Content-Type: text/html Press release and world system: How the U.S. major newspapers use press releases from different countries? Paper Submitted to the Public Relations Division of AEJMC Conference in Kansas, July 2003 Juyan Zhang, Ph. D Missouri Journalism School 4A 1000 Hospital Drive Columbia, MO, 65201 Email: [log in to unmask] Tele: (573) 7710079 Press release and world system: How the U.S. major newspapers use press releases from different countries? Abstract Using the agenda building theory and the three-tiered world system theory, this research examined how the U.S. major newspapers used the press releases from different countries. The research found that press releases from the semi-periphery nations were more used than those from the core nations and the periphery nations. Press releases from the core nations were more used than those from the periphery nations. A majority of the quoted press releases appeared at least in the New York Times. The news contexts for the quoted press releases were in general positive, indicating such international media agenda building efforts paid. Press release and world system: How the U.S. major newspapers use press releases from different countries? Introduction Since the 1990's, public relations to project national identity has run in parallel with the process of globalization (Hill, 1999). The United States has increasinlgy become a target of international public relations by national governments after the country is left as the only world superpower after the Cold War (Cutlip, 1994; Newsom, 1984). Combining the concept of agenda building and three-tiered world system theory, this research examined how the U.S. major newspapers used the press releases from different countries. This research adds to the literature of agenda building and international information flow. Literature review Information subsidies and agenda building Media relations is one of the traditional and more visible functions of public relations (Cameron, Sallot, and Curtin, 1997; Grunig, 1992). Public relations practitioners are regarded as buffers and boundary spanners for and between their organizations and the news media (Sallot, Steinfatt, & Salwen, 1998; Wilcox, Ault, & Agee, 1995). The information subsidies that public relations practitioners provided to reporters form part of the source competitive market, in which sources and news department enjoy a directly reciprocal relationship (Curtin, 1999). Cameron et al (1997) argued that public relations often sets the agenda for news media, simply because the source in source-reporter interaction is often either a public relations practitioner or a practitioner's client. A Fortune magazine article in 1949 wrote that "[T]he daily tonnage output of propaganda and publicity... has become an important force in American life. Nearly half of the contents of the best newspapers is derived from publicity releases; nearly all the contents of lesser papers... is directly or indirectly the product of PR departments" (Sharon, 1997). It was estimated that the media receives more than 2.4 million press releases in a week, and 10% of the releases received are actually used (Schluese, 1988). Researchers have estimated that 25% to 50% of news content in the United States is influenced by public relations, with some estimate as high as 80% (Glen T. Cameron, et al, 1997; Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 1994). Gandy (1982) observed that information subsidies, attempting to influence the media's agenda, were often channeled through the media and directly subsidized their news gathering activity. In this sense, the role of information subsidies in the mass media is termed as "agenda building." The term has since represented the relationship between a newsroom and its sources (Berkowitz, 1992; Curtin, 1999). The agenda building approach argues that the media content is not shaped within the newsroom as much as it is shaped by the sources that provide information to the newsroom (Salwen, 1995). To the extent that the public relations information subsidies are placed in news media, they have the potential to influence the media agenda. If they can influence public agenda, then they may influence the public opinion and the public agenda (Park, 1966). Although it appears that the sources provide subsidies to the media in order to gain time or space (Berkowitz, 1990), their ultimate goal of agenda building is not just to influence the mass media, but to create a favorable public opinion and public agenda (Turk, 1985). The agenda building process is also termed as "mirror approach" by Gans, who argued that news is shaped by the sources on which a newsroom relies, and the source do the leading (Gans, 1979; Gans, 1982). Weaver and Elliott (1985) observed that a prominent news source could have a major influence on the subsequent media agenda. At the same time, selective processes and news judgments of journalists also play a significant part in shaping this agenda. Thus the media both mirror and filter. Curtin (1999) suggests that if reporters view public practitioners as cohorts in news production rather than obstructionists, the chances increase that public relations practitioners may contribute to the media agenda, thus ultimately shaping the public agenda. She found that although news representatives reported low use rates for public relations materials, her research suggest that actual use rates are much higher. Such subsidies may be used to spark story ideas, appear in signed columns, special section copy, or verbatim use in a feature section of the paper (p. 64). Newsroom enjoys a steady flow of information from their sources on a regular and timely basis (Reese, 1991). Use of information subsidies by news media has become so routine that many journalists take it for granted that newscasts should be created by sifting through the day's subsidies (Brown, 1987). Gandy (1982) argues that those who control the information sources control whether information is