Legislators reliance on mass media as information sources: Implications for symmetrical communication between public information o cers, public relations practitioners and policymakers

The election of U.S. President Obama thrust healthcare reform onto the legislative agenda and sent public information officers and public relations practitioners scrambling to more effectively influence legislators in order to benefit employers and clients. In previous studies, legislators placed mass media last on lists of sources preferred for informing policymaking decisions. This study replicates and extends previous research, filling a 20- year gap and focusing exclusively on healthcare policy information sources preferred by New Mexico legislators. An Internet survey indicated legislators preferred to get healthcare decision-making information first from expert colleagues, second from constituents. Mass media ranked at the bottom of their lists of preferred sources, although legislators did not entirely discount media usefulness. Respondents also felt while media can help build consensus, they usually promote adversarial relationships between lawmakers and their publics. Synthesis of results suggests that those seeking to influence legislators should divide their efforts more evenly between authoring journalist information subsidies and building personal relationships with legislators they seek to influence.