Gender shifts in journalism and public relations

Theus, Kathryn T.

doi:10.1016/s0363-8111(85)80060-6

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…While this exclusion is not necessarily linked to gender and interviewees say this is because of the lack of recognition of public relations, the question remains whether public relations would be dismissed by senior management (the majority of whom are men) had public relations not become a feminized industry? Scholars have been reporting since the 1980s of the danger of feminization of public relations, and feminization as a process generally brings the profession down and reduces benefits and wages (Theus, 1985;Cline et al, 1986;Lance Toth, 1988). Bourdieu (2007) observed that "positions which become feminized are either already devalued (the majority of semi-skilled workers are women or immigrants) or declining, their devaluation being intensified, in a snowball effect, by the desertion of the men which it helped to induce" (91).…”

Section: Depatriarchialisation Of Public Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In public relations (PR), the position of women has been of interest to scholars since the 1980s when initial studies recognised issues such as the glass ceiling, pay gap, technician positions for women (women being confined to writing press releases and other written pieces with no managerial or other forms of power) and bias against women (covert discrimination in promotions, chauvinism, stereotypes against women, and feminization and its negative consequences for the PR industry (Van Slyke, 1983; Cline et al , 1986; Miller, 1988; Lance Toth, 1988; Dozier, 1988; Singh and Smyth, 1988; Broom, 1982; Scrimger, 1985; Pratt, 1986; Theus, 1985; Topić et al , 2019; Topić et al , 2020). However, the situation has not changed much since the early days of scholarship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluffy PR and ‘comms girls’: banter, social interactions and the office culture in public relations in England

Topić

2021

IJOA

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Purpose The purpose of this paper was to explore social interactions, banter and the office culture in the public relations (PR) industry in England with the use of the difference approach and Bourdieu’s habitus theory. The paper explores whether PR organisations act as masculine habitus. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 women practitioners, and thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Women were asked questions on social interactions, banter and the office culture, as well as questions on exclusion, from business decisions and having to work harder to succeed. Findings Findings show that two main themes dominate in responses from interviewees, “de-patriarchalisation” of PR with no personal appearance requirements and no business exclusions because of gender, and “gendered organisations” where interviewees reported dismissive stereotypes of women who work in PR, networking as a job requirement and differences between male-dominated and female-dominated offices, which includes differences between social interactions and banter among men and women. Practical implications Results indicate that women feel there are differences in social interactions and banter between men and women. Interviewees also report masculine domination as and harmful stereotypes of public PR professionals, most of whom are women. Organisations who have PR departments, as well as those who hire PR agencies to do the work externally, should design policies on the office culture to ensure equality and respectful work environment for everyone. Social implications In line with the difference approach, women report differences in social interactions and banter between them and men, thus signalling that social differences influence the office culture and work interactions, which tend to be gendered. Findings also indicate that organisations are functioning as a masculine world where women struggle to fit in and obtain recognition. Consciousness-raising is needed in the industry because many women do not recognise oppression in the form of social interactions, and its effect on the position of women or the fact that the most feminized industry is being trivialised by the men on top. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper analysing interactions in PR offices using the difference approach and Bourdieu’s habitus theory.

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Section: Depatriarchialisation Of Public Relationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluffy PR and ‘comms girls’: banter, social interactions and the office culture in public relations in England

Topić

2021

IJOA

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“…The period of the 1980s was also dominated with several studies on education, for example, educational qualifications of male and female practitioners, skills that public relations education should promote as well as whether scholars researching women will be promoted in predominantly male faculties. When debating education, scholars reported that men often come with journalism degrees whereas women come with public relations degrees to the industry (Theus, 1985) and the fact the public relations were starting to attract more women, led towards scholarly debates as to whether feminization of the industry would depress salaries given that men go where the money is and normally professions with lots of females do not bring high financial rewards (Theus, 1985;Cline et al, 1986;Lance Toth, 1988). The study by Theus (1985) also pointed out that women are more likely to hire other women and that women who graduate with public relations degrees have to compete for jobs with other female public relations graduates, as well as men with degrees from journalism.…”

Section: Table 1 Herementioning

confidence: 99%

Women in public relations (1982–2019)

Topić

Cunha

Reigstad

et al. 2020

JCOM

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PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the current literature on women in public relations to establish trends and areas of inquiry in the literature and identify research gaps for future research.Design/methodology/approachA total of 223 articles have been empirically analysed using thematic analysis to identify trends in the existing literature. The data has been coded and analysed per decade (1982–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2019). The articles have been identified by searching major journals in the field of public relations and communications, as well as snowballing from identified articles.FindingsThe results show that the majority of academic articles have been produced by using lived experiences of women working in the public relations industry and thus reflect the professional situation of female public relations employees. The results show that the position of women has reached a full circle in four decades of research and returned to the discriminatory work environment. Finally, the results show that a liberal feminist perspective has an advantage in the literature since the majority of works have been produced in the United States; however, there is an increase in authors calling for the use of socialist and radical feminism.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive literature review of works published in the field. The paper takes an empirical approach to the analysis rather than the descriptive one, which helped in identifying major trends in the research and identified a research gap for future inquiries.

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“…Expert power is also important, especially in the health sector (Cho & Cameron, 2007), as are the views that journalists hold of a corporation (Dowling, 2004). Notwithstanding these antagonisms, professional development in these fields in the US parallels others at least in terms of job satisfaction (Olson, 1989) and workforce feminization (Theus, 1975). Social media may bridge the gap between the professions in the US as both begin to share their understanding of each other's use of such tools (Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009;Avery, Lariscy, & Sweetser, 2010).…”

Section: Relationships Between Pr and Journalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The co-production of business news and its effects: The corporate framing mediated-moderation model

Verhoeven

2016

Public Relations Review

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Corporations serve as an important news source for journalists. Media relations have long been considered a key facet of public relations (PR). This study presents scientific literature on businesses and news media published between 1963 and 2013 and models what corporations say to journalists, how they present what they say, the relationship between PR professionals and journalists and what journalists report about corporations and consequent effects on the public. A total of 217 empirical studies are categorized and synthesized into a corporate framing mediated-moderation model, which considers both the mediating factor of relationships between PR professionals and journalists and the moderating factors of culture, the sector and the PR profession.

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Gender shifts in journalism and public relations

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Fluffy PR and ‘comms girls’: banter, social interactions and the office culture in public relations in England

Fluffy PR and ‘comms girls’: banter, social interactions and the office culture in public relations in England

Women in public relations (1982–2019)

The co-production of business news and its effects: The corporate framing mediated-moderation model

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