Week 6 - Media Relations

Media relations and publicity are an important function in public relations, as can be seen by the interchangeability of the terms when discussing the profession. However, media relations encompass a far wider range of activities than that usually associated with a publicist. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings are that media relations require an in-depth understanding of the organisational structure of the media newsroom, as well as a good grasp of the various tools available in targeting a specific audience.

I think it is important to have an idea of the newsroom hierarchy, so as to know who to approach and develop professional working relationships with. As such, a public relations practitioner should strive towards being on cordial terms with roundspeople and the chief of staff, as these will be the people whom one would interact with on a frequent basis. By forging good working relationships with journalists, one can minimise the likelihood of your organisation being portrayed in an excessively negative light in the media. In addition, it is also essential that a public relations practitioner be able to select the appropriate media for a specific public. This will also entail research into the demographic make-up of an audience, so as to tailor-fit the intended message for them. Media tools such as media releases, advertisements, media kits and feature articles may be used to reach out to as wide an audience as possible. One interesting development would be the increasing trend of harnessing the power of the Internet to create weblogs or profiles of the company, which can be accessed by an increasingly wide group of computer-literate consumers.

The readings also made me think more about public relations theory and practice, in that the media and public relations are really two sides of the same coin. They have a mutually beneficial relationship. Both professions strive towards a common goal: that of communicating with their publics. Researchers such as Glen T. Cameron and Jae-Hwa Shin (2005) have surmised that they do indeed have a complementary relationship, despite perceived differences and conflicts. It is my opinion that a good working relationship between the two is in the best interests of both. I quantify that by adding that this does not imply collusion; there is still room for ethical working practices within this strategic framework of cooperation. Journalists need not copy, word for word, everything a media release might include, but they will benefit from the savings in time and information gathering costs by going straight to the source. This is particularly relevant, I feel, in the case of medical journalism, where journalists would have to rely on media releases by drug companies and researchers on the latest developments in health technology. Public relations practitioners, on the other hand, benefit from having a reporter to relate their message to their publics, as well as to monitor public opinion and trends. It would do well for any public relations practitioner, then, to nurture good working relationships with the media, as collaboration will be a key to dissemminating messages to their target audience.