Discussion Paper
Topic: What is the impact of media and social media on the practice of public relations?
Prepared by: Megan McPherson
Due Date: 19 August 2013
Words: 3208
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ...... 3 2 Defining public relations ...... 4 2.1 Understanding drivers ...... 4 2.2 The media as the customer ...... 4 3 Changing requirements for traditional media ...... 6 3.1 Impact on public relations ...... 6 4 New requirements from social media ...... 7 4.1 Blogs ...... 7 4.2 Twitter ...... 8 4.3 Facebook ...... 8 4.4 You Tube ...... 9 5 Conclusion ...... 10 5.1 Traditional media ...... 10 5.2 Social media ...... 10 5.3 Final words ...... 10 6 References ...... 11
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1 Introduction
Both the media and social media impact upon the practice of public relations. If practitioners are to achieve their organisations’ goals and objectives they need to engage with the media as effectively as possible. Because of the symbiotic relationship between public relations and the media, the professions share many of the same opportunities and challenges in the current media environment. Public relations practitioners who can overcome these challenges and embrace thee opportunities will be far more successful when working with the media, and in turn reaching and influencing their targeted publics.
This topic has been chosen for two reasons. Firstly, the media has traditionally had a great impact upon the practice of public relations. Since Ivy Lee produced the first press release1 for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1906 the professionals that have liaised and developed the most effective media relations strategies and tactics have been correlatively successful in influencing their news coverage and influenced their publics. For over a century effective media relations has equated to successful media coverage. Secondly, the media have seldom faced a greater period of change. News delivery mediums have multiplied and the media industry is grappling with how to effectively use new technology to engage with their readers, viewers and listeners. Alongside this, social media is allowing organisations to engage directly with their publics. This paper will explore and outline the impact of the media on public relations that existed for several decades. It will then look at the changing media and social media landscape and how this is, and may in future, impact upon the practice of public relations.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Lee
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2 Defining public relations
To understand the impact of the media on public relations it is necessary to first understand what the public relations role is and how this involves the media. Public Relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and understanding between an organisation and its publics (adopted by the IPR UK in 1987). Mersham, Theunissen & Peart (2009) synthesise several definitions and state the characteristics of public relations as dynamic, analytical, planned and managed, action orientated, demanding adjustment and requiring evaluation.
Of course there are facets to public relations, including publications management, internal communications and activities that may not involve media relations. However, working with the media is fundamental to establishing and maintaining goodwill and understanding with an organisation’s publics. The key concepts of planned and sustained efforts in the above definition are crucial for effective media relations. Cornelissen (2011) outlined that media relations involves managing communications and relationships with the media; all the writers, editors and producers who contribute to what appears in print, broadcast and online newsroom media.
2.1 Understanding drivers Media relations is largely about relationship management with journalists from all areas of the media. Central to this relationship is trust and understanding of the values both professions usually value. Howard & Matthews (2006) state that as journalists build a working history with a practitioner, they often develop a sense of trust. They recognise that the practitioner is not going to feed them one-sided stories – at least in part because of the harm that can cause toward the practitioner’s professional reputation. Therefore, if a public relationship practitioner is to be effective they need to build a history of trust and understanding with the media. To public relations the impact of this is the skills required of practitioners and the practice of conventions and values held dear by the media. To practice media relations effectively a practitioner must learn to think like a journalist. This means developing a news sense, and adopting the conventions of news narrative (Philip Young, in Theaker, 2012). Information provided by practitioners to journalists should be accurate, balanced, pertinent and timely.
It is fundamental that practitioners knows what news is; it is disturbing that some public relations people do not understand the news requirements of journalists and editors. For example, a print media journalist voiced his frustration at “marketing” parading as news: “It has always really irked me when PR people send me advertising dressed up as news. It’s a waste of my time. I’m short-staff and I’ve got a paper to put out. They need to talk to the advertising department, not me! I’ve always kept a wee black list of these people I don’t want my reporters dealing with them.” (anon, May 2013)
2.2 The media as the customer A public relations practitioner should know the news agenda of the day before engaging with the media. Ignorance of this dynamic agenda can only lead to failure; working with the agenda is likely to be effective. For example, it would be close to pointless to release a story on a major medical discovery on the same day Michael Jackson dies. It would, however, be good practice to issue an advisory inviting journalists to interview available music commentators about the influence Jackson had on pop music and popular culture. A practitioner also needs to know and deliver the requirement of each individual journalist as the needs of visual, audio and print media are different. They require access to spokespeople and background information but their needs differ for story production. As an example, if a university is inviting journalists to cover a dental research story, then practitioners should provide:
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a visual set-up (including cut-aways for TV), audio back ground (such as the sound of a dental drill), for radio, photo opportunities for print media.
