Business and News Media Perspectives on the Power of Social Media Publics: Case Finland
Keywords:
PR practitioner, journalist, communicative power, social media, online publicsAbstract
The Internet, social media, and their varied online publics have affected the working processes of public relations (PR) practitioners and journalists. The digital era has enabled access for various online publics, both individuals and communities, to create, share and search information online and also potentially to increase their communicative power by using networks for influencing, challenging or holding businesses and news media accountable. This interview study investigated Finnish PR practitioners’ and journalists’ perceptions of the potential communicative power of individuals and communities operating on social media and the effects these publics’ online presence and activities have on the professionals’ working processes. The results reveal that despite increasing access to monitoring and joining online discussions, both professions show hesitancy in entering into dialogue with confrontational publics. The professionals have quite a positive stand towards easily classifiable individuals, such as bloggers, but fear more arbitrary individuals’ discussions online. Social media’s communities, such as boycott or lobby groups, present a cooperation potential but the professionals lack strategies to confront them. Overall, the communicative power of social media’s individuals and communities is clearly acknowledged and tied to their missions’ and/or issues’ topic, quantity of people involved, amplitude of discussion, media attention and good organization and professionalism of activities and communication. The study shows further need of research and definition of unclassified online publics and new strategies for both professions to confront them amidst the special communication culture of social media.References
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Sormanen, N. & Dutton, W. H. (2015). The role of social media in societal change: Cases in Finland of Fifth Estate activity on Facebook. Social Media + Society, 1(2), 1–16. doi: 10.1177/2056305115612782
Toledanoa, M. & Avidarb. R. (2016). Public relations, ethics, and social media: A cross-national study of PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 161–169.
Uskali, T., Niskala, N & Lauk, E. (2014). Facebook ad hoc groups in Finland: The effects of the Fifth Estate. In T. Pavlickova & I. Reifova (Eds.), Media, Power and Empowerment: Central and Eastern European Communication and Media Conference Ceecom Prague 2012 (pp. 76-81). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
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van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity. A critical history of social media. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
van Ruler, B. (2004). The communication grid: An introduction of a model of four communication strategies. Public Relations Review, 30(2), 123–143.
Volek, J. & Jirák, J. (2007). Professional self-image of the czech journalists: Selected attributes. Media studies, IV, 358–374.
Wall, M. 2015. Citizen journalism. Digital Journalism 3(6), 797–813.
Wilcox, D. L., Ault, P. H., & Agee, W. K. (1995). Public relations strategies and tactics. NY: Harper & Row.
World Audit. (2018). Democracy table March 2018. Retrieved from http://www.worldaudit.org/democracy.htm
Ye, L., & Ki, E.-J. (2012). The status of online public relations research: An analysis of published articles in 1992–2009. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(5), 409–434.
Ananny, M. (2014). Networked press freedom and social media: Tracing historical and contemporary forces in press-public relations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(4), 938–956. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12076
Bode, L., Vraga, E. K., Borah, P., & Shah, D. V. (2013). A new space for political behavior: Political social networking and its democratic consequences. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19, 414–429. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12048
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2), 77–101.
Broom, G. M. & Smith, G. D. (1979). Testing the practitioner’s impact on clients. Public Relations Review, 5(3), 47–59.
Bruns, A. (2007). Produsage: Towards a broader framework for user-led content creation. Proceedings Creativity & Cognition, 6. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00006623/01/6623.pdf
Butterick, K. (2011). Introducing public relations: Theory and Practice. London, UK: SAGE.
Cameron, G. T., Sallot, L. M., & Curtin, P., A. (2012). Public relations and the production of news: A critical review and theoretical framework. In B. R. Burleson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 20 (pp. 111–155). NY: Routledge.
Carlyle, T. (1846). On Heroes, hero-worship, and the heroic in history: Six Lectures: reported with Emendations and Additions. In engl. Sprache. London, UK: Chapman and Hall.
Carroll, A. B. & Buchholtz, A. K. (2009). Business & society: Ethics and stakeholder management. 7th Edition. Mason, US: South Western Educational Publishing.
Castells, M. (2007). Communication, power and counter-power in the network society. International Journal of Communication, 1, 238–266. doi: 1932-8036/20070238
Champoux, V., Durgee, J., & McGlynn, L. (2012). Corporate Facebook pages: When ‘‘fans’’ attack. Journal of Business Strategy, 33(2), 22–30. doi: 10.1108/02756661211206717
Cooper, S. D. (2006). Watching the watchdog: Bloggers as the fifth estate. Spokane, DC, US: Marquette Books.
De Tocqueville, A. (1835). De la démocratie en Amérique [On democracy in America]. Paris, France: Michel Lévy frères libraires éditeurs.
Dozier, D. M. (1992). The organizational roles of communications and public relations practitioners. In J. E. Gruning (Ed.), Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 327–356). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dutton, W. H. (2009). The Fifth Estate emerging through the network of networks. Prometheus, 27(1), 1–15.
