PR provides half the news published in Australian newspapers
About 55 per cent of the news published by Australian newspapers was fed to them by PR and marketing sources, according to a study of 10 newspapers conducted by local university students, the Australian news website Crikey and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism. More than 2200 stories from a five-day period were analyzed. A story was categorized as PR-dependent if it originated from a press release or other promotional material or if it “clearly presented only one, highly positive slant or framed one source in a promotional manner without including any independent verification or additional source.” Individual newspapers’ placings on this PR-dependency scale ranged from 42 per cent (Sydney Morning Herald) to 70 per cent (Daily Telegraph).
About 55 per cent of the news published by Australian newspapers was fed to them by PR and marketing sources, according to a study of 10 newspapers conducted by local university students, the Australian news website Crikey and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism. More than 2200 stories from a five-day period were analyzed. A story was categorized as PR-dependent if it originated from a press release or other promotional material or if it “clearly presented only one, highly positive slant or framed one source in a promotional manner without including any independent verification or additional source.” Individual newspapers’ placings on this PR-dependency scale ranged from 42 per cent (Sydney Morning Herald) to 70 per cent (Daily Telegraph).
