The World of Journalism – The World of Public Relations Assessment of Changes in Relations Between Journalists and PR Managers in Poland

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative look at the results of similar studies relating to the diagnosis of cooperation between the journalists and representatives of the PR industry in Poland. Comparable subjects, arising from the similarity of used research tools, as well as comparable attempts of the research on both environments provide good opportunities of drawing overlapping conclusions from the two research projects. Although standardization of the cooperation between journalists and PR professionals is very difficult and its description is limited by a number of variables and differentiating factors, comparing both studies makes it possible to draw conclusions about some changes or elements that have remained unchanged in relations PR managers -journalists in Poland over the last 11 years.

Media reception of PR activities in the discourse of British and Ukrainian quality newspapers: comparative analysis

“…Having examined the historical, sociological and cultural aspects of public relations, Jacquie L'Etang tends to define it as a "discipline in transformation" [1]. Slawomir Gawronski emphasizes the fact that PR techniques and practices "seldom fit into any standards" and describes effective PR specialists as those "who sneaks away from classical rules of public relations" [2]. To Gawronski's point of view, such unpredictable nature of public relations activities influences the process of interaction of the managers with the media.…”

“…To Gawronski's point of view, such unpredictable nature of public relations activities influences the process of interaction of the managers with the media. The scholar claims that PR people "are not sure what they are going to do tomorrow" and "all standard, routine PR procedures may stop working with time and may not bring expected results they had brought before" [2].…”

“…The problem of interaction between public relations managers and journalists was largely investigated by the Polish scholar S. Gawronski, who finds the "standardization" of this process rather difficult and sometimes even "limited" due to the number of "variables" and "differentiating factors", but he is still sure about the possibility to find out about the "changes" and "unchanged" things that define the mutual relationship of these two groups at present [2].…”

“…Gawronski points out the "lack of symmetry" [2] in the relationship between PR people and journalists, which can be explained by the fact that the result of their cooperation, that is the news or some other piece of writing, is produced by the media and that is what empowers them to have the dominating role in the process of interaction. However, the scholar admits that "the cooperation between journalists and managers should be based on partnership and should be balanced between the importance of both of these professions" [2], that is to say these two groups of professionals are "dependent" [Gawronski] on each other, as PR managers seek the opportunity to build trusty relationship with the audience via the media and the journalists are constantly in search of information. In reality, there is a gap in understanding between these two professional groups, since managers are aimed to "promote the image of their company", while the journalists "try to defend the independence of the media and resist any kind of influence or pressure concerning the content of their message to be published in the media" [2].…”

“…However, the scholar admits that "the cooperation between journalists and managers should be based on partnership and should be balanced between the importance of both of these professions" [2], that is to say these two groups of professionals are "dependent" [Gawronski] on each other, as PR managers seek the opportunity to build trusty relationship with the audience via the media and the journalists are constantly in search of information. In reality, there is a gap in understanding between these two professional groups, since managers are aimed to "promote the image of their company", while the journalists "try to defend the independence of the media and resist any kind of influence or pressure concerning the content of their message to be published in the media" [2]. The author admits that such kind of disbalanced view at mutual perception still takes place, even though both areas have a "clear identity of ethical codes, that both professions have worked out over the years of their evolution and mutual cooperation" [2].…”