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L8-A1: Research Paper 1
L8-A1: Research Paper
Jason Antu
INTS 3300-[section 1]
Dr. Gail Bentley
Texas Tech University

Abstract
The central view on how hydraulic fracturing alters and effects its surrounding communities and
families is a major issue. However a more major underlying issue is how hydraulic fracturing is
being portrayed in the media. This portrayal is what gives influence to legislation or lack of it to
fracking sites. It is what may either increase, decrease or eliminate the economic means for a
town to survive with. It is to say not the actions themselves that cause these results, but it is the
influence that sways the belief skewing these actions to happen. The emphasis being on
utilizing an Interdisciplinary approach in trying to understand this issue. The information is taken
from a Public Relations point of view, along with insight with its relationship the Media. The
combination of these perspectives gives insight in not only the message of "what', but also the
message of "how". This gives insight to the formulation as well as the strategic messaging tactics
used in both ends of a polarized spectrum. The logical resolution came from a combination of
implementing legislature as well as utilizing a Public Affairs approach to informing to the best
interests of the general public.

The increasing population of the world along with advancing technology comes into play
with our energy resources. With our energy resources becoming more and more finite, there also
comes into question the logistical means to which we gather these resources. This brings to the
discussion of the implementation of Hydraulic Fracturing. But not to dilute the mechanical
means and logistics of Hydraulic Fracturing with regards to the theaters of engineering or the
effects on the environment. The central view on how hydraulic fracturing alters and effects its
surrounding communities and families is the major issue.
Step 1: State the Focus Question
A more major underlying problem to this issue is how hydraulic fracturing is being
portrayed in the media. This portrayal is what gives influence to legislation or lack of it to
fracking sites. It is what may either increase, decrease or eliminate the economic means for a
town to survive with. It is to say not the actions themselves that cause these results, but it is the
influence that sways the belief skewing these actions to happen.
The issue in question that will be focused on is how does the media portray Hydraulic
Fracturing without bias from the influence of Public Relations ,and the Media? This issues stems
from political organizations attempting to create "smear campaigns" or the fuel industry directly
manufacturing their own propaganda to the families and the surrounding community. (Lee, 2012)
A combination of scholarly articles from different areas of concentration with a scope of
qualitative data is what is used. The criteria of openness and discretion of a factual presentation
of information is the key to creating a solution. . The emphasis being on utilizing an
Interdisciplinary approach in trying to understand this issue from more than one perspective, in

order to maximize the number of opportunities and results of a successful solution (Repko, 2012
).
Step 2: Justify Using an Interdisciplinary Approach
The understanding of the effects of hydraulic fracturing being portrayed in the media, is a
complex problem. Its complexities exist in the branches of influence that it reaches. We can
justify an Interdisciplinary approach by delegating and utilizing different areas of concentration
to fragment these branches in order to synthesize a more tailored fit to the problem of hydraulic
fracturing. (Repko, 2012 ) Media and fracking individually are large bodies of complex problems
in and of themselves. Combining the two to evaluate a complex problem is one of four
requirements according to Repko the focus question has in inherent complexity due to the
combined subjects. Also Repko instructs us that the problem is not confined to a single
discipline. This is true in that hydraulic fracturing and the media are two separate entities with
sub areas for each of the two. Finally a third criterion that the issue meets is in that it does have a
need to solve a social problem. The understanding that the media has a powerful influence on the
general public makes it a societal problem in how it affects many areas of life for the
surrounding communities. (Moldavan, 2014)
Step 3: Identify Relevant Disciplines
With the overall scope and magnitude of the problem of hydraulic fracturing's image in
the media, multiple disciplines are required. However, several factor comes into play as to what
disciplines will be of most use to helping find a solution. (Repko, 2012 ) We can look at schools
of communication such as Advertising. Advertising gives us an insight on attempting to sway or
influence a potential buyers beliefs encouraging them with a call to action. While the insight

