a love hate relationship. Described by scholars as a ‘tug of war’, or a
‘parent-child like relationship’, media scholars have long studied and tried to
understand the way in which these two separate industries work together. In
today’s modern news landscape, research outlined by Jane Johnston shows that a
lot of our news comes from PR, be it media releases, press conferences, even
tip offs. A study conducted by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism
along with news media website www.crikey.com (source: Journalism research and
investigation in a digital world) found that nearly 55% of news stories were
driven by some form of public relations.
As journalists, or future journalists so to
speak, we can establish that balance, the right to know, and reporting
objectively are our main goals (unless you’re Rupert Murdoch). But for PR, all
communication is strategic, designed to influence opinion, and make clear a
certain point of view. Differing motivations is one aspect that can cause
conflict between PR practitioners and journalists. The idea is not that all PR
people are shady, untrustworthy spin-doctors. Most perform their job in an
ethical manner. But journalists have to be aware that sometimes, the
information we get from PR is worth a second look before we send it off to
print (but shouldn’t we know this by now!).
For instance, astroturfing is one maneuver
that falls under the unethical PR category. It generally involves faking public
support at the grass roots level, hence the witty name.
Take tech giant and Apple rival Samsung.
According to engadget.com, this company was fined nearly $340 000 Australian
dollars by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission for faking online comments in an attempt
to market their already successful smart phone the Samsung Galaxy. Even though
it’s only loose change for a billion dollar company such as Samsung, it goes to
show that there are indeed consequences for unethical PR tactics. It begs the
question, if the product is already successful, why fake online comments to
make it look as if the public are digging the latest Galaxy? Sick of always
coming in second best? Inferior to the iPhone perhaps? They do say jealousy is
a curse...
With that aside, it brings to light the
importance of always double checking PR and keeping in mind the motivations of
some practitioners. In this 24 hour news cycle we exist in where time is a
factor, we can be guilty of not fact checking and hastily publishing. But with
that being said, some PR can make for great news stories, so it is important to
judge individually and not generalize patterns of behavior.
So not all PR is dark and covert. It would
probably be more appropriate to say that most PR is ethical. It’s important to
build relationships with public relations practitioners and forge a little bit
of trust. As journalists, it can be more beneficial to attempt to work with PR
practitioners rather than against them.
You raise some important points Emily, and I really like your example of Samsung's sneaky ploy to generate more interest and praise towards their product. Ultimately it shows that PR practitioners do strive to satisfy the best interests of the specific company they work for, in comparison to journalists aiming for what is best for the public in general. However I agree that there does need to be some common ground between the two rather then a battle field, they are inevitably linked.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jess, I would agree that's one of the main differences between journalists and PR practitioners. But I guess you are right in saying for there to be any success on either's behalf they need to work together and not against each other. Journalist's just need to be wary that PR has those different intentions. They are to influence rather than inform would be appropriate to say.
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