PR in the News: How a Sample of Network Newscasts Framed Public Relations

Abstract

Content analysis was conducted on a random sample of news stories using PRrelated terms on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news broadcasts from 1997 to 2005. A Lexis-Nexis keyword search resulted in 530 transcripts using common references to public relations. Of the 530 stories resulting from the search, 36% were randomly selected for coding. Out of the list of 12 referencing terms, the most common was “public relations.” Overall, the terms were used properly more often than improperly, but the most common type of reference was a cliché. Terms were used negatively more often than positively or neutrally. Politics/government stories had the most negative framing of PR.