would provide some valuable information, the issue lies not with creating a call to action, but in
that the public is being swayed by actions already being done in hydraulic fracking's image in the
media. Another possible discipline to utilize is that of Sociology. Sociology studies society as a
whole, and its habits as a collective group rather than an individual. This could also provide
some critical understanding as to how the community could react to the medias influence on
hydraulic fracturing. The only issue is in that with Sociology it becomes too broad of a spectrum
in the social sciences, with multiple variables unaccounted for, it wouldn't be able to provide the
exact information for the problem. . The main disciplines that will be utilized is primarily based
off of a Public Relations narrative with an approach utilizing qualitative research, as well as
information from articles regarding Electronic Media and Communication with qualitative
information. The combination of these perspectives gives insight in not only the message of
"what', but also the message of "how". Public Relations, specializes in maintaining relationships
between large business and companies and the public. (Fitzpatrick, 2002)This is the exact frame
of context that we will be analyzing in how we approach the issue. Electronic Media and
Communication, is the vehicle for Public Relations to maintain its relationships. This will also
satisfy the need for gathering a perspective in how to solve the problem of hydraulic fracturing's
conflict in the media.
Step 4: Conduct a Literature Search
With regards to the literature research, there is a tone of retrospect in that Public
Relations moral conduct is subjective to the publicist. The idea of what is being framed and
delivered to the public is at the discretion of how the PR publicist deems it necessary. (White,
2010)Their definition of serving the public is only in doing so while remaining loyal to the

company ,and serving the best interests of the company. According to (Stoker, 2012) Public
Relations professionals have a vested interest in ensuring the successful image of the company
while trying to also advocate for social responsibility. Also with this (Fitzpatrick, 2002) states
that the PR industry as a whole is a self- regulated system that its practitioners set the standard
for what is considered ethical. And it must rely on these same practitioners to hold accountability
on each other in order to ensure a moral compass is put into place to ensure a credible
representation of the information. (Fitzpatrick, 2002) Coinciding with how Public Relations
determines the what for many topical issues in fracking, the logistical means to perpetuate the
messages given is greatly influenced by the use of social media. With this understanding, (Yoo,
2014) explains how Twitter acts as tool for micro blogging opinions and thoughts toward
specific issues. Tweets are used to reflect the personal views of opinion leaders and then are
seeded into other channels of social media, such as Facebook. This in turn begins to influence the
digital conversation of what the attitude is towards a specific topic. One case could be an
individual is strongly opposed to hydraulic fracturing ,and would Tweet about his negative
beliefs towards it and seed that message to his followers. In contrast another individual in
support of hydraulic fracturing could just as easily do the opposite.
Step 5: Developing Adequacy
The overall understanding of the issue is to understand what information to best address
the problem directly. According to (Repko, 2012 ) developing adequacy requires that there be
enough basic knowledge and understanding of each discipline in order to formulate key outlines
for addressing the problem. This will allow to thread together key insights and theories that offer
information that is useful in addressing the issue. This understanding will thus allow the ability

to thread together common insights between PR and Electronic Media. Public Relations in its
own camp views its practice as maintaining relationships ,and conveying intentions. (White,
2010) One issue that comes into play is the negative connotation PR has been given due to the
miss use of Agenda Setting. (Fitzpatrick, 2002) Through this theory, media elite are what set the
discussion for "what" is to be talked about and in such extreme cases the "why". (White, 2010)
This also is what has created the mis-trust for PR firms. A large hydraulic fracturing company
could have an incident and try to mask it over with a PR specialist attempting to frame it as a
small incident , could easily be blown out of proportion simply due to the presence of a PR
specialist. But as a counter weight to the abuse, having a self regulated system in PR also allows
for it to be self policed and held to a higher standard, making immoral actions that much harder
to act out on. (Fitzpatrick, 2002). This would then have an opposite effect in a general public
having more trust in a hydraulic fracturing company coming out in the open about the incident
with a PR specialist. While the other discipline corresponds with the "How", Electronic Media
and Communication, is the other ingredient that forms a recipe for bias. Media and
Communication practitioners utilize a similar archetype as the Public Relations Specialists in
what they use is the theory of Framing (Moldavan, 2014). Much like agenda setting Framing
only highlights key points and emphasizes only certain points of a topic or issue (Pedersen,
2014). This theory in itself is one of the most common reasoning's behind the mistrust in the
media as a whole. It selectively formulates a strategic lens on what it omits and emphasizes.
Whenever the media whether social or news, selectively showcases a company in a negative
light. But it is in understanding the lethality of how these tools and theories can be abused and
manipulated that we can begin to formulate a better safe guard against them. This comes into
play when the public becomes more informed and aware of the potential biases in the media.

