William Wray Carney - In the News: The Practice of Media Relations in Canada

Published by

The University of Alberta Press

Ring House 2

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E1

www.uap.ualberta.ca

Copyright 2019 William Wray Carney, Colin Babiuk, Mark Hunter LaVigne

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Carney, William Wray, 1950, author

In the news : the practice of media relations in Canada /

William Wray Carney, Colin Babiuk, Mark LaVigne.3rd edition.

Previously published: Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77212-411-8 (softcover).ISBN 978-1-77212-424-8 (EPUB).ISBN 978-1-77212-425-5 (Kindle).ISBN 978-1-77212-426-2 (PDF)

1. Public relationsCanada. 2. Mass media and businessCanada.

I. Babiuk, Colin, 1965, author

II. LaVigne, Mark, 1961, author

III. Title.

HD59.C37 2019659.20971

C2018-906464-1

C2018-906465-X

Third edition, first printing, 2019.

First electronic edition, 2019.

Digital conversion by Transforma Pvt. Ltd.

Copyediting and proofreading by Joanne Muzak.

Indexing by Adrian Mather.

Cover design by Denise Ahlefeldt.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written consent. Contact the University of Alberta Press for further details.

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University of Alberta Press gratefully acknowledges the support received for its publishing program from the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Media Fund.

This book is dedicated to Gilbert Thomas Carney and Dorothy Nema Bayley Carney

Together again

and to

Colin David Horner, 19702015

and William Douglas Edward Arnold, 19692017

Good guys gone too soon

CONTENTS

PREFACE

The idea for this book came to me several years ago, when I was preparing to teach a class in media relations at the University of Albertas Faculty of Extension. I received the standard form for instructors that asked, among other things, if I had a textbook I required students to use for the course.

As always, I ticked the box that said No, then wondered why such a book wasnt available. A number of trade books on media relations have been published, but they tend to be overly specialized (e.g., media relations for small business, how to write a news release), too theoretical (media as part of the militaristic machine) or simply too personal (recitations of old media war stories, long on personal experience but short on the considerable research that has been done on news media in North America and the world).

In looking at the stack of photocopies I had prepared for the university to hand out to the students, and the amount of research I had collected over the years, it dawned on me that there was a need for a basic text on media relations. Such a book would provide an introduction to media relations, grounded in both experience and research, and would reflect current media and communications practices. While primarily intended for students in university and college communications programs, it would also be of benefit to practitioners and aspiring practitioners of media relations in the private, public and voluntary sectors. It would also be of interest to those who are concerned about the role of media and communications in society.

This book is an attempt to meet those needs. It is drawn from many sources, including my experience in journalism and communications, and my studies and teaching. It also incorporates a good deal of research that I have come across in the past several years as part of my daily work life and teaching at the University of Alberta, University of Regina and Concordia University of Edmonton.

William Wray Carney

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have been kind enough to review this book in draft and provide helpful advice and input. I want to thank Randy Kilburn, Joy Adams Bauer and Wendy Campbell for their attention to the manuscript, and give special thanks to Kimberly Kratzig and Lyn Brown, ABC, for their meticulous read of a very rough draft. James Murphy, QC, of Ogilvie Law LLP, reviewed the section on media law, and Judy Hutchins of West contributed reference material for the section on the mandatory requirements for disclosure by companies listed on the Canadian stock exchanges.

I am particularly grateful to West for its sponsorship and continuing support.

I would like to recognize the support of staff at Carleton University School of Journalisms Resource Centre, the library of MacEwan University in Edmonton, the University of Alberta Library and the Regina Public Library. The comments of the academic reviewers, Albert S. Deyell and Evelyn Ellerman, were most helpful, as was the careful editing of Leslie Vermeer of the University of Alberta Press, who also contributed to the sections on magazines and social and digital media. I appreciated the careful help of Gladys Wasylenchuk in reviewing the final proofs of the first edition, and of Tyler McMurchy for the proof of the second edition. I would like to thank Dave, Ruth, Sarah and Parker for putting up with an eccentric house guest while the first draft of this book was being written, and to Paul Tymchuk of Sudbury, Ontario, who always believed that this book would see the light of day. Finally, Id like to thank two significant mentors during my career, John Gibson, APR, and Dr. James Howell.

I have quoted extensively from three major sources in this work, all of which have provided copyright clearance to allow their material to be used as a reference in this book. The Canadian Press has allowed material from The Canadian Press Stylebook . Nelson Education (formerly Harcourt Canada) has given permission to use material from The Canadian Reporter , News Writing and Reporting , third edition, by Catherine McKercher and Carman Cumming (Toronto: Nelson Education, 2011). Finally, Angus Reid Canada (now Ipsos) allowed me to use their original research into news editors practices and beliefs throughout the text (more on Ipsos research can be found at their website, www.ipsos.com/en).

While many people have been involved in the making of this book, and their contributions have been noted, the final decision on what appears and how it appears is mine. In the furtherance of the profession, I would be glad to hear other views and practices on media relations, and other research that I may have overlooked. Please contact the publisher. I hope that future editions of this book will be strengthened by additional research and reflections on current practice.

Given my comments in the later chapters about lack of editing being a significant weakness affecting the quality of new media, particularly the blogosphere, I would again like to point out that this edition is much stronger than my earlier drafts, thanks to the thoughtful review and edits provided by Dr. Karen Wall of Athabasca University. I also thank editors Leslie Vermeer and Zanne Cameron for their work in improving the quality of the text. Any opinions expressed here are mine, as are any errors, though it is hoped the third edition has rounded them all up and corrected them.