intelectasia™/

Institute of Journalism Studies,

Universiti Teknologi MARA

2010 MEDIA RELATIONS

PRACTICES SURVEY IN
MALAYSIA
November 2010
1.0
INTRODUCTION
 1.0 Introduction 3

•The survey was initiated in 2009, 90 respondents : Understand better the needs of
journalists

•In early 2010, we collaborated with Assoc Prof Kiranjit Kaur.

•Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur sponsored 500 health screening vouchers valued in RM391
each.

• Major setbacks:
-Cooperation from media
-Sample size
--Language
2.0
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
 2.0 OBJECTIVES (s) 5

The three major objectives of this survey are:

1. To determine the preferred mode of communication when receiving press

releases, media invites from PR practitioners

2. To determine general perceptions about PR practitioners when dealing with the

media

3. To determine the popularity of social media tools as sources of information for

journalists
3.0
METHODOLOGY
 3.0 METHODOLOGY 7

Method:
 Online Survey
 Consists of four parts :
Part A : Basic Information [5 questions]
Part B: Media Relations Practices in Malaysia [4 questions]
Part C: Online Tools and Media Relations Practices [4 questions]

 Instrument : surveymonkey.com

Type of questions: Close-ended

 Sample
 Size : 442 respondents
- Non-probability
- Purposive
4.0
FINDINGS
(Part A: Basic Information)
4.0 FINDINGS Part A : Basic Information 9

Question # 1 :
What is your job title?
The overwhelming majority of respondents to this survey were journalists-more than 90.9% reported
titles of reporter/writer, editor/editorial staff.

N: 442
4.0 FINDINGS Part A : Basic Information 10

Question # 2 :
Which media agency are you attached with?
RTM 1/RTM 2
TV3
NTV7
TV8
TV9
Astro Awani
Bernama TV
The Star
The Sun
New Straits Times
Malay Mail
The Edge Financial Daily
Malaysian Reserve
Utusan Malaysia/Mingguan Malaysia
Berita Harian
Kosmo
Harian Metro
Sin Chew
Nanyang Siang Pau
Makkal Ossai
Tamil Nesan
Malaysia Nanban
Business/Trade Magazine
Lifestyle/Fashion Magazine
Radio Station
Online Media
Wire Service
4.0 FINDINGS Part A : Basic Information 11

Question # 3 :
Gender
Majority of the respondents (59.7%) were females.
4.0 FINDINGS Part A : Basic Information 12

Question # 4 :
Years of experience in this field
There was a good balance of respondents for the number of field experience. 47% were senior staff
with more than 6 years of experience.
4.0
FINDINGS
(Part B: Media Relations
Practices in Malaysia)
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 14

Question # 1 :
Preferred mode for receiving press releases from Public Relations
professionals.
Email (Work) 92.4%

Face-to-Face 50.3%

Fax 48.3%

Email (Personal) 46.9%

Courier/Snail Mail 22.1%

SMS 14.7%

N: 435
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 15

Question # 1 :
Preferred mode for receiving press releases from Public Relations
professionals.

An overwhelming majority of respondents - 92.4% - prefer to receive press releases via
work email, a popular choice for its accessibility, easier storage and reference.

Face-to-face receiving method came in second with 50.3% of respondents prefer this
mode as it creates an avenue for a two-way and immediate communication between the
journalist and PR professionals.

What might be surprising, contrary to popular PR practitioners choice was a distant third
choice -fax (48.3%).

Courier/snail mail (22.1%) showed a higher preference compared to SMS (14.7%).

4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 16

Question # 2 :
Preferred mode for receiving media invitation from Public Relations
professionals.
Email (Work) 93.4%
Work Phone 63.0%
Fax 55.9%
SMS 48.4%
Mobile Phone 48.0%
Face-to-face 46.2%
Email (Personal) 43.8%
Facebook 35.7%
Courier/Snail Mail 26.9%
Twitter 21.4%
N: 436
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 17

Question # 2 :
Preferred mode for receiving media invitation from Public Relations
professionals.
 Once again, the majority of respondents - 93.4%-prefer to receive media invites via work
email, as it is easily accessible, convenient to forward and also simplifies the task of the journalist.

 However, work phone came in as the second most preferred choice with 63% of respondents
choosing this mode.

