Journalism- Assessment
There is a complicated relationship between the public relations personnel and journalists. In this essay, I shall be discussing the differences and similarities between the two. Journalists are more concerned with giving information to the people through the media while the public relations personnel are geared towards ensuring good relations between the people and the companies or other sectors. These two professionals seem to have several similarities and differences in the way they communicate to the wider public. The argument in this essay shall be concerned with the common issue between these two professions.
Many studies have noted that journalists have a negative attitude towards public relations personnel according to Denis (2001). Journalism and public relations have got very different roles that are interconnected; the big issue here is whether it is possible to separate the two according to the distinctive roles that they play in trying to deliver information to the public. Though the two are different professionals they share several similar characteristics as will be seen in this essay.
The major role of journalists is to give relevant and true information to society. Hurst et al (1994) noted that journalists are usually concerned with the interests of the public and that they use the media to communicate to the public but for the public relation officers they usually release information to the public when it is very necessary to do so. They usually have to agree with the management of the organization they are working for. The management has control over the information the public relations officer releases to the public while journalists have the freedom to go against their own employers without minding if they will keep their jobs or not.
The major difference between journalists and public relations officers is that journalists are known to work for the general public and are supposed to give information that is true to the public. At the same time, they are expected to give full details without fear minding only about the public’s best interest and not what their employers. On the other hand, public relations officers work for a particular organization and they only work for the interest of this organization without minding the public interest. They work according to their client’s wants and also to meet the client’s goals and objectives. That is why journalist has a negative attitude towards these public relation officers since they seem to be a hindrance to them towards achieving their goal of delivering a quality message to the public.
Martin and Hurge (2000) noted that the journalist serves the interest of the general public as a whole. They ensure that they observe the general norms or behaviors in their practices. To the journalists, the needs of the general public come first even before the needs of their employers. This is because they are expected to be the mouth of peace of the public. This contradicts the work of the public relations people who primarily serve the interest of the organization they serve. They give information that protects their client in whatever way possible. This has even resulted in the officers in this field giving the wrong information only to improve the image of the client since it is their major objective and therefore they have to protect the interest of the client. They value their employers more than the general public in their work.
Whereas journalists aggregate information from different sources and report it the public relations practitioners will always try to explain the already delivered message. A journalist usually goes to the field to collect information and delivers it to the people the way it is. They usually ensure that all the information that is collected is of public interest. The public relations officers are always trying to explain the already delivered information for the interest of their clients. They use other people’s information to clarify matters regarding their clients.
According to Bill and Tom (2001), the public relations office in an organization can be seen as a way of advertising the organization; this is because in many cases public relations management is always painting a good image of the organization to protect this organization in the best way possible. They even go to an extent of giving the wrong information to the public to ensure the organization is painted well. But this is not the case of the journalist they usually ensure they give the required information even if it is going to portray a bad image of the individual, organization, or the government. They aim to deliver information to the general public.
Journalists can analyze the views of the public openly and also interview the public in the open which is not the case of the public relations officers. Journalists allow the public to express their feelings on the issues that are vital to them but the public relations officers will always give the information according to how they feel like and they always limit the information that they realize to people. The public relations officers lead their own way while the journalist let the public lead them in whatever way possible.
The similarity between public relations and journalism is that they are both helps to come up with quality news. Public relations are always trying to come up with good news that is of quality and that maintains all the standards that are required for good news. Journalist sees that the public relation is a good way of delivering news to people, therefore, they have to use their effort to deliver the news in a very effective way.
It should also be noted that the two practices use the same skills in delivering their services. Actually, it has been noted that the majority of the public relations were once a journalist. They use the same skills in areas like writing various articles and also reporting skills. It is, very difficult also to differentiate the two because they use the same skills in delivering their messages. Though the curriculum of these professionals in the colleges is different they share a majority of books and information regarding their practice.
Tiffen and Rodney (1989) indicated that the other common thing about these two practices is that the two share the same information. At times when journalists want to get some information they always rely on the public relations officers to give the information. A good example of this is when this journalist wants some information regarding a certain organization. They can only do so by visiting the public relations office to get this information. On the other hand, the public relations officers may as well check on what the journalists have to offer in terms of the information regarding the organization they are working for. (Scott M. Allen H. Glen M. 1999).
The journalist and the public relations professions have both agreed on the concept of truth regarding the information that they give to the public. Ward and Ian (1995) observed that there is accuracy in the information that is released to the public. They are both for the idea that the public should receive information that is free from mistakes. They have also agreed on other principles like fairness in giving information, exercising human rights, freedom of speech, and the democratic principle of the people. These are the basic principles that the two professionals value when delivering their services to the public.
To conclude it all, there is a relationship between journalism and public relations practice. The two share several similarities in their codes of conduct and other related areas. Their guidelines are almost the same. However, there are a lot of conflicts between these two professionals. Peterson and Mark (2000) observed that journalists are known to underestimate the work done by public relations officers.
They take their work as more efficient and unbiased in terms of all the details that they give. They argue that public relations do not present the perfect picture of the information that they portray to the public. They also consider them as the dependants who only depend on the information that the journalist provides. The public relations officers only comment on information and maintain a positive image of the client.
This is what has led to the differences as argued in the body of this essay. We cannot say that public relations and journalism are the same. There exist several differences. This is why the essay has tried to explain these differences in detail. The public deserves to know what is happening around them and that freedom of speech is also supposed to be exercised by every democratic country. At the same time, organizations need to have spokesmen to protect their own interests to ensure that their businesses are running smoothly. Therefore in either way the two practices are necessary to the public. (Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, 2001).
According to Zawawi and Clara (1994), it is very important to have both journalists and public relations officers ensure that the public is well informed. They also need to observe the norms and ethics that are related to their practice to avoid conflict between them. This is what will bring the two practices together. There is also the need for organizations to defend themselves against malicious journalists who would unfairly misuse their names.
Though there are some differences in the two practices, it is clear that they are interconnected and hence cannot do without each other. Several studies have also been done to try and incorporate the two but little success has been achieved due to the traditional mentality that exists. This is the major cause of the conflict between the two professions. However, whenever there arises a need the two usually come together with a common goal.
Bibliography
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Dennis, A., Michael, M. & Rosemary, O. (2001) “Torrent of text overflows the message bank,” in The Courier-Mail. p8.
Hurst, J., Sally, A. & White, O. (1994) Ethics and the Australian News Media. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia. Web.
Martin, Hugh. (2000) “Bringing governments down: the 1999 Victorian election campaign and the Net.” M/ C Reviews.
Pearson, Mark (2000), “Advertorials and the trade practices act: why the ‘Golden Tonsils’ saga might prove costly in the long run,” in Australian Journalism review 22(1), pp 57-67.
Scott M. Allen H. Glen M. (1999) Effective Public Relations (8th Edition) New York: Prentice Hall.
Tiffen, Rodney (1989) News & Power. Sydney: Allen & Unwin: New York.
Ward, Ian (1995) Politics of the Media. Melbourne: Macmillan.
Zawawi, Clara (1994) “Sources of news: who feeds the watchdogs?” Australian Journalism Review 16(1). pp 67-71.
Kovach, Bill and Tom, Rosenstiel (2001) The Elements of Journalism: What News People Should Know and the Public Should Expect. Three Rivers Press, London.