consumed. The news media have become increasingly dependent on public relations, and the members of the press are too close to their "addiction" to public relations to realize there is anything wrong (Aronoff & Baskin, 1983; Black & Bryant, 1992; Edwards, 1970; Jeff & Blyskal, 1985; Newsom, Scott, & Turk, 1989; Turow, 1989). It is observed that journalists and sources on beats cooperated and collaborated in the creation of news (Gieber, & Johnson, 1961), and there is extensive use of beats as a process for finding potentially newsworthy evens and ideas (Brooks, Kennedy, Moen & Ranly, 1980; Agee, Ault, & Emery, 1983). Such information from beats can alter the pictures of reality that readers get from press (Molotch, & Lester, 1974). Sigal (1973) found that in the Post and Times, about two-thirds came through "routine channels", or public relations sources (p. 121). He concluded that news is not necessarily what happens, but what a news source says has happened (p. 37). Kaniss (1991) found that local news comes to look the way it does through a combination of the constraints and incentives set by newspapers management and the internalized professional and personal values of local reporters (p. 71). In his market-driven journalism model, McManus' (1994) reasoned that one of the four markets in which media firms compete and exchange is market for sources, where media firms trade for newsworthy information (p. 5). Sources not only want to reach as many as possible audiences, but also want to reach those people with certain qualities who can help achieve their goals, including such people as political constituents, potential supporters, customers, investors and so on (Jamieson, 1992). As to the content, positive coverage helps beat unfavorable coverage.(McManus, 1994, p. 29). Thus public relations sources are crucial for news production, and the relationship is by nature based on exchange. Three-tiered world and U.S. journalism The news media are instrumental in creating, perpetuating, and modifying images of foreign nations and international leaders for the public (Merrill, 1991). A person's exposure to or use of certain types of print media news correlates positively with the person's knowledge of world affair issues or countries (International Press Institute, 1953; Perry & McNelly, 1988; Perry, 1990; Rielly, 1979; Robinson, 1967). News media use can relate to one's international news knowledge, ethnocentricity, and attitude toward foreign nations (Korzenny, Del Toro, & Gaudino, 1987). There is a significant correlation between international news exposure and respondents' perception of the countries' success and their overall liking for the countries (McNelly & Izcaray, 1986). Most people in the United States learn about world events through the mass media. Thus the foreign news coverage of the major newspapers can have a great influence upon international relations (Markham, 1961). For example, distorted and negative treatment of the developing world in the Western media has been one of most common complaints by the third-world countries (Stevenson & Cole, 1984). It is argued that the Western media present the developing world in an unfavorable light by stressing crisis, strikes, street demonstrations, putsches, etc (Bush, 1960; Gonzenbach, Aran, & Stevenson, 1992; Norris, 1995; Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1985; Wanta & Hu, 1993). Such unfavorable coverage may lead to negative attributed by news consumers to a country through the media's agenda-setting effects (McCombs at el, 2000). The U.S. news media coverage of the international news was found to be geographically imbalanced (Gerbner & Marvanyi, 1977; Stevenson & Cole 1984; Larson, 1984). A project by the International Association for Mass Communication Research (IAMCR) indicated a tendency among the media of all countries to emphasize news from within their respective regions. The research found that news from the First World countries of North America and Western Europe was placed to second place, while Eastern Europe and the rest of the developing world were outside of the media's immediate area (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1984). Industrialized Western Countries, culturally similar countries, neighboring countries and trade partners receive disproportionately high coverage, while Africa, most parts of Latin America and the pacific region (except for Japan) are obviously underrepresented in their reports (Kim & Barnett, 1996; Meyer, 1996). Wallerstein (1979) stated that countries fall into one of three groups, which are related to each other in a three-tiered hierarchical formation. The rich, industrialized, and militarily stronger countries constitute the core of the capitalist world system. The poorest, often agrarian, countries belong to the periphery, the weakest tier in the hierarchy. The semi- periphery is characterized by an economic base that combines core industrialization and peripheral agriculture. Based on Walerstein's theory of world system, Chang (1998) developed a model of international information flow. The model suggests that the core nations in the world system dominate world markets and world media outlets and are deemed more newsworthy in international news than the rest of the world. News from the periphery countries is less likely to pass through the gatekeepers of the core nations news media, while close connections with the core nations would increase a nation's standing within the international news world. Wanta and Golan (2001) suggested that events from non-core nations occasionally receive news coverage implicated that other factors play roles in the news selection process. They found that elite nations were more likely to receive media coverage than other nations. The Western industrialized nations or members of the U.N. Security Council were deemed more newsworthy. Non-core nations, however, need additional factors before they could pass through the news gates, which may include strong trade