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1 – 10 of over 47000Karen Johnson and Jo Haythornthwaite
Press releases are a major means of communication between the government and the public, and yet they remain an under‐rated and neglected source of data. This paper describes the…
Abstract
Press releases are a major means of communication between the government and the public, and yet they remain an under‐rated and neglected source of data. This paper describes the functions fulfilled by press releases and seeks to evaluate their potential value to the information professions and to researchers by means of interviews with the press officers of two major government departments and two quangos.
To increase understanding of the role, content and effectiveness of press releases.
Abstract
Purpose
To increase understanding of the role, content and effectiveness of press releases.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and quantitative analyses of UK supermarkets' press releases in 2001/2002, a medium previously little researched in marketing, are undertaken.
Findings
Supermarkets seek stakeholder engagement on diverse issues with different mixes of groups. Treating releases as market signals demonstrates the important role of the press as filters and interpreters. Intended messages frequently fail to reach target audiences, and when they do can be significantly reinterpreted, so that positive claims are reported critically and negatively. Larger chains apparently produce more releases and gain more newspaper coverage, but generally volume of releases does not improve likelihood of press coverage.
Research limitations/implications
The nature of qualitative data, the limited time frame, and possible omissions from source archives.
Practical implications
As level of coverage varied independently of turnover, higher release activity of larger chains was questioned. Seeking differentiation through press releases becomes problematic with the press as filters.
Originality/value
This paper increases knowledge of press releases as market communications, and contributes to the literature of market signalling, notably emphasising the press as important signal intermediaries.
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Tania Morris and Hamadou Boubacar
This study aims to examine whether insider purchases made within 30 days prior to the publication of various kinds of press releases earn higher abnormal returns (AR) than those…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether insider purchases made within 30 days prior to the publication of various kinds of press releases earn higher abnormal returns (AR) than those in the absence of such announcements. It also attempts to identify the factors that explain ARs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study considers data for Canadian insider purchases made on the Toronto Stock Exchange 60 Index. An event study methodology is used to calculate AR, and a mixed regression model is used to evaluate the effect of corporate news on AR.
Findings
The empirical results indicate that insiders achieve greater ARs when they purchase stock prior to press releases; findings also show that these returns are specifically related to purchases made before the announcements of mergers and acquisitions, ongoing projects, financial structure, financial results and asset disposals. This is because of the firm effect.
Practical implications
These findings have important implications for Canadian market regulatory authorities, especially the Ontario Securities Commission and other market participants who are interested in corporate governance, such as boards of directors and shareholders.
Originality/value
The present findings show that regulatory bodies must work with companies to raise awareness of improper insider trading.
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Stresses the importance of the effective management of the release ofinformation to the media and the development of media relations.Considers reasons for good and bad press…
Abstract
Stresses the importance of the effective management of the release of information to the media and the development of media relations. Considers reasons for good and bad press. Advises on the presentation of press releases, the elements of their content and their structure. Looks at how additional information should be supplied, and how photographs can be used to illustrate a story. Considers the need to know the media, and how press releases should be tailored to meet media requirements.
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The use of sources in news coverage affects news audience’s perceptions of news events. To extend existing research on inter media agenda-setting and agenda-building effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of sources in news coverage affects news audience’s perceptions of news events. To extend existing research on inter media agenda-setting and agenda-building effects of CSR-related news, the purpose of this paper is to explore the representation and share of voices in CSR-related news by investigating and comparing the use of sources in press releases and news coverage.
Design/methodology/approach
This study content-analyzed the 202 CSR-related press releases published by the two electricity providers in Hong Kong and 1,045 news articles related to the press releases over a five-year period. A total of 402 quotes from the press releases and 1,880 quotes from the news coverage were analyzed, including the types of sources cited, the tone of the sources and variations in the use of sources across seven different CSR themes.
Findings
Although company representatives were quoted the most in both the press releases and news coverage, NGOs, government representatives and industry analysts were the most frequently cited for negative comments in the news coverage. Differences were found between the press releases and news coverage in terms of how frequently different sources were cited, the tone attributed to those sources, and the choice of sources across different CSR themes.
Originality/value
The findings reflect that corporations are not necessarily the most influential voice in CSR and that other groups also have their views represented in the news media. The representation of these voices differed by CSR themes. Corporations are advised to further explore what and how different voices are represented in the news coverage in relation to their CSR activities and to consider these voices when making decisions about CSR.
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Using a general model of corruption that explains and accounts for corruption across professions and institutions, this chapter will examine how certain practices in the media…
Abstract
Using a general model of corruption that explains and accounts for corruption across professions and institutions, this chapter will examine how certain practices in the media, especially in areas where journalism, advertising and public relations regularly intersect and converge, can be construed as instances of corruption. It will be argued that such corruption, as in the case of cash-for-comment scandals, advertorials, infomercials, and infotainment, as well as public relations media releases disseminated misleadingly as journalistic opinion, is regular, ubiquitous, and systematic.
