Final presentation presented at 21st Annual AMIC Conference at Malaysia

1. SOCIAL MEDIA:
JOURNALISTS, PUBLIC
RELATIONS – TRUST
OR DISTRUST?
BY SHANKAR & DR.
KIRANJIT
A PRACTITIONERS’ PERSPECTIVE July 12, Shah Alam, Malaysia

2. INDEX
 Introduction
 Context
 Objective of Study
 Study – Methodology
 Respondents – India/Malaysia
 Findings
 Conclusion
 Way Forward

3. INTRODUCTION
 News Gathering process – Traditional & New
 Regional media driving circulation & readership
 Internet access – differential
 Use of Social Media by PR Professionals
 Organisation policy & Use of Social Media
 Advent of Smart Phones/Tablets
 Use of SM varies in India & Malaysia

4. CONTEXT FOR STUDY
 Digital Media enables faster & reliable news
gathering process
 With Digital Media becoming ‘Social’ - information
exchange is now web | mobile based
 Advent of SM is leading to virtual engagement
Technology, preference & absorption influences
information exchange
 Location is a major determinant of using SM

5. COMMUNICATION ECO-
SYSTEM
Public Relations Organisation Journalists
Social Media

6. COMMUNICATION ECO-
SYSTEM
Organisation Journalists
Public Relations
Social Media
 Develop road map for better communication strategy that leverages SM
 Help develop SM as effective medium to share information, updates, trends
and better engagement beyond information exchange

7. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
 Understand role of SM in news gathering
 Understand role & impact of SM
 Type of SM being used & its importance in news
reporting or information exchange
 Understand usage of SM in India and Malaysia
 Is SM being leveraged to reach larger audiences

8. METHODOLOGY
 Study focuses on usage of SM among Journalists & PR
For better insights into the above, Indian & Malaysia Journalists
& PR fraternity were approached with questionnaires
Survey in India
 In India – 60 Journalists & PR Practitioners were approached
 E-Mail, Phone & in-person interviews used for data collection
Survey in Malaysia
Survey of 442 Journalists in Malaysia done in 2010 – trying to
understand reliance on digital media
10 PR practitioners in Malaysia from Govt., Consultancy &
Corporate sector
 E-Mail, Phone & in-person interviews used for data collection
Administered the same questionnaire to bring uniformity

9. RESPONDENTS
A. Journalists
Mainline – English & Financial Dailies
Vernacular – Telugu
Television – National & Telugu
B. PR Professionals
PR agency
Corporate Communications
Individual Consultants
C. Locations
Hyderabad | Delhi | Mumbai | Chennai| Bangalore| US
Total Sample Size Approached: 60 & Responded: 35
Journalists: 19
PR Professionals: 16

10. STATS
Newspaper Industry (Source: WPT, 2011 report from WAN-IFRA)
 Publishing industry global revenues - $160 bn annually
 Global Circulation: 519 million – reaches 2.3 bn daily,
with 20% reading on Internet
 Between 2006-10, print circulation has dropped
 India & China are “world absolute leaders in industry”
 Circulation in India grew by 8.23% in 2010-11 – regional
dailies accounting for significant increase
 Malay media is State-owned & State-controlled
Television
 141 million TV households in India – 116 mn connected
by cable, 25 mn. by DTH
Internet
 100 million Internet users in India vs. 500 mn. in China
 17 mn. Internet users in Malaysia – 64% users under 35
Staggering numbers – IGNORE AT ONE’S RISK??

11. RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR
STUDY
 Do journalists use SM as an information source to file
stories – News Gathering Process
 Is SM a credible source to get information – issues of
trust??
 Interplay between journalists, PR professionals & client
– use of SM
 Role of SM as a tool to reach journalists by PR | Client
 Role of SM being leveraged by news media to extend
their reach to consumers

12. SOCIAL MEDIA – TRUST &
PREFERENCES
 News Gathering process changed with advent of SM
 SM is useful tool for FACT-CHECKING & NOT YET used as
resource for news gathering
 SM facilitates by-passing organizational route for
information exchange
 Advent of SM created Citizen Journalism as another news
gathering tool - ACTIVISM
 SM lead to democratization of news gathering process??
However, Institutionalized Mechanism of Media Houses has
not undergone dramatic changes with advent of SM

13. FINDINGS – INDIAN
SCENARIO
 SM Usage in Mainstream English dailies determined
by Seniority in Media house & organization support
 Vernacular print media not yet using SM for news
gathering
 Vernacular TV Channels more proficient in using SM
 National TV Channels use SM for news gathering
 Financial Dailies use SM but are location-specific

14. FINDINGS – INDIAN
SCENARIO
TOOLS
 FB | Twitter being used as ‘leads’ & to get reactions
 Genuine FB | Twitter handle needed to get authentic
information
 YouTube is gaining popularity among Govt. agencies,
Corporate & even young tech-savvy politicos
LinkedIn being used by financial reporters to do
credibility check
Issues
 Lack of training, supervision & resources to verify
information sourced from using SM – Worrying
 Credibility & Authenticity of Information – Larger
Worry

