Tensions and Shared Interests between Public Relations Practitioners and Journalists

The goal for a good journalist is to be able to report headlining news truthfully. On the other hand the goal of someone in the public relations field is to make someone or something sound as close to perfect as they can, even if that means sometime stretching the truth. In the article "How P.R. is killing journalism and why thats a problem even if you're not a journalist" the author discusses the issue of journalists leaving what they love to switch to public relations. The author states "based on 2013 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by Pew, journalists now earn, on average, just 65 percent of the median income in the PR business". With numbers like that it isn't hard to understand why it is that many journalists are switching careers, even if they do despise the work. After all, money talks.

In an interview with Richard Weiner, “The Practice of Public Relations,” he argues that that the top management of an organization will often contract help from an outside agency. Weiner, chief executive of Richard Weiner, Inc., a major public relations agency in New York city, contends that an outside agency is more likely to be proficient in media relations, and thus, more capable of attempting to achieve significant publicity in major media. Management is more likely to respect, and act on, the advice of an outside counselor as compared to their staff (270, 271).

It's a good time to be a public relations firm. After a lengthy "Muckraking Movement", these companies need to establish a good image in the public mind, before the two failure of news propaganda, provide a good experience for Avi Lee, to avoid a lot of detours. Avi Richts, creative thinking. Avi Lee's idea of public relations is: "the public must be quickly informed" - to tell the truth to the public". He often provides free press bulletin for the newspaper, provides the public with the objective news material, to give up the industry has always been a sacred secret. So that the public and the media, the establishment of trust between enterprises. Again, the reporter's experience. Mr Li himself and his colleagues, most of whom have been diverted

Not only will they be seen as a communication specialist, but a mentor to other employees on current and future organizational demands. With this, relationships are developed within the company, finalizing the PR practitioner’s responsibility in building relationship with the public, stakeholders, and finally the

One of the concerns in public relations industry is many critics argues public relations practitioner (PRP) with all things unethically, acts as a “spin doctor” or “propagandist” to maintain a favorable image of a client and manipulate public (Callison 2011). Yet, PR industry has practiced and established ethics code to regulate all practitioners counsel their clients in ethical direction (Broom 2005, pp. 152). PR pratictioners as a attorney model to clients, must perform professionally with faithful and loyalty behaviour to those represent without reveal the organizations information to the public (Seitel 2004, pp.151-152). PR practioner works with different people, follow ethical to respect free-speech among public and be honest and accurate

The public relations industry is very different from advertising. While advertisers pay for exposure and visual aids, PR specialists use language and conferences to earn the trust of the public. According to the Public Relations Society of America “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” PR specialists are image shapers and storytellers that can be used to enhance, protect, and build reputations through any form of media or self-created production. If the news is bad, they formulate the best response to reduce the damage. Their job is to create positive publicity for their client as well as enhance their reputation.

The perceived ‘cantankerous’ relationship that characterises the exchanges between public relations professionals and media practitioner’s has been rife since the birth of public relations. The pair is, in its simplest term ‘frenemies’, they do work together, albeit covertly, and are usually hesitant to admit (on the media side) their cooperation. However, there is no absolute trust held between the two since there is a shifting power of control and influence that continually changes, which Fletcher (as cited in Hobsbawn, 2010, p. 64) believes is due to the market value of the particular product that public relations is representing. Media practitioners are often called the ‘watchdogs’ of

Even though public relations practitioners have developed a poor reputation in journalistic circles due to the perceived bias for their clients, I believe that there are many good public relations personnel who are able to maintain a symbiotic relationship with media professionals. This is evident through an interview I conducted with the Senior Producer of the TODAY Show, Victoria Owens whose job relies heavily on contact with public relations practitioners her job is deciding which information from these sources to use in the show. Ms Owens shared her own opinions about the nature of her and her colleagues’ relationships with public relations practitioners, which in most cases contributes to the success of the show. Further more … has a

Effective journalism advocates for the reporting events, as they happen to reserve judgment for the audience. Recently, the notion of effective journalism has been a complex concept to implement. The modern journalist has made it his responsibility to manipulate the facts, readers’ emotions and provide the user with the appropriate conclusion to arrive at. According to Paul and Elder (2012), journalism is not all to blame for all of this biased. The society, in particular, has played a large part in the manipulation of facts. The authors argue that journalists have various responsibilities apart from delivering facts (Paul & Elder, 2012). Lots of consideration go into the provision of facts for the masses, for instance, the journalist has to consider protection of the reader, the government’s reaction, stakeholder and the standing point of his or her company.

