PR driven media content in

online newspapers of the 21stst

centuries. A Romanian view
Mariana Cernicova-Buca,
PhD
PR as source for
journalistic
activities

 All descriptions of journalism as a profession

mention PR products (press releases, conferences,
briefs, alerts, media events) and professionals (PR
officers/communication officers, spokespersons) as
sources of information.
 Love-hate relationship
Research question

 How high is the influence of PR on

journalism?
 Barbara Baerns (1985): 62% cases (Germany) up
to 80% cases (USA) of media content is generated
by press releases
 Institute of Public Relations (2014): top 2 methods
of documentation for journalists: press releases
and email media alerts
 Center for Economic Media Monitoring and
Journalism Practice in Timisoara: since 2004
Method

 Analysis of corpus
 Comparison between PR content
and journalism content
 Investigation regarding the
(journalistic) motives
Data (national)

 Top 9 companies in Romania (OMV, Petrom,

Romgaz, Orange,Vodafone) secure presence in top
6 online journals: 354 news items vs. 175 press
releases (2012)
 76% of the cases the source of documentation (PR
activities) is not mentioned
Data (regional)

Chamber of Commerce in Timisoara: 85% of news

items in local and regional online media generated
by press releases and media kits (2015)
Motivation

 The (generally) positive image of the covered

institutions
 Media partnerships
 The necessity to cover the beat and secure the co-
operation of the institution, for access to further
documentation purposes
 The competition with other media institutions in
putting out a news item with priority.
Consequences

 A lack of differentiation among various sources of information

for the public
 A leveling of media content with the PR content in the online
area
 A loss of interest on the part of media literate public, which
can find alternative sources for information (professional
platforms, independent content etc.)
Implications

For journalism practice:

(re)gaining independence from sources
Establishing whether the surveillance function is
(still) valid
Identifying (new) strategies
For PR:
Refining content-generating strategies
Creating “media-like” products
For research:
Investigating the journalism vs.PR products, practices
and skills
Resources
(selection)
Balaban, Delia (2008), Tendencies in PR and Advertising, Tritonic.
Szambolics, Julia (2014), PR versus journalism. Bilateral influences,
Tritonic.
Kunczik, Michael (2003), Introduction in communication and
journalism, Intergraf.
Eisenmann, Marianne (2015),
An Examination of the Validity, Reliability and Best Practices Related
to the Standards for Traditional Media
, on http://www.instituteforpr.org/examination-validity-reliability-
best-practices-related-standards-traditional-media
Kochhar, Sarab (2014), Top Ten PR Research Insights for 2014 from
IPR Board of Trustees, Institute of Public Relations, on
http://www.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/TopTenBooklet-
Corrected031815.pdf.
Schmidt Eric, Cohen, Jared (2013), The New Digital Age, Vintage.