relations and cultural link with the United States. Hurrat (1988) suggested that environmental, institutional, cultural, and ideological factors that jointly or separately influence the daily output of the media. He found that circulation size, number of news services for a newspaper, the involvement of the United States in a foreign event were predictors of foreign events coverage by the newspapers. While population size, GNP size and economic affinities appeared to be insignificant in explaining the variance of foreign events coverage. Horvit (1999) analyzed 10 U.S. newspapers' coverage of international news and found that the developed world got more attention than the developing countries from all the news organizations studied. Some other studies suggest that the U.S. media coverage of foreign news were affected by such factors as trade level, population of the country, importance of the country in world politics as well as crises (Charles, Shore, & Todd, 1979; Lent, 1977; Peterson, 1981). International Public Relations by national governments Most countries in the world conduct international public relations programs and it has become increasingly difficult to neglect the public dimension of foreign policy (Seaver, 1998; Serajnik-Sraka, 1999). Research indicates that diplomacy has been shifting from traditional diplomacy to public diplomacy, through which both government and private individuals and groups influence directly or indirectly the public opinions that bear directly or indirectly on another government's foreign policy formation (Delaney, 1968; Signitzer & Coombs, 1992; Taylor, 1997). Since the 1990's, an increased governmental concern with image and public relations in an attempt to project a sense of identity or to discover the appropriate identity for image-making has run in parallel with the process of globalization (Hill, 1999). National image or identity has become a central and vital part of a country's foreign policy and one of its key tools for dealing with the rest of the world (Leonard, 1999). Thus, states are now more than ever preoccupied by images, and that the idea that state may have an image and the image deserves care and managing is something very new in history (Girard, 1999). Since the representation by Ivy Lee and Carl Byoir's of the Nazi Germany to moderate the hostility in the United States, similar practices have mushroomed in the past decades. Foreign countries have sought to use media coverage to reach interested U.S. publics and to provide an informal communication channel to the U.S. policymakers (Davison, 1974; Bennett and Paletz, 1994; Nacos, 1994; Sigal, 1973;). The business section of the public relations industry in the United States has steadily increased in the past decades. In 2002, there were 2,135 persons or firms registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act with the Department of Justice (Cutlip, 1994b). These individuals and firms primarily involve two areas of activities: media relations and lobbying activities in behalf of foreign nations. This research investigates the first domain of the international public relations activities: the international media relations on behalf of foreign nations by the U.S. public relations industry. The international media relations is important because in such activities, the media, public, and foreign policy are very closely related, where some significant foreign policies are taken directly to the public, particularly to the mass media (Eban, 1998; Grunig, 1993; Fortner, 1994; Hindell, 1995; Pearce, 1995). The specialists who handle pubic relations matters for foreign governments play an important role in America's foreign affairs through providing information to the news media and lobbying in Congress (Cutlip, 1984). Although such media relations are unlikely to translate immediately into political advantage or policy gain with the United States arena, it is believed that, over time, the creation and manipulation of information settings can exert a positive influence on public opinion and political outcomes (Albritton & Manheim, 1985). While the classic democracy theory posits that journalists investigate and report the events of foreign affairs, and the public is supposed to take information from the media and use it to form opinions on foreign issues, and those who govern are expected to anticipate public opinions as they make policy, adjusting their efforts to respond the public's will. Thus, examining media relations may contribute to our understanding of the interaction between media, public and the government in the U.S. democratic process in which its foreign relations are closely concerned. The international media relations is important also because it plays a role in the relations between countries. It helps shape images of nations and affects the public's perceptions of the countries, which may eventually crank into foreign policy formation. It even influences decision-making at war times. For example, on behalf of the Kuwaiti government, the media "spin" by Hill & Knowlton, a world famous public relations company, successfully helped mobilize the U.S. public support for the Bush administration's war decision against Iraq by arranging a 15-year-old Kuwaiti young girl to testify in the U.S. Congress on the Iraqi soldiers' cruelties in a hospital incubator (New York Times, January 12, 1992; MaCarthur, 1992; Stauber & Rampton, 1995, 170). Likewise, media relations by the U.S. public relations companies reportedly played a role during the Kosovo war in 1999 (Swift, 1999). Based on the literature review, following hypotheses and research questions were developed: H1: Country status is not significantly correlated to use of their press releases by major U.S. newspapers. H2: There are no significant differences among the three county blocks with regard to use of their press releases. H2 is further developed into three sub-hypotheses: H2a: Press releases from periphery countries are significantly less likely