More than half of the respondents (55.9%) of respondents preferred fax for receiving media
invitations.

 Unexpectedly, Facebook and Twitter were not among the popular choices. Only 35.7%
preferred receiving media invitation via Facebook, and 21.4% via Twitter.
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 18

Question # 3 :
Preferred mode for receiving story idea/pitch from Public Relations
professionals.
Email (Work) 90.6%
Work Phone 59.4%
Face-to-Face 55.3%
Mobile Phone 46.5%
Email (Personal) 45.3%
Fax 40.8%
SMS 40.7%
Facebook 33.5%
Courier/Snail Mail 26.3%
Twitter 23.3%
N: 431
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 19

Question # 3 :
Preferred mode for receiving story idea/pitch from Public Relations
professionals.

 The results are quite similar to Question #2. A high number of respondents - 90.6%-prefer to
receive media invites via work email.

 A distant second choice is work phone with 59.4% of respondents preferring this mode of
communication.

 Face-to-face pitching is the third most preferred mode, with More than half of the respondents
(55.3%) of respondents preferring this mode.

 Again, Facebook and Twitter were not among the popular choices. More than 56% of
respondents said sending story ideas via Twitter is the least preferred choice.

And only 33.5% would prefer story ideas sent via Facebook
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 20

Question # 4 : Indicate your level of agreement with the following about some general perceptions
about public relations professionals.
Agree Disagree

Material sent by PR is usually not relevant to my work. 5.2% 33.9% 57.3% 3.6%
Most PR professionals do not understand which subjects I cover 8.5% 44.1% 45.5% 1.9%
PR professionals often overlook the element of newsworthiness 14.2% 57.9% 27.4% 0.5%

Generally phone calls from PR professionals interrupt me and waste 7.3% 39.7% 50.9% 2.1%
my time
Most PR professionals have low media relations skills (poor press 10.4% 40.0% 47.5% 2.1%
conference management and follow-ups when requested by media,
weak press release writing skills)
Most PR professionals lack professionalism (i.e. disseminating 8.8% 37.1% 52.0% 2.1%
information in a professional, timely and accurate manner when
requested by media)
Most PR professionals often try to shade or “spin” a story to their 15.6% 59.0% 24.8% 0.7%
advantage.
Money giving by PR is common practice 2.2% 12.3% 43.8% 41.6%
Gift-giving by PR is common practice 17.2% 63.3% 18.4% 1.2%
N: 433
4.0 FINDINGS Part B : Media Relations Practices in Malaysia 21

Question # 4 :
Indicate your level of agreement with the following about some general
perceptions about public relations professionals.
 For purposes of this report, we have combined scores of „fully agree‟ and „agree‟ to indicate general
agreement and scores of „strongly disagree‟ and „disagree‟ to indicate general disagreement

 Most respondents fully agreed that most PR professionals overlook the element of
newsworthiness, with 72.1% in general agreement; emphasis on understanding what elements create
news

 PR professionals might take more seriously another prominent and perennial complaint: PR
professionals do not understand which subjects journalists cover, with more than half (53.6%)
generally in agreement; putting a greater need for PR professionals to do media research before pitching

 Also, a very discouraging fact is more than half of respondents (50.4%) are in generally believed PR
professionals in Malaysia have poor media relations skills.

 On the positive side, 54.1% of respondents disagreed that most PR professionals lack
professionalism. Another relative positive was the fact that more than half of the respondents (53%)
disagreed that phone calls from PR people interrupt their workflow and waste their time-an indication
that journalists understand the importance of PR professionals in their work.
4.0
FINDINGS
(Part C: ONLINE TOOLS AND MEDIA
RELATIONS PRACTICES)
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 23

Question # 1:
How often do you regularly use these social media as a source of story ideas or to
research stories you are working on?

Several Once Once Once Once Once a Never

times/ Weekly Monthly every every six year
Week three months
months
Frequent Not Frequent
37.8% 13.3% 8.6% 8.4% 3.5% 2.6% 25.9%
59.7% 40.4%

23.5% 14.8% 11.4% 8.5% 2.9% 6.3% 32.7%

49.7% 50.4%
10.7% 12.0% 8.0% 5.2% 3.0% 5.0% 56.1%
30.7% 69.3%
19.0% 12.0% 6.5% 5.8% 2.3% 2.5% 51.9%
37.5% 62.5%

N: 431
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 24

Question # 1 :
How often do you regularly use these social media as a source of story ideas or to
research stories you are working on?

