Positive Press Coverage Research Articles

Finally Statehood! Utah's Struggles, 1849–1896

Finally Statehood! Utah's Struggles, 1849–1896

When an Efficient Use of Strategic Communication (Public Diplomacy and Public Relations) to Internationalize a Domestic Conflict Is Not Enough to Gain International Political Support: The Catalan Case (2012-2017)

ABSTRACT One of the main goals of the Catalan nationalist movement toward independence initiated in 2012 was to internationalize the conflict between, in theory, two sides: Catalonia and Spain. In the case of Catalonia, its storytelling tried to offer to the world the view of an entire society intensely mobilized in pro of freedom and independence by peaceful methods, while Spain would be incarnated in an elitist irreducible and defensive government closed to reason and negotiation. This article describes the use of strategic communication (mainly public diplomacy and public relations), a soft power and post-modern resource, by the pro-independence movement in opposition to the use of modern and hard power means by Spain’s government (including appeal to courts, police, and financial pressure, among other means). It describes the efficient use of strategic communication, including para-diplomacy efforts as well as positive press coverage and even “fake news”, by the Catalan pro-independence movement. Nonetheless, the movement was not able to gain the political support of supra-national organizations like the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) or even some major powers such as Germany, which had supported other independence processes in the past. The conclusion is that an efficient use of strategic communication seems to have its limits in the internationalization of internal conflicts and in altering the political status quo when the threatened nation state, in this case Spain, has a solid international position and good democratic credentials.

Urban parks, the growth machine, and the media: An analysis of press coverage of the high line, klyde warren park, and the rail park

ABSTRACT News media have the power to influence public opinion and economic growth. News coverage of landmark urban parks may influence public support of such parks, potentially increasing economic growth. However, some landmark urban parks have been associated with gentrification and displacement. News media may implicitly support local economic growth to the detriment of vulnerable residents through uncritical, positive coverage of park projects. However, the nature of press coverage of landmark urban parks has been scantly studied. This study analyzed news coverage of three landmark urban parks to understand how news media portray such parks and the voices they represent, using comparative thematic analysis. We found both broad support of parks, contributing to a societal master narrative of parks as a universal good, and some critique. Altogether, positive press coverage outweighed criticism. Uncritical promotion of parks could result in continued creation of landmark parks that threaten to facilitate gentrification and displacement.

Presidential Travel and the Rose Garden Strategy: A Case Study of Ronald Reagan's 1984 Tour of Europe

AbstractThe “Rose Garden strategy” has traditionally been understood to refer to presidential activity within Washington, DC, where incumbents drape themselves in the grandeur and symbolism associated with the office of the presidency in an attempt to bolster their public image. This article argues that our understanding of the Rose Garden strategy should be conceptualized more broadly to encompass activities beyond Washington, DC. It does so by examining the role of overseas presidential travel in incumbents' reelection strategies, taking Ronald Reagan's 1984 European tour as a case study. Reconceptualizing our understanding of the Rose Garden strategy offers us a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the president, the public, and the press by demonstrating the benefits and limitations of positive press coverage in relation to public opinion of the president.

Direct-To-Consumer Internet Prescription Platforms Overlook Crucial Pathology Found During Traditional Office Evaluation of Young Men With Erectile Dysfunction