Step 6: Analyze the Problem and Evaluate Each Insight or Theory
The problem being analyzed is one that is of great complexity and is justified in using an
interdisciplinary approach. It is however also in the same scope according to (Repko, 2012 ) to
view the problem from different perspectives, in order to reveal any potential strengths or
limitations that are present. This understanding gives direction as to where the disciplines are to
be strategically implemented for the fullest effect of their specificity.
Insights from Public Relations
The underlying tone of what the media portrays is in a skewed frame of what the media is
being fed from the sources that it gathers information from. A hydraulic fracturing site may have
an incident and releases a statement to the media, the media then takes the information and alters
it. This is what begins to construe the perceived value of what is a more practical and informal
rather than what is an exaggerated claim to purposeful practice of keeping the public informed
(Fitzpatrick, 2002).
Collectively Public Relation specialists are universal interpreters of the clients they
represent whether corporate or political so Hydraulic Fracking companies are no exception. The
PR specialist is tasked to take the information given and to translate it into a more favorable light
or perspective in order to gain favor or avoid conflict (Lee, 2012). If an incident occurs on a
hydraulic fracturing site, the company consults the PR specialist , then releases a statement to the
media, rather than going directly to the media.
However, in contrast, oppositional to this is when Public Relations is also used to take
information that is given and to selectively alter its image to attack or discredit an opposition or
rival (White, 2010).Whenever an politically based environmental party utilizes known facts
about a hydraulic fracturing company in order to attempt to discredit them. Both of these

methods are done with the practice of Framing theory. It is in the act of utilizing this theory that
the general public has become more polarized in its views on fracking companies (Stoker, 2012).
The polarization comes into play as PR specialists on either spectrum of supporting
fracking, or opposing it utilize the same facts but construes them so much that the perception of
truth itself almost is a contradiction (Stoker, 2012). This creates a large divide between the two
groups opposing potentially reasonable compromises with regards to either environmental or
economic gain. The paradox lies in that the PR specialist is following their own perceived
morality of duty, thus not doing anything immoral, but only being seen that way (Fitzpatrick,
2002).
Insights from Electronic Media and Communication
Now while Public Relations dictates the "what" of the fracking conversation. Then it is
the Media and Communication side that determines the "how". Media is what provides the
logistical foundation for PR to build its momentum off of (Pedersen, 2014).
The Media provides a voice to the thoughts and messages of politicians , businesses and
corporations. The potential in creating conflicts of interest lie in the mistranslated messages of
the sender (Pedersen, 2014). While a PR specialist may hold a press conference to a large party
of opinion leaders, the opinion leaders may then interrupt the message differently then seed out
their interpretation across social media platforms creating an entirely different message (Yoo,
2014).
It then begins to spread and mutant into different variations of the same truth. This
mutation then begins to be traced back to the originator being the PR specialist. Now while the
mutated variation may be nothing like the original message sent out, it still binds the sender to its
new misconstrued meaning (Jackson, 2014). This then creates a fallacy of mistrust and lack of

confidence in the original sender, who from the beginning did nothing other than tell their
perceived version of the truth. A hydraulic fracturing may have a legitimate incident that it
addresses directly, but via the mutation of information , it now has become a damage report on
what was not done, and what has failed to be done on said fracking site.
So in a motion to combat the mutation of messages, the collective media whether PR or
otherwise, begin to practice in the theory of Agenda setting. The idea of Agenda setting then
begins to dictate how the recipient is supposed to perceive the message (Lee, 2012). This is done
by invoking imagery or utilizing key words that connate either a negative or positive influence to
skew the recipient in either direction (Moldavan, 2014). The issue there in lies how Agenda
setting could become abused with regards to facts , and creating illusions of information that are
not representative of the actual message.
Step 7: Identify Conflict Between Insights and Their Sources
The integration of complex problem solving cannot come from compounding disciplines
that are the same, as they will skew data and information in the direction of only one perspective.
It is according to (Repko, 2012 ) that integration can only be achieved by things that are
different. Integration is most effective when there is a form of conflict or difference, otherwise
integration is not a necessary function (Repko, 2012 ). The relationship between PR and
Electronic Media Communication, creates lots of overlap in the understanding that they share
many of the same theories. The critical understanding is in being able to distinguish the lens that
these theories are enacted from. While PR may actually practice a delivery in Framing, its
version of framing is a more calculated truer version having come closer from the source (Lee,
2012). The Electronic Media version, will have a more hollow perception as it only echoes a
delivery of the original message while supplementing it with its own insights. Agenda Setting is

