Key messages and message integrity as concepts and metrics in communication evaluation

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concepts of key messages and key message integrity, and examines their viability for communication management scholars and practitioners in evaluating media relations activities. Key message integrity addresses not only what messages transfer, but also how well. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyzed 18 nonprofit organizations’ key messages and the messages’ integrity levels using content analysis on one month of their news coverage. In-depth interviews with eight of their media relations practitioners helped validate the concepts and the results. Findings – The authors found five unique categories and functions of key messages: information concerned with dissemination, raison d’être concerned with purpose, categories concerned with positioning, resource management concerned with accounting for resources, and social relevance concerned with legitimacy. Findings also revealed varying levels of transmission and message integrity across the categories. Interviews revealed insights into challenges for communicating organizational key messages to the news media. Originality/value – This study lays the foundation for additional research on key messages and key message integrity as useful metrics for communication management scholars and practitioners.

Time-lag analysis of the agenda-building process between White House public relations and congressional policymaking activity

“…As previously discussed, a central focus of this study is to evaluate communication outcomes. Although only a few agenda-building studies have examined such outcomes (Carroll et al , 2014; Kiousis et al , 2013; Wirth et al , 2010) with regard to objects and attributes, this study is concerned with examining the salience of objects and attributes in terms of policymaking outcomes. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of issues and/or attributes as being salient together is another integral part of the current analysis.…”

Implicit frames of CSR: The interplay between the news media, organizational PR, and the public

“…The way CSR is addressed in the news media might affect the way it is interpreted by the public, since the news media put information into a context and determine the frames of reference in which people evaluate the information, understand meanings and even take actions when it is appropriate (Hallahan, 1999). Multiple 'outcomes' of media content can be considered: studies in the context of public relations focus for example on 'top-of-mind' awareness (e.g., Carroll et al, 2014) and organizational reputation (Einwiller, Carroll, & Korn, 2010) as key dependent variables when discussing media effects in relation to organizations. Here, we focus on (online) attentiveness and the public's actual use of frames through their online search behavior.…”

“…By highlighting particular aspects of an issue within their press releases, organizations can influence the communication about that issue in the news media (Boumans, Vliegenthart, & Boomgaarden, 2016). Research shows that organizations' communication through key messages, which are comparable to frames, is deliberately designed to gain legitimacy for the organizations' conduct and to affect news content (Carroll et al, 2014). Hence, it can be argued that frames suggested by organizational PR about a particular issue (e.g., CSR) are aimed at influencing the use of these frames in the news media (Scheufele, 1999).…”

Strategies to Implement the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence

“…Interviews were transcribed verbatim for each participant. Researchers can achieve integrity by leaving the message unaltered (Carroll, Huang-Horowitz, Weberling McKeever, & Williams, 2014) [13]. Field notes, transcripts, and reflective documents for each participant were catalogued and linked by labels rather than names.…”