Exploring public relations in Croatia through relational communication and media richness theories

Public Relations Review 30 (2004) 145–160

Exploring public relations in Croatia through relational communication and media richness theories Maureen Taylor∗ Department of Communication, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA Received 19 March 2003; received in revised form 20 June 2003; accepted 10 September 2003

Abstract This article examines the practice of public relations in Croatia through the theories of relational communication and media richness. The findings suggest that the Croatian model of public relations is a mix of traditional media relations and personal influence. Croatian public relations is characterized by a heavy reliance on personal invitations, telephone contacts, and other relational methods for conducting and evaluating public relations. This preference for richer media tactics has implications for public relations practice and theory building. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Public relations; Communication; Croatia; Relational communication; Non-governmental organizations; Media relations

1. Introduction Public relations practices vary across the world and there is still much to learn about the development of international practices of public relations (Scanlan & VanSlyke Turk, 1999; Sriramesh & Vercic, 2003; Taylor, 2001). According to Van Leuven and Pratt (1996), there is a continuum of public relations development in the world. On one side of the continuum are the nations in the West where private sector organizations practice public relations for commercial endeavors. Conversely, on the opposite end of the continuum are governments in the developing world that have often used public relations for nation building. Public relations’ history and development in Eastern Europe falls somewhere in the middle of this continuum. Eastern Europe is an important area to study because unlike other regions, where multinational corporations introduced the practice, Eastern European public relations is making ∗

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a transition from a government propaganda function to an organization–public relationship building function. Nations in transition provide excellent opportunities to study how public relations is both being influenced by, and in turn is influencing, new social, economic and political relationships (Taylor & Kent, 1999). The purpose of this article is to describe the practice of public relations in one of the recently established East European nations. The nation of Croatia is one of the nations that gained independence following the break up of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). In the past decade it has experienced a civil war (1991–1995) and a repressive political system. Today, Croatia is the recipient of large amounts of assistance from the international community for civil society and media development projects. An emerging civil society sector has worked jointly with many international organizations to foster a nascent democratic political system (Taylor & Doerfel, 2003). Croatians now benefit from the establishment of various commercial media outlets. When compared with other former Yugoslavian member states such as Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro, Croatia has a fairly well developed economic system. Croatia hopes to enter the European Union in this decade. To understand the development of public relations in Croatia, the researcher conducted a three-part study. First, a survey instrument collected quantitative data to describe the current status of the practice of public relations by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs are important to study because as Hiebert noted, “today, many non-governmental organizations have become effective communicators within the former Soviet bloc countries. They use techniques of public relations to achieve public communication” (1992, p. 122). Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected NGOs to further probe into public relations practices such as communication tactics, research and evaluation, and media relations. Finally, to better understand the public relations–media relationship, in-depth interviews were conducted with journalists, media managers, and consultants of an international training organization dedicated to media development in Croatia. The three data sets include both qualitative and quantitative data and provide a systematic analysis of the current status of public relations in Croatia. Croatian public relations needs to be understood within the wider context of Eastern Europe. While every nation in Eastern Europe has its own unique culture and social relationships, these nations do share a common political, social and economic past—communism. This shared experience will affect the development of public relations in the region. Indeed, the practice of public relations as an arbiter of organization–public relationships is new to the nations of Eastern Europe. To contextualize the general situation of public relations in Eastern Europe, the first part of this article reviews the existing literature addressing the development of public relations in the region. The literature points to some regional commonalities across the practice of public relations. Personal relationships between public relations practitioners and media representatives are an important part of the practice. The second section of this article examines and measures organization–media relationships in Croatian public relations through relational and media richness theories. The final section discusses the implications for relationships in former communist nations and ties the existence of strong interpersonal relationships to a relational model of public relations. It offers specific conclusions and recommendations for future development in Croatia public relations as well as suggestions for the general region of Eastern Europe. 1.1. Public relations in Eastern Europe For over 40 years, much of the world viewed Eastern Europe with a mix of curiosity and fear. The Cold War now seems very far away yet it ended only a little over a decade ago. During the height of the

