Lokaler Journalismus und Wirtschafts-PR

How do local journalists perceive the PR of local businesses and how are they influenced by it? This study uses guided interviews with local German journalists to explore the role of PR in local business news. It reveals a wide variety of common practices in different editorial offices. In reference to Schimank’s approach of ‘Akteur-Struktur-Dynamiken’ (actor–structure–dynamics), influences can be assigned to what journalists want to do, what expectations they perceive and what options they have. Journalists face a complex balancing process when they deal with PR conducted in their direct neighborhood. Personal characteristics and relationships are just as important as journalistic self-conceptions and the special functions of local journalism. This book depicts the influence of PR in a two-stage model that considers both manifold factors and their individual effects.