Contemporary NGO–Journalist Relations: Reviewing and Evaluating an Emergent Area of Research

Long recognized as key players in international politics, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly assume important roles in the provision of news. By hiring photographers, staffing online departments and funding reporting trips, NGOs act in ways that overlap with the actions of professional journalists. This article reviews and evaluates an emerging area of research – the study of NGO–journalist relations – that analyzes these developments. It proceeds in four parts: First, it overviews changes in the NGO and journalism sectors that drive growing scholarly interest in the topic. Second, it summarizes the findings of the available research. Third, it suggests some of the ways in which this research connects with concerns in the sociology of media and communication. Fourth, it evaluates the findings in light of various normative frameworks of public discourse. It concludes by suggesting that NGO–journalism scholarship can benefit from further attention by sociologists working in the areas of media and communication.     

Democracy and government public relations: Expanding the scope of “Relationship” in public relations research

The author argues that the unique nature of the US government poses significant barriers to democratic governmental public relations practiced in and by the US. By exploring challenges in relationship management that surface while analyzing a particular instance of government public relations, the author posits that relationship management research should take into account publics’ (non)desire for a relationship as well as different types of organization–public relationships (OPRs) including government–public relationships. The author analyzes the US Government's official apology, administered by President Clinton, to Tuskegee study survivors, introduces the communicative conception of distance to PR to broaden relationship management frameworks, and argues for broader understanding of what constitutes democratic public relations.     

Interest group tactics and public sector labor relations policy

A framework for analyzing the determinants of state labor relations policies is developed using the notion of tactics. Unions and management have various tactical options, at both the state and local levels, for influencing employment outcomes. The framework explicitly recognizes those options, and thus incorporates actions, such as bringing cases to courts, which have received little attention in previous research. Consideration of local-level tactics reveals additional factors that may influence interest group incentives to seek state-level policy changes. The author thanks Paul Jarley, John Delaney, Jim Bennett, and George Neumann for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. This paper was partially supported by a University of Iowa Old Gold Summer Research Fellowship and a College of Business Administration Summer Research Grant.     

Radical activist tactics: Overturning public relations conceptualizations

Public relations scholars often misinterpret the rationale for radical activist tactics and overlook their advantages. Radical tactics can help activist organizations redefine and embolden members’ identities, give members a sense of meaning, discourage opponents’ supporters, provoke overreactions that generate support, create momentum for moderate activist organizations to ameliorate problems, and redefine the political spectrum so moderate activist organizations’ requests appear more reasonable by comparison. This paper argues that an improved understanding of radical activist organizations’ goals, tactics, and priorities should change the way public relations scholars theorize and evaluate them.     

Institutionalizing government public relations in Romania after 1989

Public relations are a new profession in Romania, an Eastern European former communist country which changed to a democratic regime in December 1989. It is generally considered to have emerged after 1990, although publicity and political propaganda preceded it (Rogojinaru in Sriramesh and Ver?i?, 2009, p. 553). Although the Romanian practice of public relations evolved and developed quickly aligning with the international practice, several campaigns and programs receiving awards during the last editions of IPRA Golden World Awards, SABRE Awards, Cannes Lions Awards or European Excellence Awards, there is still very little focus on research and theory. Thus, there is no major study on the history of public relations in Romania prior to 1989 to either confirm or challenge the conclusion of Grunig, Grunig and Ver?i? (2004) that there was no public relations in Eastern Europe before 1989 because the concept was not acceptable for socialism (p. 137). Even after 1989 while there is a growing body of literature on public relations in general published in Romanian, few studies addressed Romanian public relations which are more frequently described in practice than researched from the viewpoint of public relations theory. This exploratory research aims at identifying the characteristics of government public relations in Romania in 2011, the main stages in institutionalizing government public relations after 1989 and correlates them with the general evolution of public relations in Romania between 1989 and 2011.     

Arby's image repair tactics as a public relations strategy

Arby's, a fast food restaurant, made a marketing appeal based on geography in its “Journey” television campaign, arguing that its meats sliced in its restaurants were fresher than Subway's meats sliced in Iowa. Although the target of the advertisement was Subway, some Iowans felt attacked. Iowans’ reactions and Arby's responses offer an instructive case of image attack and image defense in public relations.     

Social capital,guanxi and political influence in Chinese government relations

Social capital has emerged as a promising theoretical approach to understanding political influence in the public relations literature. However, the rationale of using social capital to influence corporate government relations in authoritarian societies is indistinct. To remedy this, we integrate Bourdieu’s (1986) and Lin’s (2001) social capital theories to explore how applying a variant form of social capital (e.g., guanxi) might shape corporate government relations in authoritarian China. A multi-method, qualitative approach was employed involving 44 interviews, participant observation and document review. The findings highlighted an underexamined “vertical” dimension of social capital (i.e., links with authority in a hierarchy), which enables corporations to exercise agency over the pre-existing and often vague regulatory environment. This study adds a new perspective to social capital with hierarchical guanxi that enriches our understanding of guanxi-based political influence in Chinese corporate government relations.     

Effects of government public relations on international news coverage

Using content analysis of an international newspaper and a government publication, this study examines the influence of newsworthiness and public relations efforts on international news coverage, one of the key sources for understanding other countries. Grounded in gatekeeping theory, this study hypothesizes strong relations between three variables (newsworthiness, public relations involvement, and international news coverage) in the context of several South Korean news stories.     

The President's listening post: Nixon's failed experiment in government public relations

At the beginning of his first term, President Nixon engaged in an experiment to institutionalize and regularize a new channel for citizens to convey their views and ideas to the White House. He called it a President's Listening Post. The first one opened in Philadelphia to much hoopla and hopes in October 1969. Quickly, however, it became clear that the mechanism was not working as hoped. Trying to avoid political embarrassment, it was quietly shut down in early 1971. This article recounts the largely unknown experiment by the Nixon White House in presidential public relations.     

The nature of conflict in firm-client relations: A content analysis of public relations journal 1980–89

Determing the sources of conflict in public relations firm-client relations is the first step toward managing such conflict productively. A content analysis of firm-related articles in Public Relations Journal from 1980–1989 yielded a total of 45 conflict issues. The key issues recurring whether the conflict was attributed to the firm or the client were concerns over knowing each other's businesses, contributing to a consistent communication flow, finances, and “chemistry.”For the most part, conflict issues for public relations firms paralleled those for advertising firms as reported in the advertising agency literature. Exceptions were top ranking public relations firm issues related to research and billing and for clients, prompt payment. Advertising issues not directly found in the public relations literature included defensiveness, blame placing and the number of approval levels.     

Public relations tactics and methods in early 1800s America: An examination of an American anti-slavery movement

Traditional public relations histories begin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This study expands public relations history to the early 1800s by analyzing the use of public relations methods and tactics in an American anti-slavery movement, The American Colonization Society. In focusing on the American Colonization Society and backlash against it from abolitionist groups, this paper finds the use of newspapers to promote a cause, promotion of high profile endorsements, attempts to persuade a key public, creation of publications, efforts to lobby legislatures, and hired agents to found auxiliaries, all beginning in the early 1800s.