TY - JOUR

T1 - Reconceptualising transparency in journalism

T2 - Thinking through secrecy and PR press releases in news cultures

AU - Cronin, Anne

PY - 2024/8/17

Y1 - 2024/8/17

N2 - This article re-examines debates about transparency in journalism by using a sociological framework that analyses how transparency is held in a dynamic tension with secrecy. I use a specific empirical case study as the grounding for my analysis and then proceed to expand its scope to consider significant developments in transparency in the media. I take as my case study the relationship between UK journalists and public relations (PR) practitioners. Specifically, I analyse the ways in which press releases are shaped by PR practitioners, targeted at journalists, and are taken up by journalists in a UK news media context in which such ‘information subsidies’ may be becoming ever more prevalent. Reframing transparency as one element in a compound phenomenon (the secrecy−transparency dynamic), I argue that practices of both transparency and secrecy are not merely situated within social contexts but are active in creating society and social relations. This approach pays close attention to how power operates in this shifting dynamic and offers new challenges for thinking about journalism’s role in society.

AB - This article re-examines debates about transparency in journalism by using a sociological framework that analyses how transparency is held in a dynamic tension with secrecy. I use a specific empirical case study as the grounding for my analysis and then proceed to expand its scope to consider significant developments in transparency in the media. I take as my case study the relationship between UK journalists and public relations (PR) practitioners. Specifically, I analyse the ways in which press releases are shaped by PR practitioners, targeted at journalists, and are taken up by journalists in a UK news media context in which such ‘information subsidies’ may be becoming ever more prevalent. Reframing transparency as one element in a compound phenomenon (the secrecy−transparency dynamic), I argue that practices of both transparency and secrecy are not merely situated within social contexts but are active in creating society and social relations. This approach pays close attention to how power operates in this shifting dynamic and offers new challenges for thinking about journalism’s role in society.

KW - Journalism

KW - information subsidies

KW - press releases

KW - public relations

KW - secrecy

KW - transparency

U2 - 10.1080/1461670X.2024.2371858

DO - 10.1080/1461670X.2024.2371858

M3 - Journal article

VL - 25

SP - 1328

EP - 1345

JO - Journalism Studies

JF - Journalism Studies

SN - 1461-670X

IS - 11

ER -