OBJECTIVETo determine comorbidities in young men with erectile dysfunction (ED) who are increasingly targeted by direct-to-consumer (DTC) internet platforms that sell phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors without comprehensive clinical evaluation; and, further, to characterize the portrayal of DTC platforms by popular news media. METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed all men age ≤40 evaluated for ED at an andrology clinic during January 2016-March 2019 to obtain demographics, exam and lab findings, and treatments. Five news sources were analyzed during the study period to characterize whether articles about DTC platforms were positive, critical, or balanced/neutral. RESULTSWe identified 388 patients, with age 29.5 ± 5.0 years, 15% rate of obesity, 20% prediabetes or diabetes, 54% dyslipidemia, and 20% hypogonadism. Serum lab findings associated with subfertility were found in 11%. Semen analysis was conducted in 64 men, of whom 40% were abnormal. Varicoceles were found in 35%. PDE-5 inhibitor was prescribed to 328 men (88%). Off-label empiric therapies included clomiphene (32.9%) or aromatase inhibitor (12.1%). Testosterone replacement was initiated in 9.7%. Analysis of news coverage revealed 18 articles, of which 61% portrayed DTC platforms exclusively in a positive light. CONCLUSIONOffice consultation identified young men with significant comorbidities that would be missed by DTC platforms, which employ only questionnaires for health screening. DTC platforms present themselves as medical authorities without following AUA Guidelines, yet garner mostly positive press coverage. Patients engaging these platforms may falsely believe they are receiving adequate medical assessment. Urologists may do well to incorporate telemedicine to enfranchise young men with evidence-based evaluation.

Виставкова діяльність Гуртка діячів українського мистецтва у дзеркалі української преси 1920 -х рр.

The article analyzes a work of the first interwar art association ― the Circle of Ukrainian Art Figures (HDUM) in the field of exhibition organization. It reveals the role of this society in consolidating the Ukrainian artists living and working in Western (Polish-controlled), and Great (Soviet) Ukraine. About 30 publications reflecting a reception of exhibitions of HDUM by critics and Lviv public have been introduced into scholarly circulation. A little-researched aspect is yet how creative efforts of the HDUM were received by its contemporaries, as well as by the Ukrainian press. Therefore our article aims to present the overview of activities of the association on the basis of content of the Ukrainian (mainly, Lviv) publications of the 1920s ― the newspapers «Hromadskyi Vistnyk», «Dilo», magazines «Literaturno-Naukovyi Vistnyk», «Mytusa», «Nova Ukraina», «Ukrayins’ke Mystetsvo». HDUM was founded in Lviv on 28 December 1921 thanks to an initiative of the well-known Lviv art critic Mykola Golubets’ and émigré artists Petro Kholodnyi (Elder) and Pavlo Kozhun. One of the key principles of the Society was to shape national identity in artists’ circles and ordinary citizens. Pursuing this aim, HDUM actively conducted exhibiting work. Specifically, every exhibition was followed by issuing a catalog. According to the press reports of that time, the first two Ukrainian art exhibitions took place in the halls of the Museum of Shevchenko Scientific Society. They received positive press coverage. All Ukrainian artists wishing to participate in these exhibitions were invited regardless of direction or art school they represented, as well as the HDUM affiliation. The next shows were on display in the halls of the National Museum. The public had felt some tension already during the third expo organization, and the next one didn’t match expectations of its organizers and wide public explicitly. Consequently, active initiatives of the association were gradually curtailed, although it formally continued to be operational yet for three years. Keywords: HDUM, exposition, press, publication, criticism, art.

Kortársak a Galimberti házaspár művészetéről

During their tragically short artistic careers Sándor Galimberti (1883–1915) and his wife Valéria Dénes (1877–1915) roused the interest of the critics three times. After a stay in Paris for several years, they staged their first exhibition of their collected works in Budapest in January 1914, which elicited vivid, mostly appreciative reviews. The critics claimed they were representing the most up-to-date Paris trends in Hungary. Hardly a year later, several obituaries made their careers and artistic works known after their tragic death. In 1918 the group of activists organized by Lajos Kassák presented the work of the couple acknowledged as their forerunners in the exhibiting room of MA, which also drew wide and positive press coverage.

A Friendly Turn: Advertising Bias in the News Media

This paper investigates whether newspapers report more favorably about advertising corporate clients than about other firms. Our identification strategy based on high-dimensional fixed effects and high frequency advertising data shows that advertising leads to more positive press coverage. This advertising bias in reporting is found among local and national newspapers. Further results show that advertising bias manifests particularly in less negative reporting after bad news events such as negative earnings surprises or extremely negative stock returns. Our findings cast doubt on the independence of the press from corporate pressure and hint at important information frictions.