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Cold War many people believed that the nations of the East Bloc created a social, economic, political and military monolith poised for expansion. VanSlyke Turk (1996) argued that this idea of uniformity in the former East Bloc was merely a myth and that there has always been a variety of ethnic, class, and sub cultures that have influenced the development of each nation. These cultural, ethnic and class influences continue today and impact national approaches to the practice of public relations throughout Eastern Europe. There were massive political transitions in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. Hiebert identified two change agents—new technologies such as the Internet and the practice of public relations—that offered the potential to change the nature of public communication in post-communist states because public relations allows organizations and political figures to “assess public attitudes and communicate effectively” (1992, p. 119). Thus, public relations generates information through new media technologies and this information contributes to development. Moreover, public relations contributes directly to democratic political systems because “the more a nation has a variety of communication sources and a variety of target audiences, with developed media and responsive feedback systems, the more effective will be the communication system of the nation” (Hiebert, 1992, p. 125). Gruban (1995) has described the transformation of many Central and Eastern European nations away from authoritarian and totalitarian political and economic systems as an opportunity for public relations. For Gruban, public relations “can even contribute to the change of the political system and social structure” (1995, p. 21). There has been a lot of optimism about how public relations may help nations in Eastern Europe develop participatory political and social systems. What roles has public relations played in Eastern Europe during the first decade of political freedom? How is it being used to contribute to or limit political and social change? A brief review about public relations in Eastern Europe attempts to answer this question. 1.2. The Russian Federation Once a superpower, Russia has experienced a painful transition to economic and political change. McElreath, Chen, Azarova, and Shadrova (2001) traced the development of public relations in Russia after the fall of communism. The authors noted that public relations in Russia resembles early 20th century practices in the US. Similarities between early American and current Russian practices include the growth of capitalism, opportunities through media expansion, and the prevalence of a press agentry model of practice. McElreath et al. observed that the proliferation of new media outlets, estimated at tens of thousands, has created a need for Russian public relations to serve what Gandy (1982) called the information subsidy function. Guth (2000) traveled to Russia to study the development of the practice and found that public relations has played an important role in Russian elections. Through survey research and interviews Guth (2000) also noted that because of cultural traditions and an intrusive government bureaucracy, public relations in Russia has also developed a private, interpersonal component. Three case studies provide insight into the development of Russian public relations. Practitioner Carole Howard (1991/1992) worked to launch Reader’s Digest in the former Soviet Union. Howard found that the economic and political system constrains the practice of public relations and suggested that practitioners understand Russian culture and its business environment. In another case study, Shadrova, Zakharov, and Zolotinkina (1999) evaluated a public relations campaign to rehabilitate a Russian science museum. They noted that personal contact was an important tool in Russian public relations. Tsetsura (2003) examined the “KisSoft” public relations campaign in Russia. Her research found that because local reporters and editors do not follow up on publicity materials sent to them, the practitioners cultivated

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personal relationships with the media to ensure that their campaign gained media coverage. Tsetsura noted that local journalists preferred “to base their stories on face-to-face communication with public relations practitioners” (p. 316). The case studies show that the development of public relations is still in a nascent stage in Russia and that interpersonal relationships between the media and the public relations practitioner are very important. 1.3. Hungary Like Russia, the nation of Hungary has experienced enormous social and political change in the last decade. Once part of the Warsaw pact, today Hungary is one of the newest members of NATO and the country is on its way to a market economy. One of the greatest obstacles in the development of public relations is that in many developing nations the practice is often considered as a form of advertising. Since the 1980s, Hungarian employee relations and internal communication efforts are “even more important than public and media relations” because of cross cultural communication problems (Hiebert, 1994, p. 365). In a recent case study of public relations in Hungary, Rossbach, Newsom, and Carrell (1999) noted that a campaign to increase awareness of, and support for, the European Union had an interpersonal, networking component. Regularly scheduled press lunches “lead to in-depth discussion and exchange of information” (Rossbach et al., 1999, p. 39). This tactic, in addition to news releases and another interpersonal tactic, news conferences, solidified the organization–media relationship and helped the EU achieve its campaign objectives. Again, there is an intersection of media relations and personal relationships as a foundation of public relations in an Eastern European nation. 1.4. Romania and Bulgaria Romania and its southern neighbor Bulgaria have both suffered through the transition from communism. Romania was once one of the most repressive communist states. VanSlyke Turk (1996) conducted public relations research in Romania and described the history and current status of the field. VanSlyke Turk traced Romania’s history of public relations from state propaganda and persuasion through the slow and painful transition to democracy. A major factor influencing Romania’s development is the status of the press. Although media are no longer controlled by the state, VanSlyke Turk suggested that most outlets are controlled by greed. This diminishes their role in the transition to democracy. In focus groups and surveys practitioners in Romania, VanSlyke Turk reached several conclusions. First, public relations continues to reflect propagandistic practices. This can be attributed to the many years that Romania lived under communism. Second, although practitioners use persuasion to achieve their goals, they seek to “develop mutual understanding between the management of the organization and the publics the organization affects” (1996, p. 346). However, when the status of public relations in Romania is compared to the normative values of the IABC excellence study, there appears to be much room for development: Public relations as practiced in Romania is largely non-strategic, is closely linked with marketing, is rarely located near the top of the organizational hierarchy, almost never follows the two-way symmetrical model, and is practiced by would-be technicians with virtually no public relations training. (VanSlyke Turk, 1996, p. 344) Data collected to measure the practice show that the most common public relations activities are product promotion news releases, trade show expositions, product launches, and sponsorship of community,

