Week 1- Media relations

This week we explored the role of the media and the tension between journalism and public relations. The key reading ‘News journalism and public relations: A dangerous relationship’ discusses the tension created as PR-isation has influenced the decline in journalism. PR-isation is where articles contain PR-biased material and are published without sourcing or fact checking.

I recognise that the power in the media industry is shifting from journalism to PR due to employment patterns. The decline in news gathering organisations/ reporters acquires more pressure for journalists to create up to “three times as much copy”. Moloney, Jackson and McQueen suggest that consequently, journalistic practices “have been compromised” (Moloney., et al 2013: 266). This includes the two main virtues: accuracy and sincerity. I can infer this is a result of the PR industry now being in a significant position to exploit and take advantage of journalists using ‘churnalism’. Davies’ view corresponds as he states that PR is a significant source for stories. An issue with this is that the public can no longer trust the news that is being produced. This challenges existing journalism to produce news that preserves a crucial distance from its sources. In relation to political economy, this is because those with the most money and power have more control and greater access to communicating their views through these stories.

Contrastingly, the two texts debate whether the two professions can comfortably coexist or not. The key reading discusses reasons why journalism and PR are irreconcilable, suggesting that integrating the two would result in an unhealthy democracy. The authors believe that journalists should be responsible of checking their own facts and seeking their own sources to maintain their virtues. However, my found reading corroborates the similarities between the two professions. Davies states that “trust and truth are irrelevant for ‘soft’ journalism and PR” (Davies., 2008: 5). This allows me to view the agendas of the two professions from a new perspective whilst still appreciating the traditional qualities. Tensions occur between PR and journalism because they want conflicting outcomes and have varying responsibilities to the public.

Personally, I think it’ll be interesting to explore the political economy amid significant journalist platforms. I would like to understand whether PR does covertly impact the news stories which big organisations have control over. An audience ____ would help me to recognise the way in which they use media to communicate their views and the way it is decoded by the consumers.