How organizations want to be viewed Public relations photographs in online wire services.pdfVIP

Available online at Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 74–76 Short communication How organizations want to be viewed: Public relations photographs in online wire services Samsup Jo ? Department of Public Relations Advertising, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Received 27 March 2007; received in revised form 21 August 2007; accepted 24 August 2007 Abstract The study explored the characteristics of photos in online news wire services. Nearly 70% of the photos represented product, CEO and events when examining photo content. The most distinguished purpose of the public relations photos were publicity and public announcements, followed by image building. Almost all of the publicity photographs were provided by business/industry organizations. Supporting arguments for the independence of public relations do not seem to be voiced by public relations practitioners in the analysis of photos. ? 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Publicity photos; Public relations photos; Online news wire; Image building 1. Introduction One of the biggest advantages of a press release is that it allows for free publicity whereas an advertisement requires the purchasing of media to place the message. Public relations practitioners utilize publicity techniques such as press releases, press conferences, and staged events. These are all designed to draw media attention. It has been known that publicity has two major advantages over advertising: enhanced credibility and reduced costs compared to advertising. Thus public relations practitioners believe that third party endorsement is an essential theoretical assumption to practice media relations. Limited research exists on the public relations photos in spite of their enormous usage in public relations practice. The present study attempts to examine the contents of public relations photos and its impact on media agenda. Public relations practitioners value news releases, which provide news materials and additi