HOW DO JOURNALISTS EXPRESS THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS ON TWITTER?

Abstract

We examined journalists' perceptions of the term public relations (PR) as indicated by their Twitter messages, taking into consideration variables such as media type, and the journalists' followers. The findings suggested that journalists generally used the term PR in a neutral sense, rather than a negative or positive one. As they largely understood PR to be an image-building and/or persuasion effort, journalists were likely to refer in their tweets to PR publicity, image, persuasion campaigns, and marketing efforts to promote an organization's position. A salient finding was that more journalists perceived PR more neutrally or positively than previously. The results suggest a need for systematic and continual efforts to deliver an accurate picture of PR geared to media journalists.