Cultivating a Constituency for Conservation

Cultivating a Constituency for Conservation

Martina Pötschke-Langer

Finally, I spot Martina Pötschke-Langer among the travellers pouring out of the express train at Hamburg's main train station. A friendly smile across her face, she's pulling a rickety little roller suitcase. She looks harmless, not like the worst enemy of big tobacco companies in Germany, until last year a smokers' paradise with little respect for non-smokers' rights. Pötschke-Langer, head of the Cancer Prevention Division at the Heidelberg-based German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and WHO's Collaborating Centre for Tobacco Control, wants fish before travelling on to Berlin. We stroll toward a popular restaurant. She points to huge sun umbrellas at a side-walk cafe, each splattered with the words Philip Morris. “You see this sort of tobacco marketing everywhere in Germany”, she says. “That is the major problem.” Inside, awaiting our fish, I mention my amazement at the ability of German non-smokers to have silently endured restaurant smoke for so long. “The problem”, I suggest, is a “German cultural thing”. “Noooo”, says Pötschke-Langer, who trained as a surgeon. She explains Germany is Europe's biggest tobacco market. Tobacco companies invest heavily to foster positive press coverage and political support: “We are speaking about billions of Euros less for them if our work is successful”, she says. “Culture can be changed, like Ireland, like Italy”, both with tough laws on smoking. And after much hard work by Pötschke-Langer and her colleagues smoking culture is finally changing in Germany. Prodded by the federal government, Germany's 16 states now have laws on smoking. “I am very proud of this”, she says. But she is not done yet. Noting that state laws vary widely, her next goal is a tough uniform federal smoking law. She also wants holdouts Austria and Greece to pass laws. “Greece is awful. A majority of doctors smoke in Greece.” As we enjoy fish, I ask about her background. She was born in the former East Germany. During World War II, her 2-year-old sister, grandparents, aunt, and other family members died in the bombing of Dresden. Later, her family fled to West Germany. Her father, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. But she is reticent about her own motivations: “Oh, I hate personal questions”. Why? “I want to protect myself and my family”—she and her husband have three sons. As we return to the train station, she talks of her work: “It is in my heart. My heart is woven around this mission.” With a dozen staff members, Pötschke-Langer sees her main duty as educating the public about the health dangers of smoking. Despite her tough stand, she claims never to have asked a nearby smoker to put out a cigarette. “I fight for laws, don't waste my energy on private details.”

Why Do Patients Select a Hospital?

Patients decide on where to consume hospital services in Germany. Thus, the understanding of the exact hospital selection criteria and their weights is important. This research reviews the antecedents of hospital selection utilizing the conjoint methodology with regard to six questions. (1) Which are the relevant choice criteria, and (2) what are their weights? (3) Which criteria receive an increased importance in the absence of experience? (4) Do differences between compulsory and privately insured patients, (5) between hospitals with regard to their size, and (6) between female and male patients exist? The relevance and importance of nine pre-selected criteria are determined through two conjoint analyses. Experience is found to be most important followed by referral by general practitioner, certified quality management system, positive press coverage, recommendation by relatives and acquaintances and distance to the hospital. Reception area design and the personnel's friendliness, the website quality and the published quality report are less relevant. Without experience, reception area design, personnel's friendliness and distance to the hospital receive an increased importance. In addition, for some criteria notable discrepancies between female and male patients and between patients with different insurance policies are found.

