A Compromised Fourth Estate
UK news journalism, public relations and news sources
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7501577 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Justin Lewis (0000-0003-2144-7971, corresponding author), Andrew D Williams (0000-0002-0411-3171), Andrew Williams (0000-0001-8724-0856, corresponding author), Bob Franklin (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2008-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journalism Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-670X • E-ISSN: 1469-9699 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14616700701767974 |
| OpenAlex | W1608119483 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 186 |
| References cited | 9 |
The suggestion that the activities of public relations professionals and news agencies help to shape news content in national and local news media is increasingly commonplace among journalists, academics and public relations professionals. The findings from this study provide substantive empirical evidence to support such claims. The study analyses the domestic news content of UK national “quality” newspapers (2207 items in the Guardian, The Times, Independent, Daily Telegraph and the mid-market Daily Mail) and radio and television news reports (402 items broadcast by BBC Radio 4, BBC News, ITV News and SkyNews), across two week-long sample periods in 2006, to identify the influence of specific public relations materials and news agency copy (especially reports provided by the UK Press Association) in published and broadcast news contents. The findings illustrate that journalists’ reliance on these news sources is extensive and raises significant questions concerning claims to journalistic independence in UK news media and journalists’ role as a fourth estate. A political economy analysis suggests that the factors which have created this editorial reliance on these ‘information subsidies’ seems set to continue, if not increase, in the near future
Advertising · Agency (philosophy · Business · Content analysis · Fourth Estate · Guardian · Independence (probability theory · Media relations · Media studies · News media · News values · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sample (material · Social science · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Media Studies and Communication · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Law
Introduction
Civic Engagement and Elite Decision-Making in Europe
The association between exaggeration in health related science news and academic press releases
The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
The trouble with ‘trust’ in news media
Economic Journalism and the Elitist Approach
Just Copy and Paste? Usage and Patterns of Social Media Sources in Online Articles on Sport
Investigating the role of professional disruption in Chinese journalists’ embrace of public relations
Estresse Ocupacional Na Mídia Impressa
Abnegation, accommodation and affirmation
Trust has a price?! Unraveling the dynamics between trust in the media and the willingness to pay in the post-pandemic scenario
Situational effects of journalistic resources on gender imbalances in the coverage of Swiss news media
The fourth estate operating by means of silencing
News coverage of scientific discoveries in Qatar
Signalling media professionalism
News framing of e-cigarettes
Making sense of exceptional planning decisions
Una revisión de los condicionantes de la profesión periodística desde la perspectiva sociológica de McNair ¿Es viable un periodismo profesional de calidad
Corporations, Consumerism and Culpability
Towards a Critique of Mediatisation
Smileys Without Borders. A Critique of Transboundary Interaction Between Politicians, Journalists and PR Practitioners on Social Media
Statistics as news
Media and Climate Change
Climate Skepticism in British Newspapers, 2007–2011
Discursive Strategies for Climate Change Reporting
Las fuentes en el sistema híbrido de medios
An effective ‘weapon’ for the weak? Digital media and interest groups’ media success
Selected by expertise? Scientific experts in German news coverage of Covid-19 compared to other pandemics
Similar challenges but different responses
Convergent News? A Longitudinal Study of Similarity and Dissimilarity in the Domestic and Global Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Investigating ‘Churnalism’ In Real-Time News
Journalismus als Adressat von Hochschulkommunikation
Who Has a Voice in the Energy Transition in the U.S. States? A Fifty-State Study of Local News
Factors of political influence on journalistic activities in a post-communist consolidated democracy
Copy, paste, and publish
Governance and Media Attention
Pulling a rabbit out of a hat
News selection and framing
A New Application of Social Impact in Social Media for Overcoming Fake News in Health
The representation of future generations in newspaper coverage of climate change
Evolution of a Government Photo Op
Managing Dissent
Storylines in the Sands
Health Canada Framing during the Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
Journalists and bloggers. Professional identities and practices in food risk/benefits communication in Spain
Evolving Responsibility or Revolving Bias? The Role of the Media in the Anti-Sugar Debate in the UK Press
Journalists and Political Sources in Nigeria
What Makes News Newsworthy
Sources, media, and modes of climate change communication
Journalists–sources relationship in violent conflicts coverage
News Values Revisited
Journalism Metadiscourse on Professional Identity and Verification in UAE
Growing Government Secrecy
Effects of the 2008 Crisis on Agenda Building
Journalistic Mobility Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic
How Do Investigative Journalists Initiate Their Stories? Exploring the Investigative Ecosystem of Switzerland
Stabbing News
Articulating Statistics in Science News in Arab Newspapers
The Elephant(s) in the Newsroom
The Power of Commercial Influences
I Feel Burnout as a Journalist”
Pushy or a Princess
Sources and Journalists” Revisited
Four Rumours and an Explanation
The Turncoat Phenomenon
Populist Twitter Posts in News Stories
The Communicative Action of Journalists and Public Information Officers
Press coverage of the UK military budget
Communication, media and environment
Newswork in crisis
Whose voices are heard in the news? A study of sources in television coverage of the Scottish independence referendum
The interaction of journalism and public relations in Russia
Disappointment or hype? Framing artificial intelligence in the US elite news media
Normal Viewing Will Be Resumed Shortly
Emergency Infrastructure and Locational Extraction
The effects of access restrictions and communication strategies for divisive environmental management
Assessing the Sustainability of Latin American Investigative Non-profit Journalism
How Journalists Source Trending Social Media Feeds
A Constructivist Study of Trust in the News
These Grey Areas”
Shifting Power Centers and News Sources
Measuring the Impact of Pr on Published News in Increasingly Fragmented News Environments
Reconceptualising Transparency in Journalism
Negotiating the News
Promoted Media Coverage of Court Decisions
Sources that Trigger the News
Measuring Media Content Concentration at a Large Scale Using Automated Text Comparisons
Subsidizing The News
A Gatekeeper among Gatekeepers
Who Leads the IPO News
The Loss of Expertise in Campaign Coverage? Political Aficionados and Experts in Policy News
Think Tanks, Television News and Impartiality
The decline in orally negotiated news
The evolution of anonymity in The Economist
A gift to the community? Public relations, public art and the news media
Mapping and characterising changes to risk amplification within the British Press
La información periodística de portada en España
Every Day I Write the Book
The Sourcing of Stories on Sugar and the Supermarket Industry in the British Press
The dialectic of (menopause) zest
| Unique citing works | 186 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 10,33 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 186 |