Research Article
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Representation of “Public Relations” in the Newspapers: An Analysis on the New York Times and the Guardian

Year 2023, Issue: 61, 134 - 152, 29.03.2023
https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1170879

Abstract

Public relations is considered synonymous with concepts such as "perception management", "spin doctor", "opinion engineering". There is a negative perception towards the field. The field of public relations is criticized as a field that distorts and changes reality and turns it in favor of the people and institutions it serves. One reason for negative attitudes towards the field is the representation of public relations in the media. In this study, it is aimed to examine the representations of public relations in the newspapers of two different countries, New York Times and The Guardian. In the research, the news in these newspapers which contains the word "public relations" were analyzed using mixed methodology. First of all, categories were determined for content analysis to analyze the context of public realtions and emotion (positive, neutral, negative) towards the field. Then, with the text mining, the concepts used together with "public relations" and the most used words in the news containing public relations were examined. As a result of the research, it was seen that public relations were mostly included in the categories of "public relations professional", "public relations versus reality" and "public relations as a negative concept", and a negative feeling about public relations was created in almost half of the news. It has been revealed that there is a difference between the two newspapers in terms of representation.

References

  • Ames, C. (2010). PR goes to the movies: The image of public relations improves from 1996 to 2008. Public Relations Review, 36(2), 164-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.08.016
  • Bishop, R. L. (1988). What newspapers say about public relations. Public Relations Review, 14(2), 50-52.
  • Brody, E. W. (1992). We must act now to redeem PR's reputation. Public Relations Quarterly, 37(3), 44.
  • Bowen, S. A. (2009). All glamour, no substance? How public relations majors and potential majors in an exemplar program view the industry and function. Public Relations Review, 35(4), 402-410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.05.018
  • Callison, C. (2001). Do PR practitioners have a PR problem?: The effect of associating a source with public relations and client-negative news on audience perception of credibility. Journal of Public Relations Research, 13(3), 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1303_2
  • Callison, C. (2004). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Perceptions of public relations practitioners. Journal of Public Relations Research, 16(4), 371-389. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1604_3
  • Callison, C., Merle, P. F., & Seltzer, T. (2014). Smart friendly liars: Public perception of public relations practitioners over time. Public Relations Review, 40(5), 829-831.
  • Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2014). It's not just PR: Public relations in society. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Cutlip, S.M., Center, A.M. and Broom, G.M. (2000). Effective Public Relations. 8th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
  • Değirmen, G. C., & YALÇIN, Ö. (2020). Halkla İlişkiler ve Etik: 2000 Yılı Sonrası Filmlerde Halkla İlişkiler Mesleği Temsilinin Etik Kodlar Bağlamında İncelenmesi. Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 15(2), 519-542.
  • Gürkan, H. (2012). Halkla ilişkiler sektörünün sinemada temsili:“Again you?”,“Sex and the City” ve “Thank you for smoking” filmlerinde halkla ilişkiler mesleği ve halkla ilişkiler uzmanının temsili. Gümüşhane Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi, 1(3), 135-158.
  • Harlow, R. F. (1976). Building a public relations definition. Public Relations Review, 2(4), 34-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(76)80022-7
  • Henderson, J. K. (1998). Negative connotations in the use of the term “public relations” in the print media. Public Relations Review, 24(1), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(98)80019-2
  • Hutton, J. G. (1999). The definition, dimensions, and domain of public relations. Public Relations Review, 25(2), 199-214.
  • Jo, S. (2003). The portrayal of public relations in the news media. Mass Communication and Society, 6(4), 397-411. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0604_4
  • Keenan, K. L. (1996). Network television news coverage of public relations: An exploratory census of content. Public Relations Review, 22(3), 215-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(96)90046-6
  • Kinsky, E., & Callison, C. (2009). PR in the news: How a sample of network newscasts framed public relations. Public Relations Journal, 3(1), 1-17.
  • Lee, M. (2001). The image of the government flack: Movie depictions of public relations in public administration. Public Relations Review, 27(3), 297-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(01)00088-1
  • L'Etang, J. (2013). Public relations: A discipline in transformation. Sociology Compass, 7(10), 799-817. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12072
  • Miller, K. S. (1999). Public relations in film and fiction: 1930 to 1995. Journal of Public Relations Research, 11(1), 3-28. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1101_01
  • Orange Data Mining. (2022). https://orangedatamining.com/.
  • Özgen, E., & Bayraktar, N. (2014). Spin Doctor kavramının tehdidi altında halkla ilişkiler. Marmara İletişim Dergisi, (21), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.17829/midr.20142110296
  • Park, J. (2001). Images of “Hong Bo (public relations)” and PR in Korean newspapers. Public Relations Review, 27(4), 403-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(01)00097-2
  • Penning, T. (2008). First impressions: US media portrayals of public relations in the 1920s. Journal of Communication Management. 12(4), 344-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540810919800
  • PRSA. (1999, June). National Credibility Index: New Survey Measures Who The Public Believes On Major Issues. https://apps.prsa.org/SearchResults/view/2D-0007/0/National_Credibility_Index_New_Survey_Measures_Who#.YxPSHnZBxPZ.
  • PRSA. (2012, April 11). Public Relations Defined: A Modern Definition For The New Era Of Public Relations. http://prdefinition.prsa.org/index.php/2012/04/11/the-modern-definition-of-public-relations/
  • Sallot, L. M. (2002). What the public thinks about public relations: An impression management experiment. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 79(1), 150-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900111
  • Scrimger, J., & Richards, T. (2003). Public relations battles and wars: Journalistic clichés and the potential for conflict resolution. Public Relations Review, 29(4), 485-492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2003.08.009
  • Sparks, S. D. (1993). Public relations: Is it dangerous to use the term? Public Relations Quarterly, 38(3), 27.
  • Spicer, C. H. (1993). Images of public relations in the print media. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 5(1), 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr0501_03
  • Tavcar, L. (1993). Public relations on the screen: 17 films to see. Public Relations Quarterly, 38(3), 21.
  • Thomas, H. (2002), "Ethics and PR", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 308-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540210807134
  • Tsetsura, K., Bentley, J., & Newcomb, T. (2015). Idealistic and conflicted: New portrayals of public relations practitioners in film. Public Relations Review, 41(5), 652-661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.02.018
  • Web Rankings. (2019). Top 200 Newspapers in the world. https://www.4imn.com/top200/
  • White, C., & Park, J. (2010). Public perceptions of public relations. Public Relations Review, 36(4), 319-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.09.002