"Neither Head nor Tail to the Campaign": Esther Pohl Lovejoy and the Oregon Woman Suffrage Victory of 1912

KIMBERLY JENSEN "Neither Head nor Tail to the Campaign" EstherPohl Lovejoyand the Oregon Woman Suffrage Victoryof1912 IN FEBRUARY 1913, Oregon suffragist, physician,and public health activist Esther Clayson Pohl Lovejoy summed up Oregon's 1912woman suffrage victory for theWoman sProgressive Weekly: "Itwas pre-eminently a campaign of young women, impatient of leadership, and theyworked just about as they liked ? and that is how theywill vote. There was certainly neither head nor tail to the campaign." Lovejoy cited the independent work of a number of suffrage groups, the support of theNational American Woman SuffrageAssociation (NAWSA), positive press coverage, the impact of visiting speakers, and the diverse activities ofOregonians for the cause. "There were lunches, dinners and talks here and there and everywhere," shewrote, "and a continuous distribution of literature. Oregon women worked during this campaign as they never did before ? and the returns showed clearly that where theyworked theywon."1 Pohl Lovejoy was at the center ofmuch of this activity.Her assessment of the vital role of a coalition of independent, diverse suffrage groups and the impact of modern mass advertising and public relations outlines key areas of historical investigation and analysis for the 1912victory. By 1912, important developments in the long history ofwomen's quest for voting rights inOregon suggested the possibility of a successful campaign. Oregon women had what Pohl Lovejoy called a "local grievance:" theywere voteless but surrounded by suffrage states. Women had achieved the vote in Idaho (1896),Washington (1910), and California (1911), and itappeared that theRepublic of China would grant suffrage towomen.2 Abigail Scott Duni way, theveteran but domineering first-generation suffrage leader ofOregon OHQ vol. 108, no. 3 ? 2007 Oregon Historical Society Suffragecampaigners ? includingEstherPohl Lovejoy, holding the"Votesfor Women" umbrella, andW.M. "Pike"Davis, sittingin the frontpassenger seat ? promote theircause during theJune 1912 Portland Rose Festival with Votesfor Women banners andflags,which were used throughoutthe winning campaign. and the Pacific Northwest, had lostmost local and national support by 1912 and was bedridden most of the campaign. The Washington and California victories ? based on new strategies ofmass media and advertising ? may have influenced Oregon suffragists to reject Duniway's passive campaign styleknown as the "stillhunt,"which favored behind-the-scenes work among elitemale leaders and avoided public debate or discussion.3 The ideas and new style of activism of Pohl Lovejoy and other Portland campaigners were significant contributions to victory. The 1912Oregon campaign may have succeeded because of the strength of independent organizations with "nei ther head nor tail to the campaign," the ability of those like Pohl Lovejoy to form coalitions for action in spite of conflicts, and the effectiveness of Jensen, Esther Pohl Lovejoy and Oregon Woman Suffrage,1912 modern mass advertising. This studywill address these issues surrounding the 1912 campaign with a primary focus on Portland, Esther Pohl Lovejoy, and her suffrage activism.4 ESTHER CLAYSON WAS BORN in1869ina logging camp inSeabeck, Washington Territory, to immigrant English parents. From an early age, she and her brothers worked in the family's boarding house and hotel and, later, in their hotel and restaurant when the familymoved to East Portland in the 1880s. At eighteen, Esther started work as a clerk, earning twenty dollars a month at the Lipman andWolfe department store to help support herself and hermother and younger sisters. In 1890, inspired by earlywomen physi cians practicing inPortland and the promise of interesting and remunerative work, she began the three-year course of study at theUniversity ofOregon Medical Department (UOMD). Her funds ran out after the end of the first term, however, and she took a year off to return to department store employment. "There were no scholarships to be won " she recalled, "and 18 months behind hosiery and underwear counters was the price of my last two terms."5Those years gave Esther a labor consciousness and a concern for OHQ vol. io8y no. 3 EstherClayson married Emil Pohl, her classmate at theUniversity ofOregonMedical Department, severalweeks afterhergraduation inApril 1894. He died in 1911. the needs ofworkers that she retained throughout her life. The University of Oregon Medical Department, Esther later remembered, "suited" her "exactly." "Itwas a pioneer institution," she noted, "unhampered by a past, but with a boundless future." "None of the...

