ABSTRACT

GAEC‘s mandate to commercialise its research activities has become very crucial and this cannot be achieved without the media. There is, therefore, the need for thorough investigation into GAEC current media relation practice in order to understand journalists‘ perception and what could be done to improve the relations. In line with this, a research on Journalists‘ perception of GAEC‘s media relation was undertaken. This research was intended to answer questions on how much information journalists have about the core activities of GAEC; the extent to which GAEC‘s media relations enable journalists to report on its activities and the extent to which GAEC‘s media relations can be categorized as reactive, proactive or interactive. Qualitative research approach was used to explore current perception of journalists about Ghana Atomic Energy Commission‘s media relations. Purposive and convenient sampling methods were employed and semi-structured interview was us to elicit information from ten (10) journalists who have covered some activities of GAEC. After the recording had been transcribed, coding exercise was applied and the resultant five themes were discussed. The findings were also discussed in the context of the research objectives, as well as some of the tenets of the excellence theory. It was deduced from the responses that journalists have some minimum amount of information from GAEC but the information is not concrete enough. Although journalists agreed to have covered some programmes concerning GAEC and GAEC has found a way of communicating very technical information to the understanding of journalists, it is still clear that adequate capacity has not been built. GAEC‘s media relations cannot be described as proactive or interactive

enough because has failed to have the right publicity that could dispel negative perceptions.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

    Background

Tench and Yeomans (2006) explain media relations as managing relationships with the media and all people who contribute to and control what appears in the print, broadcast and online media. Media relations is a core activity of public relations and an organisation‘s relation with the media is very important for a number of reasons.

The mass media serve important channels of communication and are considered as independent sources like of information. The media are, therefore, considered more credible than direct sources such as information from an organisation‘s public relations outfit. The benefits of media relations to the public relations practitioner and for that matter any organisation is in two-fold: firstly, the mass media offers a good platform for reaching large audience for the purposes of creating awareness, building positive reputation, disseminating point-of-view messages etc. Secondly, news media serve as credible third-party sources of information.

Any organisation that wants to develop its image and improve long-term relationship with key publics must consider media relations as an important means to that end. Thus, a well-established media relation offers organisations and businesses a higher exposure to their publics.

The approach to media relations can be proactive, reactive, or interactive. Reactive media relations respond to media inquiries. Proactive media relations promote and publicise the organisation. Interactive media relations take a step even further to develop relations with the media practitioners.

    Statement of problem

A well-established media relations strategy is important for generating publicity and public   interest   in   organisations.   Media   relations   also   brings   about   ―third   party endorsement effect‖ where the story is considered credible and unbiased because it is coming from third party (the journalist).

In accordance with this, Guth & Marsh (2007) posited that information conveyed through the media filter is thought to be perceived by consumers as more fact-based, credible and less-biased than information provided in a paid advertisement or other information that is prepared, funded and distributed by a self-interested party.

Competition has led to a shift from media relations as a ‗defensive‘ service where organisations react to media enquiries. Corporate organisations are now adopting a more proactive and interactive media relations. They, therefore, set the discussion agenda for media organisations. These corporate organisations may locate media relations in corporate communications function, marketing or industrial relations function.