Week 4: Our promotional culture and the media industry

This post is part of my Journalism, PR & The Media module online portfolio 

This week we are looking at 'Promotional Culture' and the relationship and effect it has had on the media industry, specifically the relationship between journalism and PR.

The set reading almost immediately introduces the importance of promotional material in today's world. PR and promotional strategies are now central concern of business', governments and trades unions, all of which rely heavily upon advertising, branding and promotional material in order for them to survive and compete.

Promotional culture has naturally blended into communication, social relationships and virtually every aspect of ones life, so much so that we know don't even think about it twice now. It is embedded in our world everywhere, it cuts across all forms of media, they way we think and the way we behave. We even brand ourselves on our online platforms, whether it be through Facebook or LinkedIn, our profiles are used to sell ourselves to other people. Branding has crept into every aspect of life.

The rise and growth of the PR industry directly links with the promotional times we are living in. Companies want to use the media to control and influence the public opinion which the PR industry allows them to do successfully, PR is now a key part of all business strategies.

However, this has had an effect on journalism practises. Even though our promotional culture has allowed the PR industry to grow and thrive, the journalism industry has struggled to keep up with the changes and now relies itself on the PR industry which is where we get the issues with churnalism and the PR-isation of news.

There is also now confusion of what is PR and what is Journalism as we discussed in this weeks lecture. For example: advertorials are published in magazines which raises the question, is it a PR technique or is it journalism? An advertorial is an advert disguised as an editorial piece, so does that pass as journalism or does it contribute to the 80% of press material in the broadcast and broadsheet outlets (Hobsbawm).

This advertorial was found in the fashion magazine 'Look'. The content is set out as an article but it is in fact an advert, a PR piece. Advertorials could in fact come under the new branch of journalism known as brand journalism, which is similar to public relations. 

If I was to look into this more I would research whether journalism has benefited in any way from the promotional times I would do this by reading into the subject more and maybe by interviewing some journalists.

Bibliography:

1) Aronczyk, M. (2010) Blowing up the Brand: Critical Perspectives on Promotional Culture. 

2) Miller, D. (2010) Chapter 8: Public Relations in Albertazzi, D and Colbey, P 'The Media: An Introduction' 3rd Edition. United Kingdom: Pearson.