One clear impact of media on public relations is timing. Media deadlines are also public relations deadlines, and practitioners need to work the same hours as reporters. They also need to appreciate the challenges journalists face because of the need to produce news during irregular hours. For example, an effective public relations practitioner will go out of their way on a Sunday afternoon to provide background and find a spokesperson for reporter or producer who is covering an issue for Monday morning’s news. Public relations practitioners should be a resource for the media. Daily practice in any public relations department should include the development of story ideas with journalists, offering the right experts for interviews and pertinent background research.
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3 Changing requirements for traditional media
The delivery and consumption of news is dramatically changing. A few years ago news consumers were content to check the news once or twice a day. Now they can receive their news at any time, and almost anywhere. The growth of personal mobile digital devices means the platforms for news delivery have multiplied. For example, IDC report2 that 13% of New Zealand households had a smartphone in 2011. In 2012, this figure had leapt to 44%. The desire for instant 24/7 visual news has changed the way news is gathered, reported and consumed. This has considerably changed the manner, and speed with which journalists operate. Journalists now have less time but more ways to deliver news. On top of their traditional print, audio and video reportage new media and convergence of technology now mean they are now required to produce on-line blogs (sometimes including live blogs), tweets, audio and video-logs, and columns. Vernon Small, Fairfax political editor (2013) described how these changes affect the daily practice of a journalist. “There really are no deadlines anymore, it’s pretty much constant. We’re more time pressured because we have multiple deadlines for multiple platforms. So I have to write for many different formats with not much time. This means we don’t have time to go into great depth and only if there’s time left after all the stories have been filed can I go back and see if I’ve missed anything.”
3.1 Impact on public relations For public relations practice this means journalists require almost constant and immediate access to information and spokespeople and the importance of accuracy, timeliness and good service is augmented. This necessitates self-contained media releases with complete and clear information and out of hours contact information, as journalists often do not have time to check or gather additional information. As the needs of the media change organisations are moving towards on-line newsrooms with searchable expertise databases, access to photos of spokespeople and video content available to both journalists and directly to the public. A recent New Zealand example of an on-line news room at work Benji Marshall’s announcement of his switch to rugby at the Auckland Blues via a video3 news announcement launched on the Blues web site (10 August, 2013). The video was tweeted to Blues subscribers who were directed to the franchise’s You Tube channel which houses the video announcement. In New Zealand the likelihood of APN and Fairfax pay-walls will conceivably require public relations practitioners to produce video news content for on-line news sites. One senior news practitioner (anon 2013) predicts that if consumers are soon to be required to pay for The Herald and Stuff on-line after years of free access, they will demand superior and constantly updated digital content. When asked if on-line news providers would accept public relations practitioners delivered video content to newsrooms, he indicated: “The demand for video is obvious as while Fairfax is seriously cutting print reporters its hiring more videographers. I think if an outside organisation provided us with good video and even infographics we would probably use them. We would take good content from where we can get it. We don’t have the luxury to be fussy any longer.”
2 http://www.cio.co.nz/article/467085/nz_smartphone_ownership_up_44_percent_households 3 http://www.theblues.co.nz/News/2013-8-10/Benji-Marshall-interview-1-of-3.aspx
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4 New requirements from social media
Social media looms large in the changing landscape of news delivery. Social media are any tool or service that uses the internet to facilitate conversations. Since 2005, Wright and Hinson have looked at the use of new and social media in annual studies. Their findings show dramatic changes in the field of public relations in that the changing technology has empowered public relations practitioners to strategically communicate with their publics. The importance of social media to the field of public relations should not be underestimated, and is essential for the operations of any modern organisation. Embracing social media is no longer optional in a business strategy. Instead, it should be viewed as both a necessity and a huge opportunity (Argenti, 2011). For an organisation to move toward engaging with its publics through social media it requires a shift along a continuum. The continuum extends from total control of one-way messages at one end, progresses through partial control via credible media, and finishes with almost no control of what individuals or organisations say about you. However, as an organisation relinquishes control, there is a reciprocal invitation for others to engage (Mersham, Theunissen & Peart 2009). Duhe (2007) envisages this online environment as a ‘conduit for transparency and complexity,’ one that necessitates a flexibility of response that she thinks will resonate with practitioners. Clearly a move along this continuum requires a buy-in from senior management, with concomitant resources and a change in public relations practice. While there is a factual basis for the move, for some executive management it will require a leap of faith to accommodate blogs, Twitter, Facebook and You Tube in the public relations strategy. Theaker and Yaxley (2012) note that those who equate management with control are likely to perceive recent changes as a threat to public relations, rather than an opportunity for public relations. Social networks like WordPress, Twitter, Facebook and You Tube provide dynamic, two-way platforms for organisations to communicate and engage directly, without the intermediation of the traditional media. Social media enables a power shift from traditional news editors defining an agenda to organisations defining their own agenda and becoming news creators. It allows for regular and meaningful interaction with opinion formers and interest groups (Nowicka in Waddington 2012).