Francke, W. (1995). The evolving watchdog: The media's role in government ethics. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 537(1), 109–121. doi: 10.1177/0002716295537000010
Fraser, N. (2007). Transnationalizing the public sphere: On the legitimacy and efficacy of public opinion in a postwestphalian world. Theory, Culture and Society, 24(4), 7–30. doi: 10.1177/0263276407080090
Habermas, J. (1962). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. [English Translation 1989]. Cambridge, MA, US: MIT Press.
Habermas, J. (1996). Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. (W. Rehg, Trans.) Cambridge, MA, US: MIT Press.
Hallin, D.C. & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Hedman, U. (2016). When journalists tweet: Disclosure, participatory, and personal transparency. Social Media + Society, 2(1), 1–13. doi: 10.1177/2056305115624528
Hidri, A. (2012). The fifth estate: Media and ethics. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 5(1), 49–70. doi: 10.1386/jammr.5.1.49_1
Kallunki, E. (2016, March 1). Päätoimittajat vetoavat luotettavan median puolesta [Editors-in-chief appeal for trustworthy media]. Yle Uutiset [Yle news]. Retrieved from http://yle.fi/uutiset/paatoimittajat_vetoavat_luotettavan_median_puolesta__emme_salli_etta_journalisteja_vaiennetaan_painostamalla/8709192
Lee, A. M., Lewis, S. C. & Powers, M. (2014). Audience clicks and news placement: A study of time-lagged influence in online journalism. Communication Research, 41(4), 505–530.
Luoma-aho, V. & Nordfors, D. (2009). Attention and reputation in the innovation economy. Innovation Journalism, 6(2). Retrieved from http://www.innovationjournalism.org/archive/INJO-6-2.pdf
McCombs, M. (2005). A look at agenda-setting: Past, present and future. Journalism Studies 6(4), 543–557.
Newman, N., Dutton, W. H., & Blank, G. (2012). Social media in the changing ecology of news: The Fourth and Fifth Estates in Britain. International Journal of Internet Science 7(1), 6–22.
Niskala, N. & Hurme, P. (2014). The other stance: Conflicting professional self-images and perceptions of the other profession among Finnish PR practitioners and journalists. Nordicom Review 35(2), 105–121.
Ohlsson, J. (2015). The Nordic Media Market 2015 (Nordic Media Trends 13). University of Gothenburg, Sweden: Nordicom.
Pang, A., Chiong, V. H. E., & Hassan, N. B. B. A. (2014). Media relations in an evolving media landscape. Journal of Communication Management, 18(3), 271–294.
Pönkä, H. (2015). Sosiaalisen median katsaus 02/2015 [Review of social media 02/2015]. Retrieved from http://koulutus.purot.net/sosiaalisen_median_tilastoja
Pöyhtäri, R., Väliverronen, J., & Ahva, L. (2016). Suomalaisen journalistin itseymmärrys muutosten keskellä [Self-understanding of Finnish journalists amidst changes]. Media & viestintä 39(1), 1–23.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report. (2017). Suomen maaraportti [Finnish land report]. Uutismedia verkossa 2017 [News media online 2017]. Retrieved from http://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/101610/uutismedia_verkossa_2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Shoemaker, P. & Reese, S. (1996). Mediating the message. Theories of influences on mass media content. New York, NY, US: Longman.
Statistics Finland. (2017). 1. Internetin käytön yleisyys, useus ja yleisimmät käyttötarkoitukset [1. Prevalence of Internet usage, frequency and most common usage manners]. Retrieved from https://www.stat.fi/til/sutivi/2017/13/sutivi_2017_13_2017-11-22_kat_001_fi.html
St. John, B. III & Johnson, K. (2016). Perspectives of an underconsidered stakeholder group: Citizen journalists’ views of public relations practitioners and their materials. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 184–191.
Sormanen, N. & Dutton, W. H. (2015). The role of social media in societal change: Cases in Finland of Fifth Estate activity on Facebook. Social Media + Society, 1(2), 1–16. doi: 10.1177/2056305115612782
Toledanoa, M. & Avidarb. R. (2016). Public relations, ethics, and social media: A cross-national study of PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 161–169.
Uskali, T., Niskala, N & Lauk, E. (2014). Facebook ad hoc groups in Finland: The effects of the Fifth Estate. In T. Pavlickova & I. Reifova (Eds.), Media, Power and Empowerment: Central and Eastern European Communication and Media Conference Ceecom Prague 2012 (pp. 76-81). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Valentini, C. (2015). Is using social media “good” for the public relations profession? A critical reflection. Public Relations Review, 41(2), 170–177. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.11.009
van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity. A critical history of social media. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
van Ruler, B. (2004). The communication grid: An introduction of a model of four communication strategies. Public Relations Review, 30(2), 123–143.
Volek, J. & Jirák, J. (2007). Professional self-image of the czech journalists: Selected attributes. Media studies, IV, 358–374.
Wall, M. 2015. Citizen journalism. Digital Journalism 3(6), 797–813.
Wilcox, D. L., Ault, P. H., & Agee, W. K. (1995). Public relations strategies and tactics. NY: Harper & Row.
World Audit. (2018). Democracy table March 2018. Retrieved from http://www.worldaudit.org/democracy.htm
Ye, L., & Ki, E.-J. (2012). The status of online public relations research: An analysis of published articles in 1992–2009. Journal of Public Relations Research, 24(5), 409–434.
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