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cultural and sporting events. Public relations in Romania is more related to marketing than relationship building. Bulgarian public relations shows a similar situation. Karadjov, Kim, and Karavasilev (2000) studied the models of public relations and levels of satisfaction among Bulgarian practitioners. They found that the press agentry model was the one most commonly practiced. However, they also found that practitioners would like to be able to practice the two-way models. Karadjov et al. (2000) noted that the everyday experience of practitioners includes offering favors to journalists and keeping negative information about the organization out of the news through personal relationships. The interpersonal component in Bulgarian public relations is evident. 1.5. The former Yugoslavia One of the more tragic outcomes of the end of the regional dominance of the Soviet Union was the break-up of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Throughout 1991 and 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia, all member states of Yugoslavia, voted individually for independence. Independence came a cost—all three nations were drawn into wars with the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA). Slovenian independence was achieved after a short military campaign but Bosnia and Croatia each had to fight a 4-year war. Public relations is still in a nascent stage across the former Yugoslavia. Research about public relations in the former Yugoslavia has shown wide variance in the development of the practice. Vercic, Grunig, and Grunig (1996) explored the development of two-way symmetrical communication in Slovenia and found that in societies where there is a traditional low level of trust between people, and people and organizations, there is a need for public relations to create, sustain, and change relationships. Vercic (1999, 2003) provided a case study evaluating a Slovenian public information campaign to increase loan applications for anti-pollution heating systems. Vercic showed how an integrated communication campaign was able to produce significant results in Slovenia. One important finding, however, was the importance of interpersonal communication to the campaign’s success. In a survey of the people who adapted the new energy efficient and environmental friendly heating systems, Vercic (1999) learned that over 25% of the adopters learned of the loan program from an interpersonal contact—either a friend or family member. This finding points to the value of interpersonal relationships and information exchange in Slovenia. Indeed, this finding supports many of the tenets of Rogers’ (1995) diffusion of innovations. Rogers’ (1995) research shows conclusively that while it is mediated channels that disseminate information, it is interpersonal channels that are crucial in adoption decisions. More recently, Vercic (2003) noted that Slovenian public relations works within a media system where there is “impersonal mass media first and personal influence in corporativist institutions later or vice versa” (p. 295). The value of interpersonal relationships in Slovenian society is clear. Another nation that was created by the collapse of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has a much different experience than Slovenia. Taylor (2000) explored media relations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. After a 4-year war, the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord ensured peace in the region. Because of a depressed economy and political instability, there are very few business organizations in post-war Bosnia. Most of the organizations that practice public relations are non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These NGOs serve social goals such as refugee return, demobilization of soldiers, and women’s issues. The NGO sector addresses social issues by using public relations to reach out to various niche publics.

