The History of Media Transparency

Over the last two decades, Media Transparency has remained a very topical issue in Public Relations (PR) management. It probably has come as a surprise to their counterparts in the media that PR industry is concerned about their role in maintaining media transparency. According to Patricia Parsons (2004), “If something is transparent, we generally think of being able to see through it. What this implies is that if something is transparent, then all that lies beneath it can be seen.”
In relating this to the media, it would involve issues of ownership, influence and control. It also includes reporting that provides media consumers with enough information to make their own decisions about the legitimacy of the information presented to them (Parsons, 2004). The issue of ownership will affect who dictates what should be released to the public and how strong is the influence of the owners on the information being meted to the public. This often presents a dilemma for the PR practitioner who will need to be firm in adhering to the code of conduct of the profession. Very often, information is not made completely transparent to the public.
The mystique surrounding the way journalists do their jobs and the way media companies operate has estranged readers and viewers from the media. According to Martha Stone (2002), it has caused precipitous credibility erosion over the past three decades. Recently, globalization added its impact to this credibility erosion. Such behaviour as accepting free travel, accommodation or products for publications, producing print advertisements to look like editorial content with no indication to the reader that this is an advertisement, gratification for killing a negative story or exchange of money for coverage has become very rampart among media professionals. In several countries all over the world, there had been problems of misquoting, quote truncation, placing quotes out of order to arrive at an unintended meaning, quoting out of context or manipulating interviews in the interest of a particular agenda. Another main concern has been that of privacy of an individual and what constitutes a news story or a gratuitous invasion into a person’s private life. "Last year the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education joined with the International Public Relations Association to release a comprehensive index that ranks 66 nations for the likelihood that print journalists will seek or accept cash for news coverage," said Frank Ovaitt, President and CEO-Elect of the Institute. He stated further: "We continue to believe this is a critical issue that serious journalists and public relations people must address together."