Department - Author 1
Journalism Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Journalism
Date
6-2014
Primary Advisor
Patrick Howe
Abstract/Summary
This study, conducted in San Luis Obispo, California, analyzes and investigates the relationship between public relations professionals and journalists, the role of public relations in news and how often content developed by the public relations industry is later portrayed as news.
Public relations-developed content has a growing presence in news. This is due, in part to the fact that more people work in the public relations industry than do in journalism fields. There is also a symbiotic relationship between the two industries, which is confirmed by existing studies and scholarly texts.
An effort was made by the author to track the flow of PR-developed content into news outlets.
Data for the study was conducted on the internet, using the PR Newswire, a Google search and the LexisNexis Academic database. The study tracked how press releases distributed via PR Newswire flowed to newspapers, news sites and other websites.
An analysis of the data revealed that most press releases reappeared labeled as news, and all press releases reappeared elsewhere on the internet.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/joursp/79
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons