مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد بررسی روزنامه نگاران استرالیا برای روابط عمومی ( الزویر )

مقاله سال 2016

In western liberal democracies political media advising or ‘spin-doctoring’ has long been perceived to have a troubled relationship with truth. In popular culture, scholarly and broader literature, political public relations practitioners have been portrayed as “enemies of democracy, pathological liars, communication perverts and pornographers” (McNair, 2004; 337). In contrast the idealised role of the ‘watchdog’ reporter as defender of democracy and seeker of truth and has come to dominate professional conceptions of journalism (Louw, 2010; Nerone, 2013; Zelizer, 2012).

The centrality of truth to journalism’s professional self-conception cannot be overstated. A journalist’s obligation to tell the truth appears prominently in journalism codes of ethics and professional handbooks (I.F.J., 1986; MEAA, 1998; S.P.J., 2014). As such, journalism’s claim to truth “legitimizes journalism’s special position as Fourth Estate” (Broersma, 2010; 25). While substantial work has been done on the types of ‘spin’ tactics adopted by political media advisers generally, there has been little focus on the transition from journalism to political media advising and how journalists manage issues of ‘truth’ in both roles. While this paper is based on a targeted qualitative study of Australian journalists who crossed over to political PR, their insights are relevant to reporters, media advisers and PR practitioners in other countries such as the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand, which have traditionally had a strong adherence to the journalistic norm of objectivity, and who are dealing with issues of truth in their daily working lives.