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In a study of 50 NGOs, Taylor found that public relations is mainly understood as media relations. One finding of this research was that a majority of organizations (60%) have the president performing the media relations function. While this personal influence practice places the organizational member with the most respect, knowledge and prestige in the public relations function, it is problematic because presidents often have more pressing tasks such as budgets, meetings, and staff supervision to occupy their time. Public relations then becomes merely one of many tasks that demand their attention. The outcome of this practice is less emphasis on public relations. Because these organizations are not skilled in public relations, Bosnian organizations attempt to cultivate personal relationships with journalists and routinely pay for media coverage to gain publicity for organizational events and news. Taylor identified this aspect of media relations as an “economic subsidy” rather than the traditional “information subsidy” between media and organizations. Sullivan (1999) has provided a case study of an information campaign to United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Bosnia following the war. Sullivan served as a public affairs officer for the Stabilization Force (SFOR). This military force relied on public relations to build relationships with the Bosnian public and to build relationships amongst peacekeepers of different nations. Although Sullivan admitted, “face-to-face communication always has been thought to be the most effective and efficient way of communicating,” the limited resources of SFOR resulted in a one-way information campaign to the troops (Sullivan, 1999, p. 188). This review of the current literature describes public relations development in Eastern Europe. Several distinct features of East European public relations are clear. First, public relations is mostly understood as press agentry and one-way communication where truth is not always the goal of organization–public communication. Second, the concept of the “public” is often absent or vague in these nations and this affects public relations tactics, goals, and professional development. Third, research, to either create or evaluate public relations efforts, is not prevalent. Finally, personal relations are an important part of the public relations practice. Personal relationships between public relations practitioners and journalists, government officials, and others in positions to influence their organizations are crucial for organizational survival. Given these common characteristics of public relations in East European contexts, it is necessary to understand how relationships, both personal and professional, are developed and maintained in this region. Only then can we better understand and evaluate the practice of public relations in East European contexts. The next section of the paper explores the cultural context of one emerging democracy in Eastern Europe—Croatia. 1.6. Research questions The literature on public relations in Eastern Europe overwhelmingly shows that public relations most clearly fits into the press agentry model and that practitioners enact the technician role. In recognizing this, replication of the Grunig and Hunt models research or a study of Broom and Dozier’s roles research would probably not be able to uncover the truly unique aspects of Croatian public relations. What we need to learn in order to better understand and appreciate the unique practice of public relations in Eastern Europe are data that tells us how personal relationships create trust, and more importantly, mediate the organization–public relationship. Thus, the following research questions and hypotheses attempt to uncover the actual interpersonal aspects of the practice of public relations in an East European nation. This study proceeds from a recognition of the low levels of trust, the value of interpersonal relationships, and high levels of personal influence in former communist nations in Eastern Europe are the cultural and societal norms that influence relationships. These factors will subsequently influence public relations.

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RQ1: What is the status of NGO public relations in Croatia? Status of the field can be measured by several qualitative and quantitative measures. Resource dependency theory suggests that organizations vary in their dependency on their environment for achieving their goals (Pfeffer, 1981; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978). Organizations dedicate resources to those publics that can most influence their operations (Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003). The media is an important part of public relations in Croatia. Therefore, an organization’s knowledge about the media business provides insight into one dimension of the public relations function. Previous research from Bosnia noted that the public relations function is often performed by a member of the organization with high status. Thus, to test if Taylor’s finding extends to other East European nations: H1: The presidents of Croatian NGOs will be responsible for the public relations function. The preferred type of public relations tactics may also shed light on the development of Croatian public relations. Channel use indicates the richness of the communication contact in an interaction. Daft and Lengel (1984, 1986) explicated media richness theory. Media richness theory identifies the different channels used when organizational members communicate. Rich channels are those channels that are high in cues for the interactants and lean channels are those channels that do not give off additional information. According to media richness scholars like Daft and Lengel (1984, 1986), people strategically select their channel based on the perceived degree of uncertainty in a planned encounter. Highly ambiguous situations call for the richer channels so that interactants can negotiate the meaning and the outcomes. In situations where people have little uncertainty, then the leaner channels prevail. Rich, face-to-face communication offers additional cues while statistical reports offer little or no additional information. Media richness theory has been applied to measuring NGO–media relationships. Taylor and Doerfel (2003) studied NGO–media relationships in Croatia and found that because of low levels of trust, Croatian organizations prefer the richer channels for dealing with other organizations. This research showed that the richer channels were preferred especially when Croatian organizations were communicating with the media. Public relations theory and research can benefit from applying media richness theory because it can tell us about preferred communication channels in media–organization relationships. Using media richness theory, the public relations tactics were each assigned a richness value. This value was based on the level of interpersonal contact and negotiation needed during the public relations–media representative encounter. RQ2: What are the most frequently used media tactics by Croatian NGOs? H2: Rich, relational communication tactics will be used more frequently. One of the most important steps in the development of professional public relations is the use of research to plan and evaluate public relations efforts. The final way to understand the development of public relations in Croatia was through establishing a baseline detailing if, and how, organizations evaluate their public relations efforts. RQ3: How are public relations efforts measured and evaluated by Croatian NGOs?

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H3: Rich, relational communication will be the most common way to evaluate public relations effectiveness. Taken together, these research questions and hypotheses seek evidence of a Croatian approach to public relations.

