Increasing Publicity and Thematic News Coverage: The Impact of Localizing News Releases in a State-Wide Experimental Field Study
In a statewide experimental field study, Kansas newspapers were sent news releases over a four-month period addressing four children’s health issues. Half of the releases contained state-level data; half contained county-level data. A content analysis showed that the effect of localizing content...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Insitute for Public Relations
2010-09-01
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| Series: | Public Relations Journal |
| Online Access: | https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2010BressersGordon.pdf |
| Summary: | In a statewide experimental field study, Kansas newspapers were sent news releases
over a four-month period addressing four children’s health issues. Half of the releases
contained state-level data; half contained county-level data. A content analysis showed
that the effect of localizing content was overwhelming, with county-level data published
6-to-1 times more than state-level news releases. Additionally, front-page placement of
news releases occurred one-quarter of the time. A last paragraph that provided
resources for additional information was included in publication almost 70% of the time.
Moreover, key text presenting children’s health issues as a chronic rather than an
episodic event was retained nearly 95% of the time. Utilization of readily available,
public data and relational software can efficiently increase publication frequency and
prominence of motivated messages — in this case, children’s health — and impact the
rhetorical framing of those topics in newspapers. |
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| ISSN: | 1942-4604 1942-4604 |