Modification of a local smoking ordinance: a case-report of chiropractic health advocacy

Background Health Promotion may involve assessing the community and assisting in the formation of coalitions that empower a community to reduce health risks. Objective To describe an intervention lead by a doctor of chiropractic to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in one rural southeast Alabama town. Discussion A coalition influenced the city council to modify an existing ordinance governing smoking in public places. As a secondary goal, the coalition hoped to use the local media to significantly increase public awareness of the dangers of ETS through positive press coverage of their efforts and general media advocacy. City councilmen and the local media were involved in the coalition to use a political process to change the ordinance. Ten months after initiating the project, the existing ordinance was modified. Conclusion Doctors of chiropractic involved as health advocates were able to change the local ordinance pertaining to indoor smoking.

War and the American Presidency (review)

Reviewed by: The Modern American Presidency Robert J. Spitzer The Modern American Presidency. By Lewis L. Gould. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003; pp xv + 301. $29.95. Arguably the greatest and most protracted intellectual struggle in the study of the American presidency arises from two opposing views of the institution. One view explains the institution largely in terms of the way it has been shaped by the individuals occupying the office. It emphasizes the impact of leadership (surely still the largest and most prolific school of presidency analysis), personality, and unique historical events, among other factors, to explain the institution. In this view, the presidency is composed of the 43 distinct events or cases defined by the individuals who have occupied the Oval Office, even when analysts seek common traits found across administrations. The alternate view is the institutionalist perspective. While this term encompasses an eclectic array of methodologies, they share in common some sense that fundamental institutional traits generally transcend the idiosyncrasies of individual presidents; that the presidential experience is more common than different; that key factors explain fundamental behaviors and outcomes. Lewis L. Gould's new book would seem at first blush to fall in the first category, which is where most presidential historians are to be found. Even though Gould, an emeritus history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, presents a chapter organization that seems to offer little more than a familiar chronological recitation of "modern presidents" from McKinley to Clinton, as laid out in the book's ten chapters (most chapters treat presidents in pairs, except for solo treatments of Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Clinton), in fact the book offers a great deal more. His analytical focus is decidedly institutional. There is a modern presidency, of course, as distinct from the premodern institution, although traits of the latter are inextricably intertwined with the former. But each president played an identifiable role in advancing the modern institution. Singularly instructive is Gould's first case, William McKinley. Generally considered the last of the premoderns, Gould demonstrates the reverse. In part through the pivotal role of the little-known presidential secretary George B. Cortelyou—think of an Edwardian Karl Rove—McKinley was not, in fact, quite the back porch campaigner and president too often depicted. Yes, McKinley did follow the custom and refrain from personal political campaigning in 1896 and 1900. But just prior to the 1898 midterm elections, he "campaigned" vigorously around the country to defend his post-Spanish-American War plan to retain lands abroad. Thumping vigorously on policy near election time had the desired effect: it "minimized Republican losses in the 1898 elections and built support for McKinley's decision to acquire the Philippine Islands" (8). Largely though Cortelyou, McKinley cultivated positive press coverage, provided White House reporters with indoor quarters (predating Theodore Roosevelt's similar and more [End Page 230] widely touted move), established a White House "War Room" (its contemporary name) to coordinate the Spanish-American War, proliferated telephone and telegraph services in the White House, and increased the staff, among other institutional innovations. In short, he materially expanded and diversified the presidential institution and mission in ways identified with later presidents. It is this story of institutional development across the last 18 presidents that is the core of Gould's narrative. Further, Gould is not out to deify the institution, to somehow resurrect "failed" presidents or to vilify "great" ones. He makes clear from the outset that "[t]o treat the modern presidency as a success story is to falsify the historical record" (xiv). Instead, this book is a highly readable, engagingly written, and nearly engrossing tale of the institutionalization of the twentieth-century presidency, although that analytic approach flags in the treatment of more recent presidents. Two conclusions that emerge from this account are that an institutional analysis underscores evolutionary continuity and that a square reading of that evolution deflates presidential myths and stereotypes, especially those that arise from the usual breezy and dreadful presidential rankings. Thus, Woodrow Wilson's presidency suffered from a degree of institutional breakdown, even before his final, debilitating stroke, that questions the usual rosy assessments. Each of the three presidencies of the 1920s...

