Matthew Powers, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Washington
How NGOs blur the line between PR, Journalism and Advocacy
Friday, November 11, 2016, 12–1 p.m., 221 Allen Hall
Non-governmental organizations have long sought publicity to boost their organizational profiles and achieve advocacy aims. In recent years, NGOs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam have hired reporters and photojournalists to accompany research missions; utilizing corporate public relations techniques to boost brand awareness, and by experimenting with digital tools to pursue advocacy goals. This talk overviews these developments, explains their causes, and discusses their implications for journalism, advocacy and the public sphere; highlighting a larger blurring of the lines dividing journalism, public relations and advocacy in the contemporary media landscape.
Powers’s research has been published in Journal of Communication, International Journal of Press/Politics, and Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, among others. He holds a PhD in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University.