used than those from core countries. H2b: Press releases from periphery countries are significantly less likely used than those from semi-periphery nations. H2c: Press releases from semi-periphery nations are significantly less likely used than that of core nations. In an earlier study (Zhang and Cameron, 2003), it is found press releases are more likely used in news stories with conflict theme, because journalists need to keep the journalistic fairness in their reporting. One hypothesis is developed. H3: Use of press release is not significantly correlated to theme of conflict. In addition, following research questions were developed: RQ1: Among all of the used press releases, how much was used by the NYT? RQ2: How much of the press releases was used in stories in front page stories? RQ3: How much of the press releases was quoted in the lead paragraph of the stories? RQ4: What are the overall news contexts for the quoted press releases? Methodology Data source According to the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1938, the public relations firms working for international clients are required to file their informational materials to the FARA unit of the Justice of Department for public examination. Thus the FARA office becomes the ideal source of press releases of the countries that conduct media relations in the United States. The FARA website included listings of countries, public relations firms, activities, finances, and contact information of the firms. All of the countries in the listing of the first half of 2002 were examined to see whether they hired public relations firms to conductmedia relations. The media relations were labeled differently in the FARA reports, such as "disseminating materials to promote trade, tourism and the culture of the client," "providing media relations assistances," "disseminating informational materials to newspapers," "distributing magazines, pamphlets, and press releases," and "disseminating press releases and articles through print and electronic media." Fifty-five countries were found to have engaged in media relations. The official websites of the embassies of these countries in Washington were examined to see whether they have archives of press releases in 2002. Only embassies that kept the past records of press releases were selected. Thirty-six Embassies have mounted past press releases to their official websites. The press releases were used as valid data because they are supposed to be drafted by the U.S. public relations consultants following embassy guidelines. Thus the data is valid for testing marketing driven journalism (Zaharna and Villalobos, 2000). These countries were then divided into three groups: the core nations, the semi-periphery nations, and the periphery nations, according to the classification of the World Bank (2002). Five countries were randomly sampled from each of the three categories (See Appendix II). Sampling of press releases Thirty press releases of 2002 were sampled with stratified sampling method from each country each group. In total 450 press releases were sampled (N = 450). The press releases were tracked in the Lexis-Nexis and coded according to the following categories (See coding sheet in Appendix III). Sampling of press releases Year Country groups Core nations Semi-periphery nations Periphery nations 2002 5 _ 30 5 _ 30 5 _ 30 Total 150 150 150 Coding Countries are coded according to the categorization of the World Bank (2002), which categorized countries into high-income economies, upper-middle-income economies, lower-middle income economies, and low-income economies. In this research, high-income economies were coded as the core nations. Upper-middle-income economies were coded as the semi-periphery countries. Lower-middle-income and low-income economies were coded as periphery countries. Use is coded as dummy variable. If a press release is quoted, it is coded as 1. If not, it is coded as 0. Five major newspapers (defined by the Lexis-Nexis), the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, the USA Today, and the Washington Post were searched in the Lexis-Nexis database. All stories about each country within three days after the issuance of the press release were searched with the country's name and keywords in the press release. The stories were then read to see whether they quoted the press release. If a press release was used by more than one newspaper, story in the NYT was coded first, then the WPOST, USA Today, Boston Globe, and Christian Science Monitor, in a row. NYT examines whether the press releases was quoted by the NYT. Front page examines whether the press release is used in front-page stories Location examines where in the story is the press release quoted Theme is coded as conflict or without conflict. Conflict is defined as directly confrontation, potential risk of confrontation, dispute, crisis, and failure to cooperate. Topics refers to the topic of the press release, include politics, economy, foreign affairs, culture, defense, and society, and law/crimes/disaster. Scott's pie for intercoder-reliability is 96 percent. See the coding sheet in Appendix II. Results Descriptive statistics showed that the mean of use for different country groups was different. On average, press releases from the semi-periphery countries were more used (.49) than those of the core nations (.27) and the periphery nations (. 19). Among the 450 press releases, 142 (31.6 percent) were used, and 113 (25.1 percent) were used at least by the NYT. More than half (51.1 percent) of the quoted press releases were quoted in the lead paragraphs of news stories. However, only 24 (5.3 percent) were used in front-page stories. Average use of press releases for different country groups Countries Mean Std. Deviation First world .27 .444 Second world .49 .502 Third world .19 .391 The descriptive statistics indicated that press releases from the second-world countries were more used. The data was thus recoded and countries in the second world were coded as 1, and first-world countries were coded as 2. It was found that use of press releases was negatively correlated to country status (Spearman rho = -. 