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Journalism, PR and Promotional Culture

Andreea Cojocaru
21 nov. 2014
2 min de citit

To outline the concept of Public Relations‘ power in modern society and to understand the concept of Promotional Culture, idea analysed by Dr Ayo Oyeleye in Lecture, I read Public Relations (Miller, 2010, pp. 120-139) and Ad Worlds (Myers, 1999, pp. 183-198). To understand this fact, I will be focused on the freedom of this industry and its tactics of persuasion.

According to Miller (2010 pp. 121-122), the development of public relations came along with the modest democratic reforms and as a responds to people’s desire of being in touch with the meaning of media. However, along with this engagement, complains and interdictions came naturally (Myers, 1999, p. 190-191).

In time, PR sector developed more specializations such as lobbying, media relations, public affairs and issues management. People tried to stop their activity by protesting, but their power made them strong enough to resist on the market. [i] There are also three kinds of constraints founded based on the history of regulation, self-regulation and response: laws, voluntary self-regulation and conventions. (Myers, 1999.190) Along with these restrictions, the PR companies had become more and more inventive as they always find a way to promote something in law terms using the human imagination and interpretation[ii].

One of the most used public relations’ tactics can be depicted through the Iraq example: propaganda.[iii] However, over the years, national or local trading standards officers created barriers for PR advertisements that include harmful substances as cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. (Myers, 1999, pp. 183-190)

The chain of Public Relations companies makes them powerful as one big company is substituted by many others small PR companies or websites, yet they are covering a wide media area. (Miller, 2010, pp. 130-132) Public Relations companies are continuously challenging the media justice as they are political active. PR expands their territory in television and they are paying journalists to be their face on air for audience’ beliefs.[iv] Despite this domination, there are a lot of issues that can occur in advertisements sector: ownership, defamation, libel as well as political issues. (Myers, 1999, pp. 196-198)

I do consider that in terms of Promotional Culture the restrictions imposed are for audience’ safety. On one hand, the main goal of PR officers is to promote their client, so I do believe that as long as the persuasion tools frame the normal level of honesty, the ‘manipulation’ is not harmful. On the other hand, the problems of statistics’ accuracy in political sector occur when journalists receive stories and they published them as news without any checking. (Miller, 2010, pp. 125-126)

In regards to a future research, I would undertake ethnographies and rhetorical analysis.

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References:

Long, P. and Wall, T. (2012) Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context, 2n dEdition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Miller, D. (2010) Public Relations in Albertazzi, A. and Cobley, P (ed.) The Media. An Introduction, Essex: Pearson

Myers, G. (1999) Ad Worlds, London: Arnold Publishers

Bibliography:

Long, P. and Wall, T. (2012) Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context, 2n dEdition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Miller, D. (2010) Public Relations in Albertazzi, A. and Cobley, P (ed.) The Media. An Introduction, Essex: Pearson

Myers, G. (1999) Ad Worlds, London: Arnold Publishers

Nixon, S. (2003) Advertising cultures, London: SAGE Publication Ltd.

[i] (Miller, 2010, pp. 122-124)