4.1 Blogs Blogs have become one of the premier online social networks of today, surpassing all digital technologies of the past (Duhé, 2007). In 2005, Messner noted that it is not solely the traditional media that determines, or gatekeeps which news is allowed to reach the public. This democratisation of the media has seen bloggers influence on publics increase and boundaries between traditional journalists and bloggers as news providers is becoming blurred. In New Zealand bloggers and citizen journalists – such as Cameron Slater (whale oil4) or David Farrar (kiwi blog5) are arguably as powerful as some senior reporters. On July 4th, Slater broke a story about the Labour Party’s proposed support for female-only candidate lists, and coined the “Man Ban” term that was widely referenced by other media. Niche trade bloggers can be influential in their chosen sectors. For example, Dave Guerin6 produces EdBlog. This is influential in the tertiary educations sector and has arguably filled the gap left in the media when the weekly Education Review trade publications ceased production.
4 http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/about/ 5 http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/ 6 http://www.ed.co.nz/about-ed-blog/
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The impact of the rise of blogs for public relations practice is that media relations should also be “blogger relations”. Influential bloggers should be paid the same attention as other media representatives for both proactive and reactive situations. Organisations can also support their own bloggers to become influential in the media sphere. This support can take many forms. For example, bloggers may require training in writing composition or in legal aspects of publishing. Other support may be financial or organisational, for example, paying for travel costs or ring- fencing time within an existing role.
The University of Otago supports Dr Bryce Edwards, who blogs for the New Zealand Herald and the National Business Review on political and media issues. Over the last four years, Dr Edward’s blog in the Herald has been instrumental in building a wider media profile for both himself as an individual and the University as an organisation. It is doubtful that traditional media relations could have produced this outcome without substantially more effort and resource. Journalists will no longer passively receive news releases and media pitches from public practitioners wanting to garner publicity for their organization. Instead, journalists are likely to meet their own needs by seeking practitioners’ assistance through social media outlets. This means organisations need to push their information out through social media networks. Media releases should be tweeted and all publicly available information should be searchable on-line.
4.2 Twitter Twitter (micro-blogging), has become an unavoidable communications tool, and there is almost no area of public life or business where Twitter has not had an influence (Lacey, in Waddington 2012). Two examples illustrate this influence. Earlier this year, in response to the SuperBowl power outage, Oreo created an “instant” ad campaign that was pushed through Twitter, with high uptake and to much acclaim. On the negative side, the Associated Press Twitter account was hacked on 23rd April this year. A tweet asserted that two bombs had exploded at the White House and that President Obama had been injured. Automated share trading programs are believed have correlated and acted on these terms, leading to an almost instantaneous 120 point drop in the Dow Jones index – this from a single tweet that had no corroborating reports in any other media. The real-time nature of Twitter has had a profound effect on journalism, and according to Lacey (2012) some journalist no longer bother to check the news wires, but use Twitter instead. This trend has had an impact upon how public relations practitioners engage with journalists to release news, or pitch stories. It has sometimes been used to break the news directly to the public. The first news of Whitney Houston’s death was tweeted 30 minutes before it made the media. There is little doubt that Twitter should be integrated into public relations programmes, as a means to communicate with both journalists and to interested publics who have joined organisations Twitter accounts.
4.3 Facebook Facebook is a means to share more detailed information instantly with interested publics. Its benefits to public relations are the ability to post instant status updates and images, along with links to You Tube publicity collateral. Facebook is regarded as the ultimate two-way communications tool, and public relations practitioners will require a content management plan, including moderation resources and the ability to knowledgeably interact with Facebook friends. As with all two-way communications channels, it also offers the ability to monitor and measure the sentiment of those who express positive, neutral and negative views on Facebook pages.
