PR Personnel and Print Journalists: A Comparison of Professionalism

• Published in: Journalism & mass communication quarterly 1977-10, Vol.54 (3), p.492-497
• Main Authors: Nayman, Oguz, McKee, Blaine K, Lattimore, Dan L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ethic/Ethics/Ethical; Job/Jobs; Journalist/Journalists; Profession/Professions/ Professional/ Professionals/ Professionalism/ Professionalized; Public; Relations/Relational; Satisfaction
• ISSN: 1077-6990; 0196-3031; 2161-430X
• DOI: 10.1177/107769907705400307

A summary is presented of two separate surveys conducted with public-relations personnel & daily journalists in Colo. The study was designed to measure: (1) self-perceived values of professionalism, eg, expertise, autonomy, responsibility, & commitment, (2) ethical considerations by both groups with respect to their jobs, (3) job satisfaction, & (4) SE characteristics. Questionnaires were mailed to 318 Colo daily journalists selected randomly from a population of 520 (return rate N=181; 57%). The total population of 160 practitioners was included in the public-relations survey (58% return). A twenty-one-item professional-orientation scale was used with other questions regarding job satisfaction & SE background. The measuring instrument basically included structured questions with fixed alternatives. A semantic differential scale was employed to measure the attitudes of professional ethics. The significant results included: (A) Nearly 66% of the public-relations practitioners had previously worked in the media, & more than 50% of the journalists indicated the possibility of entering public relations if the monetary incentives were great enough. (B) Public-relations personnel place more emphasis on making decisions within their work organization, while journalists appear resigned to their very slight influence on the policy of the newspaper. (C) Journalists seem to be more interested in serving the public; they consider it as a mission of their profession. (D) Such professional attributes as opportunity for originality & initiative, full use of one's abilities, & training are equally shared in importance by both groups. (E) Both groups tend to regard ethical principles of their profession highly. 2 Tables. Modified AA.