2. Method This case study is based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected from Croatian NGO representatives charged with the public relations function as well as from media representatives during summer 2000. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have many of the same public relations needs as corporate organizations. According to Tkalac and Pavicic (2003), although NGOs have “consistently used public relations as a primary tool to mobilize public opinion in their favor, public relations literature on this subject is rather thin” (pp. 490–491). To examine Croatian NGOs, a quantitative survey, based on the questions used to study Bosnian media relations (Taylor, 2000), was translated into Croatian, field tested, modified and extended to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. Second, the researcher interviewed NGO public relations directors to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of media relations in Croatia. Finally, the researcher met with media representatives to inquire about their perceptions of the information subsidy (Gandy, 1982). 2.1. Survey sample To learn more about NGO public relations, a national registry of NGOs in Croatia provided a sampling frame of over 250 civil society organizations. Organizations were randomly selected from the list and contacted until a total of 40 surveys had been completed. It was the specific goal to speak to the designated media relations representative or the person in each organization who was most familiar with the public relations function. Respondents included organizations in all parts of the Croatia including Zagreb, Vukovar, Split, and Osijek. All organizations were contacted by telephone by a native speaker of Croatian. Survey questions to answer RQ1 about the status of the field included the following: To ascertain the level of media knowledge, respondents were asked: “Have you or the person responsible for media relations in your organization attended a media-training workshop in the last year?” Additionally, two open-ended questions asked respondents to “identify the major obstacles to media relations” and “identify their organization’s most successful practices for working with the media.” To detect resource dependency, a Likert scale ranging from 1 (representing the lowest level of dependency) to 10 (identifying the highest level of dependency) asked respondents to identify the perceived “value of media coverage to the success of your organization’s objectives.” To test H1, respondents were asked to identify the title and name of the person responsible for public relations and/or media relations in the organization. To answer RQ2 and H2, the frequency of media tactics was ascertained by the question: “Please respond ‘yes’ to the execution in the last 6 months of each of these specific public relations activities (news releases, personal invitations to the media to attend events, news conferences, paying to have a

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story written about the organization, paying for advertisements, and Web site usage).” Respondents were then asked to identify their preference of these public relations tactics by rank ordering them. 2.2. Interviews with NGOs The second part of the study was based on a convenience sample (n = 10) of the 40 responding organizations. These in-depth interviews inquired about each organization’s public relations practices and the experiences of the media relations representative. The researcher met with the person responsible for public relations and probed for examples and related evidence to contextualize the quantitative survey data. Specifically, interviewees were asked to elaborate on the obstacles to media relations and to provide suggestions for improving public relations efforts by their organization. Interviewees determined the language choice of the interview with most selecting the Croatian language. Interviews were simultaneously translated for the researcher, tape-recorded and transcribed for later reference. The transcripts and notes taken during the interviews serve as the second part of the data in this study. 2.3. Interviews with media Finally, the third part of the study involved interviews with media representatives (n = 10) from indigenous organizations representing radio, television, and print outlets. Additionally, the researcher interviewed three representatives from an international media training organization, IREX-Pro Media. This final data set uncovers the perspectives of the media representatives who operate in Croatia. The researchers asked the journalists and news editors about their experiences working with business organizations, government organizations, and NGOs. The media consultants from IREX-Pro Media were asked to provide a macro analysis of the media situation in the country. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. This three-part data collection provides a multi-method approach to understand the status, actual practice, and potential of public relations in Croatia from both sides of the information subsidy.

3. Results 3.1. The status of public relations in Croatia RQ1 asked about the status of public relations in Croatia and four survey questions addressed this question. The survey responses from the 40 NGOs showed that public relations is considered an important organizational function. For instance, 57% of the organizations had sent a member to attend a media relations workshop during the 6 months prior to the survey. Over 22% of the organizations had actually conducted their own media relations workshop for organizational members in the last 6 months. To test for resource dependence of NGOs on the media, organizations were asked how important the media was to their organization. Thirty-six out of the 40 organizations (88%) considered relationships with the media valuable for the success of the organization in achieving its goals. On the 10-point scale, M = 8.79, showing that the organizations in this study are highly dependent on the media. Another way to understand how important the public relations function is to organizations is to learn if there is designated public relations person in the organization. The actual naming of a person to the position is an indication that the organization recognizes the value of public relations and is willing to commit

