Powered by public relations? Mutual perceptions of PR practitioners’ bases of power over journalism

Abstract

Public relations practitioners depend on journalists to report information, and journalists count on public relations practitioners to provide information. This mutual dependence gives the two parties a degree of power over each other that can be wielded if certain resources are available. However, there are many unanswered questions about how public relations exerts power over journalists and how these influence attempts may affect news coverage. We differentiate six bases of power that public relations practitioners may use to influence journalists. To test the use of these bases of power, we conducted a quantitative survey among German journalists and public relations practitioners. Our results show that while public relations practitioners perceive themselves as exerting influence by providing information and maintaining good relationships, journalists state that public relations practitioners exert influence by putting pressure on journalists or by buying advertising space. Also, purchasing advertising space (reward power) and maintaining good contacts (expert power) account for the largest proportion of variance.