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Audra R. Diers and Jennie Donohue
With the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 and until the well was officially “killed” on September 19, 2010, British Petroleum…
Abstract
Purpose
With the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 and until the well was officially “killed” on September 19, 2010, British Petroleum (BP) did not merely experience a crisis but a five‐month marathon of sustained, multi‐media engagement. Whereas traditional public relations theory teaches us that an organization should synchronize its messages across channels, there are no models to understand how an organization may strategically coordinate public relations messaging across traditional and social media platforms. This is especially important in the new media environment where social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) are increasingly being used in concert with traditional public relations tools (e.g. press releases) as a part of an organization's stakeholder engagement strategy. This paper seeks to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study is a content analysis examining all of BP's press releases (N=126), its Facebook posts (N=1,789), and its Twitter tweets (N=2,730) during the 2010 Gulf crisis (May 20, 2010 through September 20, 2010).
Findings
Results demonstrate BP used a synchronized approach with press releases serving as the hub for their multi‐media strategy.
Originality/value
This paper identifies a synchronized approach for crisis communication in response to organizational transgressions.
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Florian J. Zach, Dejan Krizaj and Brian McTier
The purpose of this study is to test the usefulness of the literature-based innovation output (LBIO) approach to identify innovation types from press releases of hospitality firms…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to test the usefulness of the literature-based innovation output (LBIO) approach to identify innovation types from press releases of hospitality firms and to evaluate if the typology captures the effect of innovation on firm value.
Design/methodology/approach
The LBIO approach was applied to three years of press releases from two publicly traded lodging firms in the USA announcing innovations. A database of lodging and innovation relevant terms was compiled. Starting with classifications found in the innovation literature, the researchers coded each announcement. Coded announcements were clustered into innovation types using pairwise similarity analysis. Event study analysis assessed the efficacy of the overall method to find types that were useful to measure the impact on firm value from the company’s adoption of an innovation.
Findings
Cluster analysis identified four lodging innovation types: property and location, marketing, strategic development and guest experiences. These types corresponded closely with the innovation classification suggested by the Oslo Manual. The event study found that the typology was useful in determining the market value effects of an innovation.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on innovation; future studies might test other organizational factors. The study uses data from two large, publicly traded hospitality firms and may not extend to smaller, privately held businesses. A key implication is that human coding is sufficient to identify innovation types that correspond closely with existing classifications and affect firm value.
Originality value
This study successful learns from hospitality press releases to identify a hospitality innovation typology and tests type impact on firm value.
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How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets? Drawing on interviews, direct observation, and the analysis of 2,497 press…
Abstract
How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets? Drawing on interviews, direct observation, and the analysis of 2,497 press releases, I show how pro-cannabis activists used distinct framing strategies at different stages of institutional development to negotiate the moral boundaries surrounding medical cannabis, diluting the market’s stigma in the process. Social movement organizations first established a moral (and legal) foothold for the market by framing cannabis as a palliative for the dying, respecting moral boundaries blocking widespread exchange. As market institutions emerged, activists extended this frame to include less serious conditions, making these boundaries permeable.
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F.T. Seyidov, Y. Mansoori and J. Taghi Nezhad
This paper seeks to address the preparation of new compositions of hydrophobicizing liquids as release agent for press moulds in the production of plastic articles of all kinds of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to address the preparation of new compositions of hydrophobicizing liquids as release agent for press moulds in the production of plastic articles of all kinds of polymers.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixtures of thermo‐stable polyethers (copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide) and polyols esters/mixed esters in the presence of phenothiazine as antioxidant were prepared and tested.
Findings
All compositions were tested and compared with silicone oil polymethylsiloxane‐100 (PMS‐100). The lubricant was manually applied on a hot surface (160‐190°C) of tray of press mould, without any change in the operating cycle. The finished products were easily removed from press mould, and showed higher durability. The release agent was also checked for production of polyethylene lids by automatic moulding at 170‐200°C, and 17 lids have been obtained on one application. This is quite a good result compared with silicone oil PMS‐100, which produced only four to five lids.
Research limitations/implications
Because of complexity of obtained mixture, it was impossible to study the structure and composition of the obtained products by modern spectroscopy techniques.
Practical implications
In order to obtain compositions of optimum properties a lot of mixtures were prepared and tested. Only compositions which showed suitable properties were reported.
Originality/value
This paper provides detailed information on the experimental preparation of 37 compositions for hydrophobicizing mould release agents. Testing of different obtained hydrophobicizing liquids showed positive results, in production of plastic household articles, over silicone oil PMS‐100. The finished products were easily removed from press mould and prepared hydrophobicizing liquids showed higher durability than silicone oil PMS‐100. The obtained compositions are also favored from the point of view of commercial availability and ecology and can be considered as replacements for PMS‐100 release agent.
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