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some organizational resources, even if only symbolic resources, to this function. Additionally, learning the titles of the public relations practitioners also helps understand the level of respect that position has within an organization. Almost 60% of the sample had designated a member of the organization to be responsible for the public relations function. This shows that more than half of the organizations recognize that having a public relations person was important for the organization. H1 posited that because of the high personal influence and low levels of trust a majority of organizations would have the president responsible for the public relations function. Of those organizations with someone acting in the public relations position, 53% identified the president as the person serving as the media relations representative. This data is consistent with Taylor’s (2000) data collected from Bosnian NGOs and H1 is supported. Understanding the societal and cultural obstacles to public relations also will help us gain a picture of the status of the field. In an open-ended question, NGO representatives were asked about obstacles to public relations. Ten different types of answers were given. Of the 10 categories of answers, eight of them identified the major obstacle to the practice of public relations as “the media.” The two most common answers, 30% each, included (1) the media in Croatia are subjective and have an editorial policy that does not support the work on NGOs and (2) the media is unprofessional and poorly trained. The next most frequent response was (3) the media only cover NGO events if they are friends with someone in the organization. In open-ended questions, organizations were asked for suggestions for improving media relations. Eighteen organizations (45%) claimed that to improve media relations, the media must first understand what NGOs do and acknowledge NGO contributions to improving Croatia. Suggestions for improving relationships also included building personal relationships, having media outlets dedicate a column to NGO activities, and improved cooperation and communication about NGO events. 3.2. Media tactics in Croatia Once the status of Croatian public relations was ascertained, RQ2 asked about the tactics used in public relations. The most popular media tactic was a personal invitation to a media representative to cover or attend an event. Thirty-eight organizations (95%) identified invitations as their most common public relations tactic. News releases, delivered either by hand or by fax, were the second most common by 32 of the organizations (80%). Third, 28 organizations (70%) reported that they rely heavily on news conferences for communicating with the media. Less frequent responses included the use of organizational Web sites to post information (55%) and paying for ads (35%). The least popular media tactic was paying media outlets to write stories about their NGO. Almost 28% of the organizations claimed that they often had to pay for stories to be written about them in order to gain media coverage. When asked to identify their three most preferred tactics, the respondents identified invitations (44%), news releases (20%), and news conferences (20%). The two least prefered public relations tactics included paying for advertisements and paying for stories to be written about them. H2 inquired if rich relational communication tactics would be more frequently used than the less personal tactics. To test this hypothesis, answers to RQ2 were further categorized according to channel use. Tactics were categorized along a lean to rich communication continuum. Rich tactics included communication actions such as personally inviting the media to an event and holding a news conference. These rich tactics may be preferred in uncertain situations because they allow for feedback, negotiation of meaning, and adjustment of messages. Rich communication contacts also ensure that non-verbal cues

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can be accessed. Lean communication tactics are at the opposite end of the communication continuum. In this study lean communication tactics included buying advertisements, posting information to the organization’s Web site, and paying to have a story written about the organization. These practices were identified as lean because each of these tactics is controlled by the organization and require little negotiation with the media. News releases were considered as a moderately rich communication tactic. News releases are a one-way communication tactic (lean) but there is potential interpersonal contact during the hand delivery of a news release (rich) to a journalist or media outlet. The t-tests were used to compare the preference for rich (M = 0.83), lean (M = 0.39), and moderate (M = 0.80) tactics. The preference of rich media tactics (M = 0.83, S.D. = 0.29) differed from lean tactics (M = 0.39, S.D. = 0.42) as predicted with t(39) = 18.06, P < 0.00. Thus, these data support H2 in that the richer tactics are more prevalent in Croatian public relations. The journalists and media consultants (n = 10) who were interviewed agreed that the interpersonal methods of media relations are the most common tactics in Croatia. They noted that they personally knew many of the NGO leaders and that a phone call from them or a request for a lunch meeting was not unusual. 3.3. Evaluating public relations effectiveness RQ3 inquired how Croatian NGOs evaluate the results of their public relations efforts. A total of 64 responses were given to this question (respondents were allowed to identify all of the research tactics that they used). Twenty-six organizations in this survey measure their public relations effectiveness by counting the placement of a story about their organization in the media. Two interpersonal components also emerged in their answers. Twenty-two organizations count the number of journalists actually attending one of their events as an outcome of effective public relations. Finally, 11 organizations count the number of phone calls from journalists seeking information about an event or issue as a measure of success. A few respondents noted that they not only counted story placement, but that they also examined the tone of the coverage as part of their evaluation strategy. H3 tested if relational communication was the most prefered method of evaluating public relations success. Relational ways of measuring effectiveness were identified 33 times (22 citing journalists attending events and 11 noting that phone calls from media representatives) and counting placements (a non-relational tacitc), was reported 26 times. Five other answers appeared including examining public reaction and evaluating the tone of news coverage. The support for H3 is mixed, there appears to relatively similar reliance on relational and non-relational evaluation methods in Croatia.

