A Qualitative Examination of the Impact of Social Media on Media Relations Practice

This study examines the impact of social media on media relations practice through the use of depth interviews with public relations practitioners (n=33) and journalists (n=36) to determine what the impact of social media has been on the practitioner-journalist relationship. It finds that while the majority of practitioners interviewed were optimistic about the impact of social media, most journalists were not enthusiastic about the changes precipitated by new platforms. Themes found in previous quantitative research on the impact of social media did seem to hold under qualitative scrutiny, although several new themes did emerge