Mind the gap: Consequences of inter-role conflicts of freelance journalists with secondary employment in the field of public relations

Abstract

Freelance journalists who are also occupied in public relations have to deal with contrary expectations. Working as a journalist means contributing to the 'public duty' of journalism. When doing public relations work, journalists have to represent the particular interests of their clients. If journalists cannot fulfill these contradictory expectations, they experience inter-role conflicts. What are the consequences of these role conflicts? We conducted a quantitative online survey with German freelance journalists who also do public relations work. We observed that participants are often troubled by interrole conflicts. They feel tense and uncertain whether they see themselves as journalists or as public relations practitioners. Having internalized a normative perception that journalists must not do public relations work, they experience even more intense interrole conflicts and consequently feel more stressed at work. Moreover, even if their job satisfaction on average remains moderate, when facing inter-role conflicts freelance public relations journalists feel less satisfied with their job situation in general.

Deep Impact? How Journalists Perceive the Influence of Public Relations on Their News Coverage and Which Variables Determine This Impact

“…A secondary employment in the PR sector (β = −.10, p = .01) also increased the impact of PR, supporting H2b. 3 PR journalists might be less inhibited to use PR for their journalistic coverage and also reuse thematic ideas of their PR activities for their journalistic work (Koch & Obermaier, 2014; Obermaier & Koch, 2015).…”

“…In contrast, being a journalist with secondary employment in the PR sector was associated with a greater influence of PR. This finding could reflect the scarcity of resources that PR journalists face, their more positive attitude toward PR, or an inadvertent effect of producing PR content and news reporting on the same topics (Koch & Obermaier, 2014; Obermaier & Koch, 2015). In sum, individual-level variables do affect the impact PR materials have on journalistic content.…”

“…Although becoming a PR journalist is financially rewarding, one’s journalistic coverage may, naturally, be more strongly influenced by PR (Koch & Obermaier, 2014; Obermaier & Koch, 2015). First, because PR journalists produce PR themselves, they may assess PR more positively and, in turn, more readily use these materials for their journalistic work (Sinaga & Callison, 2008).…”

Yyteistä uuteen alkuun : toimittajien kertomuksia mediatyön murroksesta

“…Erityisesti tämä koskee journalisteja, jotka siirtyvät tai joutuvat siirtymään vakituisesta toimitustyöstä vapaiksi toimittajiksi tai muuten itsensä työllistäjiksi (Obermaier & Koch 2015). Tämä muun muassa saksalaisessa tutkimuksessa tehty havainto nousi esiin myös meidän tutkimuksessamme:…”

The Turncoat Phenomenon: Role Conceptions of PR Practitioners Who Used To Be Journalists

“…The phenomenon of Turncoats is set against the backdrop of two professions that are to a certain extent mutually exclusive and-at the same time-mutually dependent. They are deemed mutually exclusive since journalists have to contribute to the "public duty" which journalism performs in a democratic society, whereas PR practitioners have to represent their client's particular interests (Obermaier and Koch 2015). These two roles are predominantly portrayed as antithetical (McNair 2004;Salter 2005;Shin and Cameron 2005;Moloney 2006;Moloney, Jackson, and McQueen 2013).…”