4. Discussion Although Eastern Europe is comprised a variety of cultures, the nations in this region share certain commonalities that influence personal relationships, relationships between organizations, and relationships between organizations and publics. These commonalities are not so much cultural, but rather may be the outcome of 40 or more years of communist social, economic, and political systems. Regardless of any person’s view on the contributions or limitations of communism, the supremacy of the state and the absence of any organization independent of state control have had implications for the development of social trust and organization–public relationships. These implications influence the development of

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public relations and are the foundation for this study. Specifically, the relevance of issues of trust and the value of personal influence are discussed below. 4.1. Relational public relations The data suggest that public relations in Croatia is a very interpersonal and relational practice. Practitioners want to speak with media representatives, spend time with these media representatives, and potentially influence media coverage of their organizations. Public relations is valued by organizations and many recognize their dependency on media for achieving their organization’s mission. Many presidents serve in the public relations function and this will no doubt create both opportunities and challenges for the development of NGO public relations. One way to contextualize these findings is through relational communication. In recent years the field of public relations has benefited from a new shift in the research. This shift reflects a relational approach to public relations and focuses on explicating, operationalizing, and measuring relationships. The work of Broom, Casey, and Ritchey (1997), Ledingham and Bruning (1998, 2000), Grunig and Huang (2000), and Huang (2001) has helped focus public relations research on a core aspect of public relations—relationship building. Public relations scholars have revisited interpersonal communication to understand relationship building. Trust is one of the foundations for a relational approach to public relations. Trust is an important part of the relationship between individuals as much as it is needed between publics and organizations. Huang defined trust as one of the four factors that represent the “essence of OPRS [organization–public relationships]” (2001, p. 65). Characteristics of OPR trust include truthfulness, fair and just treatment, and keeping promises. Trust is a foundation of relationship building and when missing from a relationship, interactants cannot communicate or cooperate. This was the situation between individuals, organizations, and the government in many nations of Eastern Europe. Rose, Mishler, and Haerpfer (1997) found that instead of trusting institutions and organizations, people who lived in totalitarian states developed “strong, face-to-face social networks” that enabled them to trust one another (p. 85). Face-to-face communication creates trust. Through face-to-face interactions, people can read both the verbal and non-verbal cues of the other interactants. This allows for more certainty, trust, and confidence that the communication is understood. Trust is major problem facing many of the nations emerging from communism. Gibson (2001) studied the development of civil society in Russia and found that low levels of trust, between citizens and between organizations, is impeding social and political development. A society without trust cannot function. Almost every social interaction, such as crossing a street, using an elevator, purchasing products, or exchanging services, is based on an implicit assumption of trust. Without trust, people will only rely on their immediate set of friends and family and live narrow lives. There is evidence about the impact of trust on societal development in Eastern Europe. Smeltz, Bell, Mendrala, Sweeney, and Teare (2000) aggregated 10 years of data about public opinion in Central and East European countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Smeltz et al. found that the people of Eastern Europe have very low levels of trust in almost every aspect of life. They do not trust other citizens, the media, government institutions, hospitals and universities. Through survey research and focus groups Smeltz et al. noted that “recent surveys shows large majorities in these transition countries expressed the view that ‘you can’t be too careful when dealing with people’ while typically only one-quarter agree that most people can be trusted” (p. 18). People all over the former

