The Media, International, Transnational and Global Public Relations

Abstract

Working on and with the media has always been the most practiced and visible part of public relations, but the Internet has completely reconfigured what was for a century understood as a (mass) media system. From providers of information subsidies, public relations is fast transforming into media producers and creators of news and stories, and although many countries impose limits on transborder media, we are witnessing the emergence of a truly global communication. Not every human is integrated equally into this globalised mediated system, but everyone is affected by it, albeit differently. From a media relations point of view, this spawns questions about how to practice media relations in different countries around the world, how to practice media relations across borders, and how to practice global media relations. The media, paid, earned, social and owned are critical to strategic global public relations. By analyzing who controls the media, how much access various segments of the population have to the media (including the blurring of the gatekeeping function), and finally the extent of media outreach, media relations managers will be better able to strategize their public relations approaches in different countries and around the world.