The Difficult Relationship between Public Relations and the News Agency Business: Selected Results of a Qualitative Interview Study among News Agencies and different News Media
Holger Sievert, Florian Meißner
Macromedia University, Germany
Even at the internet and social media age, companies and organisations continue to publish press releases or maintain contact and exchange with editorial offices of various media in other ways. For particularly important topics, contact is also sought with news agencies, which, however, often seem to be particularly reluctant to publish PR-related content. However, the number of editorial offices e. g. at newspapers continues to decrease due to economic and other social developments, so that currently the importance of news agencies might continue to increase overall in many countries. This paper will also elaborate on these aspects.
The study offered here in the form of a short paper for this conference interviewed employees of various functional areas at agencies and newsrooms of various media in autumn 2022 in the comprehensive and broad form of qualitative interviews. The results provide interesting new insights into the work of agencies and editorial offices, but also directly and indirectly into the role of press releases as a source of information and the future challenges for PR professionals. The study structure for the last aspect will be presented here, but the in-depth analysis is still pending, but to be provided for the conference itself or a full paper a bit before.
Behind The Scenes Of CEO Activism: Perspectives From Communication Practitioners
Vanja Bojanic
University of Vienna, Austria
Purpose – Today’s chief information officers (CEOs) have become quite outspoken on social, political, or environmental issues. This practice of so-called CEO activism creates entirely new challenges for public relations (PR). The present research attempts to clarify the contribution of communication practitioners to this new phenomenon. Understanding their views will help comprehend the decision-making power of practitioners in CEO activism. Ultimately, this will shed light on the extent to which CEO activism is strategically planned or plannable at all.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on public relations and CEO communication literature, 20 semi-structured-qualitative interviews are conducted among practitioners from corporate organizations and PR consultancies who are working or who have worked with a CEO who actively took part in public discussions.
Findings – As the research is still ongoing, there are no final findings yet. In the end, however, this research seeks to provide a comprehensive typology of the different ways in which practitioners contribute to CEO activism.
Practical implications – The insights gained from this paper may help practitioners reflect on their own impact when working with activist CEOs and to know when, what, and how to communicate.
Originality/value – The research helps to further the understanding of CEO activism from a communication science perspective.
Keywords CEO activism, CEO communication
Reflexivity on Action: Developing the Internal Roles and Practices of Communication Practitioners
Rickard Andersson, Mats Heide, Charlotte Simonsson
Lund University, Sweden
Purpose: The stronger priority and changing conditions of internal communications bring possibilities and challenges for the roles and practices of communication practitioners. If internal communication is to be further developed and create strategic value for the organization, communication practitioners must find a new balance between producing, supporting, and developing communication. This paper aims to deepen the knowledge of communications practitioners’ internal roles and practices – primarily those linked to the strategic development of the organization’s communication.
Methodology: A qualitative study with a mix of individual and focus group interviews with 81 persons in four different public sector organizations based on social constructionist epistemology.
Findings: Communication practitioners need help articulating the competencies needed for a strategic internal communication role. By being reflexive and discussing in focus group interviews, we discerned taken-for-granted competencies that differ from the more basic production skills, top-of-mind competencies, that they initially presented. Our analysis shows that there is a need to examine and gain a deeper understanding of the internal strategic communication role. The analysis shows that at least three different roles can be identified: the strategic executor, the business partner, and the communication developer.
Originality/value: This research shows obstacles, such as taken-for-granted competencies and barriers to strategic roles, that are important to embrace if practitioners shall increase the occupation’s professionalization.
Keywords: internal communication, reflexivity, communication practitioner roles, professionalization, competencies, social constructionism
Paper type: research
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