269**, p< .000). H1 was rejected. Chi-square test indicated that there is significant difference among the three blocks of countries with regard to use of their press releases by major U.S. newspapers (_2 = 61.236, p < .000). H2 was rejected. Residual analysis indicated that use of press release from core nations were not significantly different from the expected value. Press releases from periphery countries were significantly less used than expected (_2 = 58.907, p<. 000). H2a was rejected. Press releases from semi-periphery countries were significantly more used than expected (_2 = 32.667, p < .000). H2c was rejected. Thus H2b was not rejected. Statistic results also showed that use of press releases was significantly correlated with conflict theme (Spearman rho = .645**, p < .000). H3 was rejected. More than half (52.5 percent) of the quoted press releases appeared in positive news context. Respectively 21.3 percent and 18.4 percent of the quoted press releases appeared in neutral and balanced story valences. Only 6.4 percent of the quoted press releases appeared in negative news context. The topics of the quoted press releases in ranking include foreign affairs (38.1 percent), military/defense (19.5 percent), politics (16.1 percent), and economy (12.1 percent). Discussion This Chapter examined how the U.S. major press used the press releases from different countries. Statistic results indicated that a country's status in the world is significantly correlated to the use of its press releases by the U.S. major press. Press releases from the semi-periphery countries are more likely used than those from the core nations and the periphery countries, and press releases from periphery countries were less likely used than those from the core nations. Such findings are partially contrary to the research hypotheses, but are consistent with the findings in Chapter three that the public relations firms engaged in media relations hired by semi-periphery countries have increased, compared to the core nations and periphery nations. The possible reasons behind this is perhaps the core nations have their own news outlets in the United States, or the major press have their outlets in these countries, or they did not find necessity to cultivate their images in the United States. While the semi-periphery nations, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, for example, have strong need to maintain sound relationships with the United States, might be aggressive in developing media relations with the United States. Besides, these countries, such as South Korea and Singapore, have the financial capability to conduct the public relations activities. While the periphery countries in general may find it is more useful hiring lobbying firms than media relations firms. Use of press releases is also positively correlated to the theme of press releases. If the press releases had to do with a conflict, it is more likely used. This reflects one of the major features of the U.S. journalism in covering international events that the news media tend to cover events with conflict theme. The implication for media relations is that it is possible to build the client's agenda in a conflict, because the news media have to keep journalistic fairness in their reporting. After all, nearly half of the quoted stories appeared in positive news context. The portion that appeared in negative news context was very small. The NYT was again shown to be the "acid test" for the effectiveness of international media relations, since about one third of all of the press releases appeared at least in the newspaper. This indicates that the media relations practitioners are aware of the newspapers agenda setting power for the opinion leaders and other news media. It also shows that the newspaper's strong capability to report international events. Conclusion Combining marketing-driven journalism and agenda building approaches, this content analysis examined how a country's status in the world system affects the effectiveness of its media relations in the United States and how the U.S. major newspapers used their press releases. Statistic results showed that press releases from the semi-periphery countries were more used than press releases from the core nations and the periphery nations. More press releases from core nations were used than those from periphery nations. Use of press releases was also positively correlated to the theme of event. Press releases regarding conflicts were more likely used by the major newspapers. Then NYT was corroborated as the acid test of the effectiveness of international media relations. A majority of the quoted press releases appeared at least in the newspaper. 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Coding Sheet Use Used=1 Not used=0 Countries Advanced economy =1 Economies in transition=2 Developing economy=3 NYT NYT=1 Non-NYT=2 Used by others Yes=1 No=0 Front page Front page=1 None front page=0 Theme With conflict theme=1 Without conflict theme or not used =0 Location Lead/bridge paragraph=1 Body=2 End=3 Topics Politics=1 Economy=2 Foreign affairs=3 Culture=4 Defense/war=5 Society=6 Law/crime/disaster=7 Heading valence Positive=1 Negative=2 Neutral=3 Balanced=4 Story valence Positive=1 Negative=2 Neutral=3 Balanced=4 Appendix II: Counties sampled and the Internet source of press release Periphery countries Romania/Ukraine Ethiopia (Conflict) India Angola (conflict) Jordan Semi-periphery countries Mexico Saudi Arabia Korea Singapore Turkey Core nations Sweden Germany Japan Canada Ireland Ireland http://www.irelandemb.org/press/index.html Sweden http://www.swedish-embassy.org/news_press_index.html Japan http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/pressreleases/index.htm India http://www.indianembassy.org/archive/archive.htm Jordan http://