Praxis e valores na assessoria de imprensa: A perceção dos jornalistas portugueses / Press office work: information management or manipulation? The perception of the Portuguese journalists

Abstract

O relacionamento entre assessores e jornalistas é um tema tão antigo quanto polémico. Alguns autores encontram uma relação de interdependência na sua prática profissional, enquanto outros entendem a assessoria como para-jornalismo, uma atividade manipulativa da opinião pública, através do agendamento mediático. Tendo presente estas visões antagónicas, este estudo visa explorar qual o tipo de relacionamento que se verifica, no atual panorama português, entre os jornalistas e os assessores de imprensa. Através de uma metodologia quantitativa pretendeu-se compreender, por via da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário, qual a perceção dos jornalistas acerca dos comportamentos, trabalho e valores que regem a assessoria de imprensa. As respostas dos 417 inquiridos revelaram que a maioria dos jornalistas considera existir um ambiente de respeito mútuo, mas também que somente 23% concorda que a relação entre jornalistas e assessores de imprensa é de interdependência. Além disso, a associação da atividade de assessoria com propaganda prevalece na opinião de muitos jornalistas, o que sugere não ter sido ainda alcançada uma real relação de confiança e de espírito de equipa entre ambos os grupos profissionais.

Palavras-Chave: comunicação estratégica; comunicação organizacional; relações públicas; assessoria de imprensa; jornalismo

Abstract

Media relations is at the core of Public Relations activities in both corporate, governmental, and non-governmental level. All and any organisation need to manage their relationship with the informative media to maintain a positive image in the public sphere. However, the relationship between press officers and journalists is a subject as old as controversial. Some authors find an interdependent relationship in their professional practice (eg. Chinem, 2003; Lopes, 2017), while others understand the press office as parajournalism (eg. Schudson, 2003; Ribeiro, 2015a; 2015c), an activity that manipulates the public opinion, through agenda-setting mechanisms (eg. Moloney, 2000). Bearing in mind these conflicting views, the main purpose of this study is to explore and critically discuss the journalist-press officers’ relationship in the current Portuguese landscape. This study is relevant because there is no actual research on the journalism-PR relationship in the Portuguese context.

The article is structured in two main parts. The first part develops a brief theoretical review, which aims to discuss the practical and conceptual frontiers that involve the operational field of press office, situated in the relationship between professional sources of information and journalists. As the perception of the journalist-public relations relationship depends on the social-cultural, political and economic context, differences between countries are also debated in this theoretical section. In the second part of the article the main results of a survey applied to a sample of Portuguese journalists are discussed, to answer the research question that guided this research: How do journalists perceive the work of press advisors and the interactions established between them?

The questionnaire, disseminated via email, was administered between April 3 and June 25 of 2021 and it is focused on the journalist's praxis as well as on the values they attribute to press office work. The scope of this investigation is, therefore, based on the analysis of the routines, practices and values of the Portuguese journalists. According to the responses of 417 journalists, it was ascertained that the majority see a mutual respect environment between Press officers and Journalists. However, only 23% agreed that the relationship between them  is one of interdependence. Even though most journalists prefer to resort to direct sources of information, they recognize the importance of the press office work and admit publishing content disseminated by the press offices, at least once a week. Furthermore, many journalists believe that the press office is actively associated with propaganda and that the journalism sphere could exist without PR practitioners. That suggests that a trustworthy and cooperative relationship between both professional groups has yet to be established.

This research enhances the reflection about the current state of the relationship between the Portuguese journalist and public relations spheres, from the journalist perspective. In addition, new insights are presented about media relations practices that can contribute to make it more proficient and respected. Finally, new avenues of research are proposed, centred in the journalist perspective and in the public relations view.

Keywords: strategic communication; organizational communication; public relations; press office; journalism