Journalists and PR practitioners have something of a love hate relationship. Many journalists say they regard PR people with suspicion - some would even characterise the relationship as “hate hate”! This attitude has been so prevalent among journalists mainly because :
- Journalists think PR people only provide the “good news”
- PR is perceived to be about manipulation, deception and cover-ups
- Many PR practitioners are ex-journalists - perhaps their former colleagues think they have “sold out”
- Journalists think public relations is out to hijack and subvert their news values
Public Relations and the media can be considered as a case of mutual need. It is perhaps inevitable that the relationship between PR and the media will sometimes be adversarial. However, PR and the media need each other. For instance, PR needs the media as a key channel of communication with a variety of primary target audiences.
The media’s need for PR may seem less obvious but is just as critical:
- The media needs PR as a source of convenient, fast, reliable and accurate information
- Many modern media organisations have limited journalistic resources and simply don’t have the time to research every story or generate every lead
- PR practitioners can facilitate communication between the media and their client or employer organisations
During my internship at Sedeco Ltd, I learnt the importance of being available and maintaining a good relationship with the media. During the coverage of the Job Fair, a journalist from Le Mauricien, a local newspaper in Mauritius, wrote an article on the aim of our participation and what Sedeco was looking for. I provided all relevant information to the reporter and he wrote an objective article on the matter. Therefore, it is important to understand that unlike advertising, publicity and news reporting cannot be controlled by the company. A good relationship based on trust with the media can lead to the success of a company. Do you agree ?
Cheers,
Danitza
4 comments:
Hey Danitza. Thank You for sharing your experience. Yes you are right, the media are the important stakeholders in every company or organization and having a good relationship with them can bring a huge success to the company. The media are the "watch Dogs" of the community or society, hence they are very important.
Even my supervisor, where I was doing my internship at in Botswana is an ex-journalist for the government newspaper and trust me she know all about the media and how to get them, she can even convince them to come and cover our event noticing them in less than an hour and they will come. I bet she was a good journalist, anyway I believe the PR practitioners should spend so much of their time on media relations because it is essential for both parties that good contacts are made and kept.
Public relations and journalism do not inhabit separate worlds; in particular, the relationship between them is not that of sleazy liars seeking to seduce seekers after truth. Truth does not reside on one side only. Standards are not the monopoly of one and unknown to the other. Journalism cannot understand itself unless it understands what public relations has done to it; how murky and grubby the relationship can become, with the connivance of both, and how the relationship might work to the benefit of citizens who should be told something like the truth.
Yes i agree,the most important true here is that the relationship between the journalists and PR practitioners is going to last forever as the journalists needs them to give the accurate information and invite them to events which the journalists will get the story to write about even though sometimes they keep on saying PR practitioners bring stories which are boring to thier target audience but i would like to say information taken from the PR practitioners is the most accurate information given to them.Also the PR practitioners needs to put more innovation and creativity to while crafting the information to be published.
Hi Danitza. I certainly agree that a relationship between Public relations practitioners and journalists is definitly a case of mutual need. I believe that maintaining a strong relationship with both journalists and PR practitioners (as I am studying both journalism and PR) will benefit me in future as a personal network could be important in my success and the success of my future workforce. Journalists will definitly rely on PR officers to give them fast and reliable information. I also agree with Tumelo in that a mutual agreement between PR practitioners and journalists could definitly benefit the puclic in a way that encourages the truth to be told.
Mel
Hi,
I have to say that even if Public Relation practitioners and journalist have a love and hate relationship, at the end of the day they both need each other to fulfill there work. The most important thing is that they practice what is ethical and there are civilize to each other. Even if media is an import stakeholder but in time of a crisis, your victims are the most important. Because if you take care of your victims, the rest will take care of itself. Everywhere you go the media will be there following, so its what you do most important.
Post a Comment