also a shared commonality, but again there is a separation in implementation. While the PR
theory of Agenda Setting is in the act of conveying information that strategically chooses to
present while also supplementing an agenda with adjacent information that may be relevant to
the issue (Stoker, 2012). The Electronic Media form of agenda setting is more focused on
providing information that it is has actively chosen to omit from the public.
STEP 8: Create Common Ground
The unification of providing common ground is according to (Repko, 2012 ) an
essential aspect of forming a solution. The theory of common ground is what forms the basis for
a more collaborative communication and interdisciplinary integration. (Repko, 2012 ) One of the
key factors in Hydraulic Fracturing is in the language that is used in a varied form of jargon from
discipline to discipline. PR and Electronic Media do share the same theories they are just
implemented differently based on their interpretation of discipline. A way to unify these is if you
compound the variations of the theories between the two disciplines as a gradual process
involving both rather than a single step in separate schools of thought. This way of unifying them
according to (Repko, 2012 ) is with the technique of Extension. This simply put is increasing the
scope of the subject being reviewed, as a conceptual increase. This extends the meaning of a
particular theory or definition beyond the domain of that particular discipline. (Repko, 2012 )
This equates to expanding the definition of each theory to encompass the definition of both
disciplines supplementing and augmenting each other. Agenda setting would thus be the initiated
message of the PR Specialist , while cooperating with Electronic Media to also convey a
complete message. This would also influence framing for the PR practitioner to release a
message while also creating a message suitable for the different mediums of Electronic Media in
order to have a more cohesive delivery (Fitzpatrick, 2002).

STEP 9: Construct a More Comprehensive Understanding
To evaluate the understanding of the overall process in integrating PR and Electronic
Media, according to (Repko, 2012 ), we must have a more comprehensive understanding and
unpack its meaning. This can be inferred from using the Extension technique from Step 8, in
compounding the theories of each discipline into one large broad definition. Agenda setting will
thus be controlled from the source and then work with the receiver to ensure an accurate delivery
(Lee, 2012). The process of Framing would then, have a cohesive tone of corresponding facts
and having the same directional sense of perception from the same source. We then have a
unified set of theories that we now know will encompass aspects of Public Relations, and then be
easily interchanged with Electronic Media and Communication (Jackson, 2014). The PR
publicist would seed out a predetermined representation of information on a social media
platform on behalf of the Hydraulic Fracturing company. The PR publicist would also have
readily available press kits designed to be utilized for social media platforms in order to ensure a
more accurate conveyance of the message. Electronic Media would then become an extension of
Public Relations, rather than an opposing contradiction of information.
STEP 10: Communicating the Results
The overall process of utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to solving a complex
problem is one that must be open and flexible. According to (Repko, 2012 ) reflection of
interdisciplinary method is a self conscious one that can be formed into different insights. The
concluding story is that in theater of communication and the media, there is not set flow process,
rather it is a continuous balancing act to maintain. There will always be some kind of un-
measureable variable that can skew the results and create a false truth. Given within any context
of information, the truth can be created out of any perceived reality of the spectator. This

realization gives way to seeking a means to create a framework for what is deemed as universal
truth. The ideal solution for a cohesive synergistic relationship with the media and its delivery of
information, is that it forms taboos that it holds true within itself. Much how PR practitioners are
self-governing and self policing, so too should the media be in all aspects in regards to
information that is crucial to the well being and quality of life for those involved in crucial trades
such as hydraulic fracturing.

REFFERENCES
Bibliography
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Jackson,J.A. (2014). The Brave NewWorldof Social Media. Judges'Journal,12-15.
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Leadership,Knowledge,TrainingandCompliance. JournalOf MassMedia Ethics,80-96.
Moldavan,G. (2014). MediaEthicsin The Idealogical Contextof the TwentiethCentury. Contemporary
ReadingsIn Law & Social Justice,589-593.
Moreno,M. A.(2013). Ethicsof Social MediaResearch:CommonConcernsandPractical Considerations.
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Pedersen,R.T.(2014). NewsMediaFramingof Negative Campaigning.MassCommunication&Society.
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Repko,A.F. (2012 ). Interdisciplinary Research Processand Theory . Los Angeles,London,New Delhi,
Singapore,WashingtonDC:SAGEPublications.
Stoker,K.&. (2012). The Paradox of PublicInterest:How ServingIndividualSuperiorInterestsFulfill
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Voshel,E.H. (2015). Social Media& Social WorkEthics: DeterminingBestPracticesinanAmbiguous
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White,C.&. (2010). Publicperceptionsof publicrelations. PublicRelationsReview,319-324. .
Yoo, J.&. (2014). How doJournalistsexpressTheirPerceptionsof PublicRelationsonTwitter? Social
Behavior& Personality:An InternationalJournal,42(7),,1175-1182.

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