July 30th, 2003

The Miami Papers

Consumer News Media and PR Industry Watchdog: Where in the world does the truth lie? And how much do those lies cost?

A Study of A Study of A Study

by Lansie Pearmain

Part of the mission of The Measurement Standard is to continually explore the leading edge of research and evaluation. Last March, at the Miami conference, we gained valuable insight into where the field is going. We hope this paper will inspire new ideas and best practices in the industry.

What Price, Truth?

Public relations practitioners, in their role as information subsidies providers, are being faced with the growing problem of journalists who seek out cash in return for news coverage. This form of bribery is undermining the inherent value of unbiased and neutral information that consumers of news media have come to expect.

PR and communications professionals throughout the world were surveyed by the IPRA’s Campaign for Media Transparency. Common problems regarding (un)ethical standards were reported in a June 14, 2002, news release:

• Editors and journalists asking for inducements to publish news releases or feature items
• Company news releases appearing in exchange for paid advertising elsewhere in the publication
• Advertisements disguised as editorial
• Material appearing through influence or payment by a third party
• Publications asking for payment not to publish certain stories

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Dr. Dean Kruckeberg and Ms. Katerina Tsetsura* hope their research will place onto the global agenda this important and disturbing issue of media corruption. Corollary questions are “What global standards should be expected?” And “Do media perform their role and function in the ways they claim to?”

Their resulting global scale—measured yearly or biennially as a continuing longitudinal study—will provide benchmark data for a long-term trend analysis from which PR practitioners, media and governments can compare, on a country by country basis, the propensity for cash for editorial.

“Importantly, this longitudinal study will be approached from a range of perspectives that will also examine historical and cultural antecedents that may help to explain—albeit not excuse—the status quo within these countries and will make specific recommendations for addressing the moral/ethical implications of consumer news media extortion of information subsidies providers..."

Is Truth with a Price Tag Credible or Ethical?

Not only is cash for editorial an expensive practice for PR people and their clients, but the number one concern is that it is unethical. As Kruckeberg and Tsetsura point out, “the International Public Relations Association, the International Association of Business Communications and the Public Relations Society of America forbid practitioners to participate in corrupting the integrity of communication channels, particularly of consumer news media that are perceived to be ‘objective’ and ‘fair’ in using newsworthiness as the sole criterion in their role as gatekeepers." [emphasis mine]

Although PR people cannot control whether or not journalists demand money, they can—within their professional community—do their part to stop the practice by refusing to deal with journalists who do so.

Kruckeberg and Tsetsura hold that PR practitioners have an ethical obligation to expose this practice by identifying such extortion, measuring its pervasiveness globally, reporting it, and stressing to citizens the urgency of its elimination or reduction.

Methodology

The thrust of the researchers' work was the development of variables and a formula that would yield accurate measurement of the media corruption problem. To ensure consistency among respondents, Kruckeberg and Tsetsura limited the frame of reference to one specific media type—daily newspapers—and made a point to exclude controlled media.

Variables were presented to the IPRA Council members and would also be sent to members of the International Press Institute (accurate as of March, 2003, when the paper was presented). Once established, these valid variables could then be tested against data from secondary sources, including World Bank World Development Indicators Database and Corruption Studies of Individual Countries, The World Fact Book of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Library of Congress Portal to the World.

The top-scoring variables from the IPRA Council survey are:

• Long-time tradition of self-determination by citizens
• Comprehensive corruption laws with effective enforcement
• Accountability of government to citizens at all levels
• High spending on primary school education as % of GDP
• High liberal and professional education of practicing journalists
• Well-established, publicized, and enforceable journalism code of professional ethics
• Free press, free speech and free flow of information
• High media competition (multiple and competing media)
• Journalists are paid at a professional level

The variables do not measure cash for editorial directly; rather, they are meant to predict relevant behavior, i.e., the propensity for the demand for cash for editorial.

The aggregate data gathered from these variables for each country would account for 50% of an overall scale measurement; the other 50% would be the numerical data gathered from surveys of PR practitioners in each country.

Qualitative Considerations

In order to flesh out the quantitative scale and provide a better grasp of the problem, individual, social, cultural and specific professional peculiarities should be analyzed and interpreted. An understanding of how interactions between PR practitioners and journalists create structures and rules, as well as how the cash for editorial phenomenon is understood in each locale, would add value to the research.

Film at 11:00

For members of the audience who are results-oriented (and you know you should be), you'll be happy to know that the indexing of the countries will appear in the final report, scheduled for release in September 2003.

*Just the Facts

Paper presented at Miami conference:

Identification, Validation and Measurement of Variables Used to Index the Propensity for Demands for "Cash for Editorial" by Countries' Major Consumer News Media to Indigenous Information Subsidies Providers

Presenters:

Dr. Dean Kruckeberg, APR, Fellow PRSA, Professor and Coordinator, Mass Communication Division, Department of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa

Ms. Katerina Tsetsura, Doctoral Student, Department of Communication, Purdue University

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