Archaeology under a Microscope: CRM and the Press

Cultural Resource Management (CRM) archaeology receives regular press and media attention. This coverage can shape public perceptions and attitudes about the field. Furthermore, press coverage and public opinion can affect CRM project and policy decision-making. Analysis of the content of newspaper articles collected by the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) related to CRM archaeology over the five-year period between 1995 and 2000 included documenting the types of issues that received press attention and assessing the amount of positive and negative press coverage. Recommendations to encourage improved media coverage of CRM archaeology include: increased recognition of the importance of press coverage; increased efforts to encourage positive press coverage of CRM; improved skills for working with the press; greater participation from archaeologists in academia; and continued evaluation and assessment of newspaper and media coverage of CRM archaeology.

Media tactics in New Zealand's Crown Health Enterprises

New Zealand's public hospitals have been recently been converted into Crown Health Enterprises (commonly called CHEs) as part of broadly unpopular health reforms. The new Crown Health Enterprises, required to operate within commercial restraints, have been the target of widespread attack from politicians, medical organizations, community groups and the media. This article examines the press coverage of two Crown Health Enterprises similar in their size and provincial location over three months. The research shows that quantity and favorability of press coverage is related to the input the organizations had into each story. Newspaper stories are also analyzed in terms of how and where the organizations' views feature. The study showed that proactive media relations paid off, both in terms of positive press coverage and in ensuring the CHEs' views were represented even when the news was bad. Emphasis on professional management techniques in public relations has encouraged practitioners to sideline the technical task of media relations. The results of this study suggest this may be a mistake in publicly funded organizations which rightly come under close media scrutiny. Margie Comrie is a lecturer in communication in the Department of Human Resource Management at Massey University.

Effective Public Communication and Marketing of High-Occupancy-Vehicle Lanes: An Agency Perspective

The Massachusetts Highway Department (MassHighway) opened the Southeast Expressway high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane on November 15, 1995. The 6-mi (9.6-km) contraflow lane, open to vehicles with at least three occupants, was MassHighway’s third attempt to create an HOV facility on the Southeast Expressway. Two previous HOV lanes, built in the 1970s, had closed because of operational problems and public opposition. Supported by FHWA, MassHighway developed a $558,000 marketing program to promote the new HOV facility and encourage its use by commuters. The difficulties in developing an HOV facility on the congested highway were mirrored in the marketing challenge faced by its agency managers. From the first 8 months of the campaign, Mass-Highway has learned several important lessons from the experience. Marketing should begin years before the project opens. The feasibility analysis offers agencies the opportunity to solicit community input and identify marketing themes for the later campaign. Agencies should allot at least 6 months to prepare for the marketing campaign. They should strongly consider the use of professional consultants in marketing, public relations, and advertising. The bulk of the marketing budget should be spent within the facility’s opening weeks. Agencies should assign their own staff, not outside consultants, to act as project spokespersons. Messages should be tailored to specific audiences identified in the campaign. Public perception of the facility will depend in large part on how well it is operated. Fair and uniform enforcement promotes the facility and maintains public acceptance. HOV-facility managers must be prepared to convert unforeseen incidents into positive press coverage. Reporting on lane conditions must be scrupulously accurate, because there likely will be intense public scrutiny of agency statements. MassHighway’s HOV-lane marketing program, ultimately successful, may be instructive to other states contemplating similar initiatives.

Press relations: a 14-point plan for enhancing the public image of health care institutions.

Hospital executives often complain about a lack of positive press coverage. As the news media pay increasing attention to health-related issues, health-care institutions and their personnel will be increasingly thrust into positions of interaction with the news media. These interactions can either boost public confidence or cause widespread public distrust. A 14-point plan of practical suggestions can improve press relations and enhance the effectiveness and prestige of the health-care executives.