15. FINDINGS – INDIAN
JOURNALISTS
 SM helps build new contacts, conduct due-diligence
 Despite issues on credibility & trust – SM is
appreciated for swiftness, wide reach & enables
cross-checking of information
 SM helps PR & Journalists interact more
professionally
Twitter | FB| YouTube & LI have created spl. media
platforms
 Interactive SM allows for better dialogue
 Journalists, however need to careful in verifying
information & advent of SM has made it pertinent,
more so for TV
 Sports reporters leverage SM for sharing scores,
match updates

16. FINDINGS – INDIAN
JOURNALISTS
Flip side of SM usage – worry for journalists & PR:
 Negative comments by irate customers picked up by
journos to make sensational stories – goes viral pretty
soon: Huge crisis situation for PR & his client
 Media Management difficult NOW than in pre-social
days
 SM reduces engagement quality – virtual builds speed
but loses human connect
 Journalists worry about information exchange over SM
due to privacy – SM service provider has access to data
Paradox in India – Regional Media driving growth in
readership & circulation BUT restricted use of SM –
Organisation Policy: Needs to change

17. FINDINGS – MALAYSIA JOURNALISTS
2010 Survey findings reflect study of 442 Journos:
 Over 90% Journos preferred mail to receive press
releases
 Over 90% journos preferred mail for getting story
pitches
 FB preferred over Twitter, YouTube also fares poorly:
Malay are yet to embrace SM for Journalism profession
State-controlled media don’t rely on SM for news
gathering despite Opposition parties using SM to flay
govt. policies
 Blogs are more popular than SM for Malay journos
RSS Feeds, podcasts, blogs are used sparingly
 PR professionals propagate use of SM for information
exchange but journos prefer blogs/mail for news
gathering

18. FINDINGS – INDIAN
PR
 Use of SM by PR professionals depends on location
 SM as Game-Changer in building client perception
 Credibility of PR guy critical in information-sharing
 Twitter | FB | YouTube major SM channels used to
meet demands of 24x7 media
 Recent news breaks in India have been on SM –
Lalit Modi; Vijay Mallya; Shashi Tharoor etc
 PR guys follow Journalists blogs | Twitter| FB posts
Clients are early adopters – post financial results,
product launches, CEO views on issues | budgets
Clients NOW VERY vulnerable to attacks
SM is an Egalitarian Platform - equal opportunity

19. FINDINGS – MALAYSIAN PR
 Limited use of SM by PR for reaching Journalists
 Journalists seek information over mail not SM
 Websites are better information sources than SM
 SM platform to get story leads – TRUST??
 Despite following FB | Twitter posts, they still cross-
check information using traditional means
 Govt. uses SM to reach public not media
 Firms prefer information exchange in person vs. SM
 Explore SM debate on issues – Usage is more reactive
 Clients still NOT open to SM – issues of control, cost
 Senior journos & CEOs still prefer person vs SM
 Client Use of SM is determined by industry & need

20. SOCIAL MEDIA LEVERAGING
 Media houses use SM to reach younger audience
 Media leverage SM to get customers base, run
promotions
 Collaborative Reporting – leading to activism
 Online marketing helps media grow circulation |
viewership
 Twitter & Blogs becoming key sources of leads &
insights
 SM can go viral pretty fast – motivated campaigns
SM builds “informed society” for news hungry people


21. CONCLUSIONS
 SM is GREAT LEVELLER – speed & reach
 Nascent stage in India & Malaysia with limited use
 SM is powerful “Force Multiplier” – helps cross
boundaries
 Posts on FB|Twitter channel work as leads for story
Journalists are “Early Rejecters” & “Late Adopters”
 Journalists & Media Houses need to use SM for news
gathering BUT have ability to cut co-efficient of
exaggeration
 Rising Internet, Smart-phones give fillip to SM
SM has altered Journalist-PR interactions – low costs
 Digital Media as 5th estate & help credibility for 4th
estate

22. WAY FORWARD
 SM as a source needs to establish credibility &
trust
 Acceptability needs to be addressed
 Corporate use of SM – issues of control, time,
effort
 SM has to grow beyond source for leads of
“News Break”
 SM engagement for both communities needs
more grounding – will help increase interactions
even virtually
 SM is still ONLY Channel NOT Strategy as
engagement model is not established
Move from Frequent to Meaningful Conversation
 Organisation support & empowerment required

23. THANKS FOR YOUR
TIME
Please share your inputs/comments on:
Shankar, HP: +91.99490.93501
Mail: shankar@sparadigm.in
Dr Kiranjit Kaur; (off) 603-5543-5936
Mail: kiran126@salam.uitm.edu.my
Check final presentation @
http://www.slideshare.net/shankarchelluri1