Organizational Influences and Constraints on Community College Web-based Media Relations

Abstract

Various organizational, departmental, and interdepartmental factors influence how an educational institution practices public relations. These factors may enable or hinder the ways in which communication practitioners build and maintain relationships with the media. Higher education institutions are especially in need of public relations efforts. The general public is largely unaware that community colleges enroll nearly half of all students in higher education—more than 11 million annually (Hutchins & Brock, 2006 Hutchins , J. , & Brock , T. ( 2006 ). Helping the press help community colleges . Community College Week , 18 ( 17 ), 4 – 5 . [Google Scholar]). It is through media relations that community colleges can tell their story. The purpose of this paper is to explore how internal organizational dynamics influence the use of web sites for media relations of community colleges in New Jersey. The findings suggest that the success of the web-based media relations initiatives is largely dependent on two organizational factors: (a) the level of control that the public relations practitioners have over the web site, and (b) whether or not the practitioners are able to get diverse organizational and stakeholder interests to agree on the web site's purpose. This paper discusses the implications of these findings for community college institutions.

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