Information subsidies have been used for decades by organizations seeking media coverage. However, over the last decade, organizations are increasingly seeking to earn greater coverage by moving beyond traditional media and attempting to generate social media "buzz" about topics of significance. Agenda building theory has been used by a variety of scholars as a way to understand how sources influence, or build, the media's agenda. Since the media agenda influences the public agenda, influencing the media agenda is important for sources. Existing research and literature has successfully linked the use of information subsidies with agenda building. A separate body of research has established that there is a set of news values that make a story newsworthy. This study attempts to link these bodies of research on agenda building and news values by examining how the presence of news values in information subsidies affects subsequent media coverage. It also extends these concepts and theories beyond traditional media and into social media. Results indicate that agenda building theory also can apply to social media, but more research is needed to understand how organizations help build the agenda on traditional media. News values do affect coverage, but they affect social and traditional media differently. The specific values of conflict and magnitude correlate with greater traditional media coverage, while a higher number of news values overall in a release correlates with greater social media conversation. The presence of conflict also correlates with higher social media conversation. Implications for both public relations theory and practice are discussed. / Master of Arts

The purpose of this study is to shed light on how brands can build relationships with social media influencers (SMIs). By replicating Pang et al. (2016) research in different cultural settings, the present study identified internal and external influences that are important for SMIs routines in Brazil, generating additional enlightenment into the Mediating the Media model for SMIs and evaluating to what extent cultural differences may impact the proposed theoretical framework. The research was conducted in two major parts. The first replicated the method used previously by Pang et al. (2016), performing in-depth interviews with eight SMIs. In the second part of the research, a qualitative content analysis was pulled of a sampling of the participants' Instagram feeds and assessed whether the strategies exposed by the SMIs during the interviews match what each interviewee revealed. The personal aspects came up as more prevalent in the set of internal influences among SMIs in Brazil. The set of internal and external influences ultimately implied that public relations practitioners should acknowledge that SMIs seek long-term collaborative relationships with organizations. While payments ensure the sustainability of digital influencer activity as a job, interaction with brands without monetary agreements ensures relevant content to followers, creating win-win situations for both brands and SMIs and stating the importance of dialogue between both parties. Therefore, this research provides useful insights for public relations practitioners to approach social media influencers around the world in a holistic and systematic manner and re-evaluate their current media strategies to communicate via social media the brands they represent.

Journalists and communication managers are becoming more professional and to reach out to its stakeholders in society today, organizations must work strategically with communication, to enter the news. Many make use of press releases to provide journalists with information, hoping to influence what is published on the news. With a background in the medial change that occurs is the purpose of this study to elucidate and problematize which role press releases has for newsrooms and for organizations today and in the future. A qualitative interview study has been used, and communication managers from three organizations and journalists from three newsrooms has been interviewed. The study has been combined with a quantitative pilot study of selected press releases and articles from the selected organizations. The interviews has been transcribed and analyzed to identify and question their thoughts about press releases as a part of the daily work for communication managers and journalists. The interviews were analyzed from selected theories and previous research work on press releases as a tool to set the media agenda. Three consistently concepts in the study is Goffmans (1974) theory of framing, Gandys (1982) theory of information subsidies and Zoch and Molledas (2009) theory of agenda building, and their model of how organizations build good media relations. It was seen in the pilot study, that a lot of the content is based on press releases, which indicates that the editors make it appear that they are the initiator of the news. Journalists claims that press releases are not the most influential source of information but significant for their work, especially as it fills a function for web editors. Personal relationships with the journalists and a dedicated work on the social media network is valued higher than press releases, which is seen as an obsolete tool. The communication managers argued otherwise, saying that press releases have a central role in their strategic work with the media, claiming that they are an important source of information. The study indicates therefore that the communication managers, in relation to journalists’ reasoning, have too much confidence to the tool. However, it is difficult to determine whether press releases as a strategic communication tools will be eliminated. But the results of the study to judge, it is still important for both journalists and communicators, although not as strongly as before.

The thesis provides an insight into corporate agenda-building process in the Czech media. Using the Czech division of Deloitte as an example, the thesis will demonstrate the common practices companies use to get their topics published in media, how they are successful and how they really influence the media agenda. To answer these questions, the thesis uses quantitative content analysis of 248 pieces of news from Mladá Fronta DNES, Hospodářšké noviny, Lidové noviny, Právo, television stations ČT24, Nova and Prima and also radio station Český rozhlas - Radiožurnál. Besides that, the thesis will provide an insight into the way journalists work with sources of information and their autoregulative techniques, as well as into the work of PR professionals, who are significant actors in the agenda-building process. The aim of this thesis is to introduce the corporate sphere as an influential actor in the agenda-building process and to uncover the influences journalists have to face in their work.