The Power of Commercial Influences: How Lifestyle Journalists Experience Pressure from Advertising and Public Relations

Figures & data

Table 1. Lifestyle journalists’ perceived advertising influences on their work.

	N	M	SD	% agree/ strongly agree
I consider publishers’ or managers’ interests when producing journalistic content	607	3.13	1.34	48.6
I’m in direct contact with advertisers	606	2.63	1.54	37.8
I consider advertising interests in the content of the stories I produce	605	2.55	1.35	33
I try to find story themes that will attract advertisers	605	2.48	1.33	28.1
Advertisers try to dictate the stories I produce	604	2.37	1.37	27.3
I consider advertising interests when deciding which stories to pursue	602	2.32	1.33	26.4
I never mention a brand in the stories I produce	607	2.11	1.15	12.5
Advertising interests usually outweigh editorial interests	606	1.97	1.18	14.2

Table 2. Lifestyle journalists’ perceived influences on their work from public relations.

	N	M	SD	% agree/ strongly agree
I always tell audiences if a product or service was sponsored by someone else.	561	4.17	1.09	75.6
When a free product or service did not live up to expectations, I tell my audience.	559	3.5	1.18	51.9
Accepting gifts of higher than nominal value is wrong.	562	3.42	1.25	47.5
There is too much public relations material	592	3.41	1.09	47.2
When a free product or service did not live up to expectations, I prefer not to produce the story at all.	564	3.35	1.31	51
Public relations material offers necessary information for me to do my job	592	3.3	1.19	54.2
I have a close relationship with public relations professionals	592	3.22	1.23	48.8
Stories based on free products or services are less credible than stories where these products or services were paid for by the media organization.	563	3.15	1.29	40.9
It is easy for public relations professionals to place content in journalistic publications	592	2.94	1.14	35.3
Information in public relations material is reliable	589	2.74	1.01	26.2
Free products or services are necessary for me to do my job.	561	2.73	1.44	37.9
Free products or services influence the reporting.	563	2.41	1.28	25.6
How to deal with public relations material is discussed in editorial meetings	588	2.36	1.18	19.7
Public relations professionals have a large impact on which stories I choose to cover	593	2.3	1.17	19.1
I always return free products I receive, regardless of their value.	560	2.29	1.11	10.9
Public relations professionals have a great impact on how I cover stories	593	2.2	1.11	15.4

Table 3. Multiple linear regression analysis of advertising and PR influences (standardized betas).

	Hard power			Soft power
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
Age	−.201***	−.218***	−.191***	−.128*	−.14**	−.103
Salary	−.032	−.075	−.073	.014	−.024	−.026
Journalism degree	.009	.014	.027	.033	.031	.068
Gender	.011	.034	.017	.031	.039	.014
Works for newspaper		−.039	−.05		.033	.043
Works for magazine		.22***	.210***		.056	.062
Competition		.073	.063		.097	.092
Financial situation		.018	.0		.022	.009
Dependence on advertising		.087	.097*		.035	.057
Travel			.161**			.161**
Fashion, Beauty			.126*			.189**
Living, Gardening			−.09			−.127*
Personal Technology			.027			.124*
Personal Finance			−.111**			−.109*
Property, Real Estate			.069			.007
Health, Wellness			−.07			−.119*
Food, Cuisine			.031			−.027
Parenting, Family			−.082			−.035
People, Celebrity			−.017			−.026
Music, Movies			.051			.009
Variance explained (R^2)	.042	.11	.188	.018	.033	.126
Change in R^2		.067***	.079***		.015	.082***

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.