However, one study conducted in 1989, has revealed the pathetic state of ethics in, and has called into question the credibility, professional integrity and public image of, public relations (229). In the broad field of mass communications, of which public relations practitioners are considered a part, the occupation is viewed with cynicism. For example, an investigation of journalists attitudes toward public relations, conducted in

Journalists are professional people, trying to work within a code of professional ethics. However, journalists cannot operate in a vacuum, doing what they think is right without pressures being put on them. Journalists face pressure from a variety of sources, all trying to make the journalist behave in a way which is not the way the journalist would choose.

Media relations can be defined as one of the most significant areas of the practice of public relations. (Shaw&White, 2004) It enhances the practice of public relations by serving a systematic, strategized and mutually beneficial relationship between journalists and the public relations practitioners to build credibility, understanding and respect between the two parties. (Supa&Zoch, 2009) It is essential to cultivate a positive and healthy relationship between public relations practitioners and journalists because journalists tend to look at public relations practitioners in a negative way where they believe that they spin information to get free publicity which making it difficult for journalists to report legitimate news and at the same time, against the basic rules of news writing. (Fedler and DeLorme, 2002) Another study by Kiranjit and Halimahton (2006) also suggests that public relations practitioners and journalists are very much sceptical about each other’s role and the relationship between two of them is doubtful and uncertain. From the point of view of public relations practitioners, they complaint that journalists do not understand the role of public relations. On the other side, journalists tend to think that public relations

Therefore Bernay gives us three tendencies of fundamental importance’s. Tendency number one, “increase public interest in industrial aggregations” (Bernay, 1923, p. 66). The first tendency basically tells PR practitioners that it is important to keep their clients and public happy. They need to find a way to make themselves stay relevant and keeping up with what the public want. Second tendency “the increased readiness of the public, due to spread of literacy and democratic forms of government” (Bernay, 1923, p. 66). News spread out like wildfires, when a controversy happens within the government or entertainment industry, public relations has to keep up with it and put that fire out, or else people will keep on misunderstanding and demanding information. Lastly tendency three, “keen competition for public favor due to modern methods of ‘selling’” (Bernays, 1923. P 66). The public relations field is as competitive like every other career fields out there. To be a good practitioner you need to have networking and being able to handle any sort situations, that is what will keep you high in the competition.

The public relations tactics in relation to the corporate context will now be examined. Customer relations can be associated with the monitoring of attitudes of key publics and stakeholders especially in regards to any negative incidents that have the potential to effect the organisation’s reputation and consumer trust (Wilcox, 2013, p.312). For Malaysian Airlines, this is evident given the potential for consumer boycotts with the missing aircraft’s (Crossman Communications, 2015, p2). Having over 12, 000 employees, employee relations are important for the organisation. Employee relations consist of monitoring employees’ attitudes and beliefs towards the organisation (Wilcox, 2013, p316) as there is potential for negative word of mouth by employees essentially damaging the company’s reputation. This is evident as according to Malaysian Airlines, they offer a “dynamic exciting environment that nurtures a diverse talented team that work to make great things happen” (2017). Finally, media relations are vital in a corporate context as “negative coverage can cause a corporation’s reputation to plummet” (Wilcox, 2013, p. 310). Having said that, it is important as public relations professionals to establish positive relationships with those who operate in the media industry. Kimberly Blessing argues the two fields (public relations and journalism) have an important working interrelationship with “60% of PR

Only recently being recognized as a discipline in itself, modern day professional public relations practices can trace its roots to the early 1900s where the first public relations firm, the Publicity Bureau, was founded in Boston. In 1923, Austrian-American public relations pioneer, Edward Bernays, identified three fundamental concepts of public relations. In 1984, American theorists, Grunig and Hunt, conceptualized the now-famous four models of public relations and the excellence theory that were generally adopted by public relation agencies across the globe. With so many significant milestones and theories of public relations established in the United States, it stands to reason that public relation practices would naturally adopt a western perspective.