INFLUENCE OF THE PR SERVICES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ON THE EDITORIAL POLICY OF ONLINE EDITIONS OF LOCAL PUBLIC BROADCASTERS

Text topic: Modern Media and PR

Text author: Andrijana Rabrenović

The paper explores the extent of influence of the services for public relations of local governments on the editorial policy of the online editions of local public broadcasters, namely the two radio stations of Radio Bijelo Polje and Radio Tivat. For this paper we set up a special code sheet with categories whose analysis will show how public relations affect the editorial policy of the mentioned media. The analysis refers to the period from the May 1st to May 31st, 2013. We have used a quantitative and qualitative method, the content analysis method and the comparative method. We have also explored how these media handle the press or media releases distributed by the local government. Also, we have explored the sources of information of these media, if the local governments had just placed a formal content, and whether any concealed impact of local governments on the local media was detected. The local governments of Bijelo Polje and Tivat are identically structured so the paper explains how they work and how they use the local media. Knowing that both local authorities have services for public relations, we have explored the scope of their activities and responsibilities accorded to them by the municipal regulations.