Media relations management within a changing environment with specific reference to the University of the North

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study focused on the representation of the University of the North in the nationalmedia during the period 1994-1999. A preliminary survey of newspaper reportsindicated that during the post 1994 elections period the University had been gettingnegative coverage from the national media, especially the Mai/&Guardian.This periodwas also characterized by the intensification of transformation processes and otherchallenges within tertiary institutions.The aim of the study was to investigate how the national print media portrayed theuniversity during the period 1994-1999 and to find out what role the Media Directorateof the division Development and Public Relations has played in the whole process. Bothinternal and external factors which had an impact on the representation of theuniversity were also explored. This study is important in the sense that media relationsis regarded as a strategic management tool whose purpose is to create mutualunderstanding between an organization and its internal and external stakeholders -more especially during the period when organisations are facing both internal andexternal changes. Communication is therefore seen as a central tool which is facilitatingthe transformation process. Seen against the tendency of the media to concentrate onconflict and events as major news stories - a conflict of interests then emerges.Content analysis was used to analyse newspaper articles (from the Mai/&Guardian andIndependent Online/Star) covering the university between the period 1994-1999 andinterviews were conducted with respondents who had been chosen purposely orspecifically because their activities had a direct bearing on the media situation. Themajor themes or issues which had been the major focus of the media during the saidperiod were then identified and evaluated in terms of the nature of the portrayal of theuniversity .The study showed that the University of the North had been negatively portrayed in themedia and that the absence of a Media Relations Officer, Media Relations Policy and thetendency of the media to focus on conflict as a news value contributed to the negativeimage of the university.It is hoped that the study will contribute towards the formulation of a media relationspolicy at the university, the assessment of the pace of and the whole transformationprocess and will highlight the major challenges facing public relations departments (andspecifically the media sections) of historically black institutions in the current politicaldispensation.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University