 Facebook seems to be the most used network for professional purposes, with 37.8% of respondents
saying that they use it several times in a week.

 However, there is a great disparity in the usage of other social media networks. Twitter for once, is
not a popular choice amongst the respondents with a majority (51.9%) of respondents have never
used it for professional purposes.

 YouTube seems to have some interest amongst the respondents when it comes to professional
purposes. However, majority (50.4%) do not use it frequently.

The data when compared to other studies done in other countries, especially in the US in particular,
clearly indicates that Malaysian journalists have not embraced the social media culture for professional
purpose compared to their western counterparts. PR professionals in Malaysia can use this data as
benchmark when starting an online media relations campaign.
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 25

Question # 2:
How many blogs do you read regularly in order to keep up with the subject matter you
cover as a journalist?

N: 435
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 26

Question # 2 :
How many blogs do you read regularly in order to keep up with the subject matter you
cover as a journalist?

 Blogs seem to be a popular avenue for alternative news amongst the respondents. According to the
data, a majority of respondents (68%) read 3 or more blogs regularly.

 This indicates that blogs have gained the popularity as a credible source of information or provides an
alternative view point on issues for journalists.
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 27
Question # 3:
How many blogs, podcasts, corporate websites or other news services do you regularly receive via
an RSS feed?

N: 432
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 28

Question # 3 :
How many blogs, podcasts, corporate websites or other news services do you regularly
receive via an RSS feed?

 By broadening the question to include other forms of subscription digital services in addition to blogs,
the data indicates a majority of the respondents (48.1%) do not use RSS feed to keep abreast with the
blogs, podcasts, corporate websites or other news services.

 However, 19.2% of respondents have said that they receive updates from more than 5 sites.
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 29
Question # 4:
How often do you visit corporate websites to research subject matter you cover as a
journalist?

N: 436
4.0 FINDINGS Part C : Online Tools And Media Relations Practices 30

Question # 3 :
How often do you visit corporate websites to research subject matter you cover as a
journalist?

 The importance of corporate websites as a preferred choice of information is indicated in this

question. 94% of respondents indicated that they use corporate website for their work.

 41.3% respondents report visits frequently than once a week and more than 81% report a visit at least
once a month.
5.0
CONCLUSION
&
RECOMMENDATIONS
 2.0 OBJECTIVES (s) 32

The three major objectives of this survey are:

1. To determine the preferred mode of communication when receiving press

releases, media invites from PR practitioners

 Work email is the preferred choice for all ; press release, story ideas, media invite

Work phone and Face-to-Face modes are also the preferred choices

Least preferred choices: Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter
 2.0 OBJECTIVES (s) 33

The three major objectives of this survey are:

2. To determine general perceptions about PR practitioners when dealing with the

media

 Most respondents fully agreed that most PR professionals overlook the element of
newsworthiness, with 72.1% in general agreement; emphasis on understanding what
elements create news

PR professionals do not understand which subjects journalists cover (53.6%)

50.4% respondents agree that PR professionals in Malaysia have poor media

relations skills.

More than half of the respondents (53%) disagreed that phone calls from PR people
interrupt their workflow
 2.0 OBJECTIVES (s) 33

The three major objectives of this survey are:

3. To determine the popularity of online tools as sources of information for
journalists

Blogs seem to be a popular avenue for alternative news amongst the respondents.
According to the data, a majority of respondents (68%) read 3 or more blogs regularly.

48.1% respondents do not use RSS feed to keep abreast with the blogs, podcasts,
corporate websites or other news services.

Only 37.8% of respondents saying that they use Facebook several times in a week.

Twitter is not a popular choice amongst the respondents with a majority (51.9%) of
respondents have never used it

YouTube seems to have some interest amongst the respondents (More than 50%)

94% of respondents indicated that they use corporate website for their work.
THANK YOU
Presented by: Ms Manminder K. Dhillon (MIPR)
Analysis by:
a. Associate Proffessor Kiranjit Kaur
b. Manminder K. Dhilllon
c. Puspavathy Ramaloo
d. Saraswathi Muniappan
 CONTACT US 25

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