There a ME in Media. Actually, there an I too.

This week's reading is "Engaging with the Media".

The media plays an important part in any PR practitioner's job. After all, the media is what PR practitioners often use to reach out to the public. In week 3, I mentioned some communication theories that formed the basis of PR theories. Again, I'll bring them up, because they can be used to communicate with the many media outlets that are available for PR practitioners to use these days.

The theories include: agenda-setting theory, uses and gratification theory, spiral of silence theory, 2-step flow theory, framing theory, and sociological theory and social reality (which is an extension of framing theory).

Agenda-setting theory proposes that people look to the media for direction on what is considered important and should be paid attention to. Because the media plays such an important role in people's everyday lives, being able to effectively communicate with the media provides an advantage.

Uses and gratification theory opposes the agenda-setting theory by claiming that people have many ways to use the media and reasons for doing so and make their own choices regarding those matters. This theory says that even with repeated exposure, people are not always neccessarily influenced by the media. While it may seem counter-productive, it highlights the need for PR practitioners to be able to communicate with the public, because if indeed they are making their own choices without external influence, then all the more there is an importance to be able to appeal to them directly.

The spiral of silence theory states that peer pressure and group influence are what predispose people to accept or support a popular view or opinion, or ideal that is supported by the majority. This is out of the need to 'fit in', to be accepted, or to not be different. In this way, if the media presents one view, opinion or perspective as being the popularly accepted choice, people will be more likely to adopt that choice for themselves.

In the 2-step flow theory, Lazarsfeld states that the first step is to convince "opinion-makers" that audiences listen to and respect, such as celebrities or spokespersons such as the popular Singaporean blogger Xiaxue. This theory puts these opinion-makers in a position of influence, as they are supposed to be the ones that the public look to for direction on what to do and believe.

Framing theory suggests that audiences can be influenced by the way something is presented to them. Using the media to frame something can therefore influence the public to perceive it in a certain way.

Sociological theory and social reality venture into the topic of what is real and what is fabricated, or constructed. A reality presented by the media, say television, is "socially-constructed". In this way, the media can construct realities to be presented to the public.

And because this topic is about the media, there's also the clichd statement of 'any publicity is good publicity'. Is this true? Is bad press still considered beneficial to an organisation? Well, this is where the various theories can be put to use. ;D

Of course, there's always the reminder that these theouries are dependent on the cultures they are used in. Like I've mentioned before, theories impact different publics differently, as there may be cultural values and beliefs affecting them.