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East Bloc do not trust other people or organizations. The Croatian data confirm that trust is an important issue in media relations. Rich public relations tactics are highly favored for media relations and equally favored to leaner methods for evaluating media relations efforts. These rich tactics allow for more chance of negotiation in interactions with media representatives and thus have the potential to create more trust. Communication is affected when there are low levels of trust between people or between organizations and publics. Hofstede (1984) ranked countries on their tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty. Nations in Eastern Europe experience high levels of uncertainty avoidance. For instance, in nations where there are low levels of trust and high uncertainty in interactions, people prefer to engage in lengthy face-to-face interactions so that they can best control and react to situational cues. The implications for public relations are clear. Vercic et al. (1996) noted that one interviewee in Slovenia reported that public relations is most needed in societies with low levels of trust. Relating the experiences of one Slovenian practitioner, Vercic et al. reported that Slovenia used to be a Germeinschaft society based on smaller communities of extensive relationships and trust. Today, Slovenia is more of a Gesellschaft society where relationships are much more specialized and thus less trusting of those outside of a close circle of friends. Moreover, in societies that have traditionally low levels of trust, individuals will rely on frequent face-to-face communication, backed up by written documentation to reduce uncertainty and ensure agreement. Public relations, through rich tactics, can thus be used to build trust, help explain organizational positions to publics, and respond to public needs. Another related factor that may influence the development of personal relationships in the nations of the former East Bloc is the development of strong, personal relationships. Personal influence may best characterize this relational strategy. Sriramesh (1992, 1996) identified personal influence as a fifth model of public relations. Personal influence is based on a cultural variable of power distance. According to Hofstede (1984), the former Yugoslavia displayed high levels of power distance in its social systems. The mean score for 39 countries on power distance was 51 and the score for Yugoslavia was 76. A recent update of Hofstede’s work by Fernandez, Carlson, Stepina, and Nicholson (1997) in the East European nations of the former Yugoslavia and Russia, shows that high power distance continues to influence communication and relationships. When one considers the supremacy of the communist party and the privileges associated with membership, it seems clear that 40 years of a two-tiered system—the people and the government—produced feelings of high power distance in Eastern Europe. One journalist spoke to this exact issue of mistrust on both sides of the information subsidy. She recently conducted several workshops for NGOs on how to improve media relations. These workshops instructed NGO leaders how to be interviewed, how to write news releases, how to contact media, and how to serve as a resource for journalists. This journalist mentioned that: there is both a fear and suspicion between NGOs and the media. NGO leaders do not understand when the story that appears about their event or activity is different than they expected. And, many journalists grow frustrated with the constant pleas for coverage of less than news worthy events. The workshops, sponsored by this international women’s organization, sought to teach NGOs dedicated to women’s issues how to bring these issues into the public psyche. Personal relationships have developed as a necessity in public relations and this makes sense when we realize that the concept of the public is quite new to the region. Karadjou et al. quoted one Bulgarian dissertation “there has been little need for public relations in a society deprived for a half century of real publics” (p. 211). What people in Eastern Europe had was an interpersonal, private orientation to others. This no doubt will influence the development of public relations in the region.

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4.2. Implications for Croatian public relations It appears that issues of trust and personal influence are a part of every public relations transaction. The interviews with the media representatives and media consultants show a sense of frustration that many NGOs view the interpersonal side of media relations. Several journalists noted that they receive numerous phone calls each day from NGOs trying to persuade them to cover a particular event. The reporters unanimously noted that many NGO activities, such as speeches, news conferences, and visits by dignitaries are not newsworthy enough to receive substantial coverage. The media consultants and trainers, taking an outsider’s perspective on the whole Croatian media system, described Croatia as a large, village where everyone knew each other and that elites, whether in the government, media or the NGO movement, had many relationship commonalities. The media consultants noted that this bias worked in favor of certain groups, and against other groups. They noted that it was part of their ongoing training for journalists to make news stories dependent on news value rather than more personal relationship factors. As one IREX Pro-media consultant noted: “this is a small country and if you don’t know a person, then you probably know their wife, brother etc.” The interviews with practitioners provided further evidence about how organizations evaluate success. When asked about public relations effectiveness, several of the organizations offered the researcher a clipping file of recent media coverage. Several of the NGOs interviewed had received extensive media coverage during the last 6 months. These organizations said that they maintained clipping files not only for their own evaluation methods but also as a tool to show international donors of their success. As one NGO leader said, “We have been very successful getting media attention. We have published a booklet with all of our stories. We bring it to all of our meetings with donors and potential donors. They like seeing that we are in the media.” The fact that NGOs equate effectiveness with media coverage is a source of tension between NGOs and media. The journalists voiced questions about the real motivation of some NGOs. One journalist commented: NGOs get so much money from big international donors. They have big offices, new computers, high salaries, and they do very little that is useful. NGOs seem to spend more time on raising money than on raising awareness for their issue. NGOs don’t want to help on stories that will not focus on them. They use stories about them to show donors how successful they are even when they are not successful. Just because an organization is in the media a lot does not make it a successful organization. It is our job to write about the organizations that do things, not about the organizations that say that they do things. It appears that that there is a disconnect between what the media wants in its relations with NGOs and the NGOs’ perceptions of what effective media relations should be. This difference in perceptions, needs, and expectations will continue to influence Croatian public relations.

5. Conclusion The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which public relations is enacted in one East European nation. Croatian public relations is relevant for our understanding of global public relations development is the way in which the organization–media relationship is enacted. Ascertaining these foundations of the practice may provide insight into the cultural and societal aspects of Croatian society.

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The data suggest that Croatian public relations is often practiced through personal relationships and rich communication channels. These personal relationships may be based on long standing friendships between journalists and public relations people or they may be cultivated over time through frequent and rich face-to-face communication and reciprocity. Moreover, organizations practice a version of Sriramesh’s personal influence model. Finally, the practice of public relations is defined and constrained by a lack of trust throughout all parts of the society. More research is needed from other parts of Eastern Europe to add additional insight into this type of public relations practice and extend public relations theory.

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