Halkla İlişkilerin Gazetelerdeki Temsili: The New York Times ve The Guardian Gazeteleri Üzerine İnceleme

Year 2023, Issue: 61, 134 - 152, 29.03.2023
https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1170879

Abstract

Halkla ilişkiler “algı yönetimi”, “spin doctor”, “zihin yönlendiriciliği”, “kanaat imalatçılığı” gibi kavramlarla eş olarak ele alınmakta, alana yönelik olumsuz bir algı bulunmaktadır. Halkla ilişkiler alanı gerçeği çarpıtan, değiştiren ve kendi çalıştığı kişi ve kurumların lehine döndüren bir alan olmakla eleştirilmektedir. Alana yönelik olumsuz tutumların bir nedeni halkla ilişkilerin medyada temsilidir. Bu çalışmada halkla ilişkilerin iki farklı ülke gazetesi olan New York Times ve The Guardian gazetelerindeki temsillerinin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Araştırmada bu gazetelerde yer alan ve içinde “halkla ilişkiler” sözcüğü geçen haberler karma yöntem kullanılarak incelenmiştir. Öncelikle içerik analizi yöntemiyle kategoriler belirlenmiş ve halkla ilişkilerin hangi bağlamda kullanıldığı ve alana yönelik oluşturulan duygu (pozitif, nötr, negatif) araştırılmıştır. Daha sonra metin madenciliği yöntemiyle “halkla ilişkiler” sözcüğü ile birlikte kullanılan kavramlar ve içinde halkla ilişkiler geçen haberlerde en çok kullanılan sözcükler incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda halkla ilişkilerin en çok “halkla ilişkiler uzmanı”, “gerçeğin karşısında halkla ilişkiler” ve “olumsuz bir kavram olarak halkla ilişkiler” kategorileri çerçevesinde yer aldığı, haberlerin neredeyse yarısında halkla ilişkilerle ilgili negatif bir duygu oluşturulduğu görülmüştür. Temsil konusunda iki gazete arasında da fark olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır.

