Introduction

In a rapidly changing media landscape, the question is—how are technological, economic and political developments affecting journalism and public relations? Some scholars predict that such changes of position present a threat to the communications field in general (Mellado & Hanusch, 2012). Here we try to explore this issue further.

Journalists and public relations professionals have had a difficult, interdependent and always complicated relationship. The old, often mentioned statement that journalists treat public relations with contempt still seems relatively common. While public relations as a profession shows growth in many areas, journalists are having a hard time with increased work hours, decreased salary, lowered status, job satisfaction and burnout (Yun & Yoon, 2011). Some authors believe that this type of work environment adds to their antagonism towards public relations (DeLorme & Fedler, 2003; Yun & Yoon, 2011). On the other hand, it is possible that these negative opinions have roots in the differing goals, incompatible values and conflicting ethics of the two professions (Mellado & Hanusch, 2012). While there is some evidence of similarities in professional values (Curtin, 1999; Nejiens & Smit, 2006), other studies have shown that public relations practitioners are less negative about journalists (Nejiens & Smit, 2006).

However, in spite of their differences, the growing dependence of both professions on each other once again raises the question of how journalists and public relations professionals perceive and evaluate each other (Nejiens & Smit, 2006). Are journalist’s views of public relations professionals really as negative as previous research shows? Are public relations practitioners more positive in their perceptions of journalists? It seems that lasting issues of both professions feeling misjudged could be reduced by a higher level of understanding and knowing each other better. There have been a few studies which applied coorientational theory to test public relations practitioners’ and journalists’ views toward each other (Shaw & White, 2004; Stegall & Sanders, 1986; Yun & Yoon, 2011). Here, we propose to build on some of these studies and examine various elements of this complex relationship. How do public relations professionals perceive journalists and vice versa? Is their view of the other profession connected to their own job satisfaction? How do both professions perceive their influence on the reputation of various organizations and how do they estimate the influence the other profession has?