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4.4 You Tube You Tube is a valuable place to house video content because it is searchable and accessible to all and has the ability for two-way communications as viewers can leave messages. In some contexts, You Tube has becomes public relations practitioners’ free TV broadcast station. The University of Otago posted its new commercial7 on You Tube on July 14, 2013. Within 3 weeks it had 85,000 views which were supported by positive messages or third party endorsements left by dozens of viewers. And as previously mentioned, You Tube was integral to the Blue’s announcement that Benji Marsh has signed to the team.
7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdwRpWPjneI
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5 Conclusion
For several decades, media practice and conventions have impacted upon public relations practice. The dynamic between the two was generally well understood and balanced.
5.1 Traditional media and emerging changes impact Traditionally, working successfully with journalists has required trusting and beneficial relationships founded on:
a clear understanding of what news is and the current news agenda of each media outlet
a clear understanding of the different needs of each journalist, producer and editor
being prepared to accommodate irregular hours of work These tenants will remain important in relations with media, but the changed relationship adds new requirements. For example, increased time-pressure on news rooms can be acknowledged by packaging more complete information for reporters, including access to spokespeople and digital resources such as images and video. This may require up-rated capabilities in creating digital content, ranging from provision of imagery and graphic design through to production of video news content that can be used by media organisations.
5.2 Social media impact Social media is disruptive technology, and relationships with traditional media are changing and a new balance is being sought. While this rebalance retains much of the previous character, social media requires public relations to add additional skills and practices to adapt to the changed news landscape. Media relations should accommodate engaging with influential bloggers and supporting bloggers from within organisations. Internal policies, education and controls should be provided as appropriate. A strategic architecture for social media should include methods to engage with journalists and directly with the public. This will include the tactical use of Twitter, Facebook and You Tube Additionally, the benefits of building virtual communities through social media such as Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and blogging need to be clearly understood (Theaker & Yaxley, 2012). The importance of adapting to the new media environment if organisations seek to prosper with their media relations efforts is clear. Failing to adapt can result in organisations and practitioners being labelled outdated and irrelevant.
5.3 Final words Success in adapting to the impacts of the changing media environment can translate into a sustainable competitive advantage for organisations; conversely, failure to do so will result in diminished capability of the public relations function. The challenge for public relations practice is to successfully use limited resources to meet the traditional media channels while harnessing the opportunities and mitigating the threats that the social media brings. The reward for practitioners who execute this competently is continued, and likely, increased, successful engagement with their publics.
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6 References
1. Anon. Anonymous senior news journalist and editor with 20 years’ experience in print journalism with APN and Fairfax in New Zealand. Dunedin, May 2013. 2. Argenti, Paul. (2011). Digital strategies for powerful corporate communications. Retrieved on July 31, 2013, from http://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/?p=2581 3. Cornelissen, Joep. (2011) Corporate Communications. A Guide to Theory and Practice, (3rd Edition) , SAGE Publications Ltd, London. 4. DiStaso, Marcia W., McCorkindale, Tina & Wright, Donald K. (2011). How public relations executives perceive and measure the impact of social media in their organizations. Public Relations Review, 37(3), 325-328. 5. Duhé, Sandra. (Ed). (2007). New media and public relations. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. 6. Howard, C. M., & Mathews, W. K. (2006). On deadline: Managing media relations. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
7. Mersham, Gary & Theunissen, Petra & Peart, Joseph. (2009) Public relations and communication management : an Aotearoa/New Zealand perspective. Pearson. 8. Messner, M. (2005). Open gates everywhere. How Web logs open opportunities for public relations practitioners. International Public Relations Research Conference proceedings, March 10-13, 2005. Miami: Institute of Public Relations. 9. Small, Vernon, Political Editor, Fairfax, Interview July 23, 2013 10. Theaker, Alison. (2012)The Public Relations Handbook.(4th Edition), Routledge. 11. Theaker, Alison & Yaxley, Heather (2012), The Public Relations Strategic Toolkit: An Essential Guide to Successful PR. Taylor and Francis, Hoboken. 12. Waddington, Stephen (Editor) (2012). Share This- The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals CIPR. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, UK. 13. Waters, R.D; Tindall, T.J & Morton, T.S. Journal of Public Relations Research, 22(3):241–264, 2010. Media Catching and the Journalist– Public Relations 14. Wright, Donald K & Hinson, Michelle D (2009). An Analysis of the Increasing Impact of Social and Other New Media on Public Relations Practice. Paper Presented to 12th Annual International Public Relations Research Conference, March 14, 2009, Miami, Florida
Acknowledgment Thank-you to APR mentor, Diana Wolken, Communications Manager, Parliamentary Services for her advice and for the introduction to Vernon Small.
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