References

  • Ames, C. (2010). PR goes to the movies: The image of public relations improves from 1996 to 2008. Public Relations Review, 36(2), 164-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.08.016
  • Bishop, R. L. (1988). What newspapers say about public relations. Public Relations Review, 14(2), 50-52.
  • Brody, E. W. (1992). We must act now to redeem PR's reputation. Public Relations Quarterly, 37(3), 44.
  • Bowen, S. A. (2009). All glamour, no substance? How public relations majors and potential majors in an exemplar program view the industry and function. Public Relations Review, 35(4), 402-410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.05.018
  • Callison, C. (2001). Do PR practitioners have a PR problem?: The effect of associating a source with public relations and client-negative news on audience perception of credibility. Journal of Public Relations Research, 13(3), 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1303_2
  • Callison, C. (2004). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Perceptions of public relations practitioners. Journal of Public Relations Research, 16(4), 371-389. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1604_3
  • Callison, C., Merle, P. F., & Seltzer, T. (2014). Smart friendly liars: Public perception of public relations practitioners over time. Public Relations Review, 40(5), 829-831.
  • Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2014). It's not just PR: Public relations in society. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Cutlip, S.M., Center, A.M. and Broom, G.M. (2000). Effective Public Relations. 8th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
  • Değirmen, G. C., & YALÇIN, Ö. (2020). Halkla İlişkiler ve Etik: 2000 Yılı Sonrası Filmlerde Halkla İlişkiler Mesleği Temsilinin Etik Kodlar Bağlamında İncelenmesi. Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 15(2), 519-542.
  • Gürkan, H. (2012). Halkla ilişkiler sektörünün sinemada temsili:“Again you?”,“Sex and the City” ve “Thank you for smoking” filmlerinde halkla ilişkiler mesleği ve halkla ilişkiler uzmanının temsili. Gümüşhane Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi, 1(3), 135-158.
  • Harlow, R. F. (1976). Building a public relations definition. Public Relations Review, 2(4), 34-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(76)80022-7
  • Henderson, J. K. (1998). Negative connotations in the use of the term “public relations” in the print media. Public Relations Review, 24(1), 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(98)80019-2
  • Hutton, J. G. (1999). The definition, dimensions, and domain of public relations. Public Relations Review, 25(2), 199-214.
  • Jo, S. (2003). The portrayal of public relations in the news media. Mass Communication and Society, 6(4), 397-411. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0604_4
  • Keenan, K. L. (1996). Network television news coverage of public relations: An exploratory census of content. Public Relations Review, 22(3), 215-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(96)90046-6
  • Kinsky, E., & Callison, C. (2009). PR in the news: How a sample of network newscasts framed public relations. Public Relations Journal, 3(1), 1-17.
  • Lee, M. (2001). The image of the government flack: Movie depictions of public relations in public administration. Public Relations Review, 27(3), 297-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(01)00088-1
  • L'Etang, J. (2013). Public relations: A discipline in transformation. Sociology Compass, 7(10), 799-817. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12072
  • Miller, K. S. (1999). Public relations in film and fiction: 1930 to 1995. Journal of Public Relations Research, 11(1), 3-28. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1101_01
  • Orange Data Mining. (2022). https://orangedatamining.com/.
  • Özgen, E., & Bayraktar, N. (2014). Spin Doctor kavramının tehdidi altında halkla ilişkiler. Marmara İletişim Dergisi, (21), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.17829/midr.20142110296
  • Park, J. (2001). Images of “Hong Bo (public relations)” and PR in Korean newspapers. Public Relations Review, 27(4), 403-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(01)00097-2
  • Penning, T. (2008). First impressions: US media portrayals of public relations in the 1920s. Journal of Communication Management. 12(4), 344-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540810919800
  • PRSA. (1999, June). National Credibility Index: New Survey Measures Who The Public Believes On Major Issues. https://apps.prsa.org/SearchResults/view/2D-0007/0/National_Credibility_Index_New_Survey_Measures_Who#.YxPSHnZBxPZ.
  • PRSA. (2012, April 11). Public Relations Defined: A Modern Definition For The New Era Of Public Relations. http://prdefinition.prsa.org/index.php/2012/04/11/the-modern-definition-of-public-relations/
  • Sallot, L. M. (2002). What the public thinks about public relations: An impression management experiment. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 79(1), 150-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900111
  • Scrimger, J., & Richards, T. (2003). Public relations battles and wars: Journalistic clichés and the potential for conflict resolution. Public Relations Review, 29(4), 485-492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2003.08.009
  • Sparks, S. D. (1993). Public relations: Is it dangerous to use the term? Public Relations Quarterly, 38(3), 27.
  • Spicer, C. H. (1993). Images of public relations in the print media. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 5(1), 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr0501_03
  • Tavcar, L. (1993). Public relations on the screen: 17 films to see. Public Relations Quarterly, 38(3), 21.
  • Thomas, H. (2002), "Ethics and PR", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 308-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540210807134
  • Tsetsura, K., Bentley, J., & Newcomb, T. (2015). Idealistic and conflicted: New portrayals of public relations practitioners in film. Public Relations Review, 41(5), 652-661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.02.018
  • Web Rankings. (2019). Top 200 Newspapers in the world. https://www.4imn.com/top200/
  • White, C., & Park, J. (2010). Public perceptions of public relations. Public Relations Review, 36(4), 319-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.09.002
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Communication and Media Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Beris Artan Özoran 0000-0002-1814-4323

Early Pub Date March 28, 2023
Publication Date March 29, 2023
Submission Date September 4, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: 61

Cite

APA Artan Özoran, B. (2023). Halkla İlişkilerin Gazetelerdeki Temsili: The New York Times ve The Guardian Gazeteleri Üzerine İnceleme. İletişim Kuram Ve Araştırma Dergisi(61), 134-152. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1170879