Calling the Shots is setting the record straight: what's public relations? How is it done differently in China and the US?
I got to bounce ideas with my friend Shu Hu, who has worked for several high-profile tech companies in China in the past decade, and we are going talk about the following "tabooed topics":
How vital is WeChat as a medium for news and PR in China?
Can one buy positive coverage in China?
In China, can negative articles be retracted if companies asked?
What are some of the Faux Pas when working with US media and reporters?
She graciously offered her insights and translated her thoughts below, with my edits and additions.
A Brief History of Public Relations
The industry of public relations is both ancient and modern. In 1903, Ivy Lee, the father of modern PR and best known for his work with the Rockefeller Family, started his consultancy. Theories of public communication based on persuasion and identity can be traced back to ancient Greece and Aristotle's "Rhetoric."
Public relations targets not just potential consumers but a broader range of stakeholders, including investors, employees, and government agencies. PR ‘s goal is media coverage through producing and showcasing newsworthy content, setting it apart from advertising and marketing efforts that lean heavily on paid media and conversion. Today, PR includes owned media and integrate paid media as well. Yet, the core approach is to establish and uphold the brand's favorable reputation over the long run.
Public relations is grounded in effective communication between businesses and the public. Media plays a vital role as the gatekeeper of mass communication and reaching stakeholders.
Media and environment with Chinese characteristics and the role of PR
From "world factory," to the first generation of companies going abroad, like Lenovo, Huawei, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, to rising stars like TikTok, Temu, and Shein, these companies are serious about succeeding in overseas markets. However, they face cultural barriers and challenges in being accepted as global brands.
Therefore, to discuss similarities and differences of the PR function in China and the United States, we first need to understand the differences in the media landscapes and how the public in China and the United States access, share information, and create group identities.
Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is the message" is the cornerstone of modern communications studies. To understand China's media landscape and relationship to PR, we must look at one crucial medium: WeChat.
WeChat: the super information hub
WeChat is a messaging tool, news aggregator, and social media sharing platform that trickles down into every aspect of work and personal life. In Q3 of 2023, the combined monthly active users (MAUs) of WeChat is >1.3B—contrast this number with China's 1.4B population. WeChat's MAUs are equivalent to China's two other super apps, Douyin and Weibo, combined.
WeChat subscription account (公众号) is a hub for media outlets and individual publishers (自媒体) and a primary platform for news and information in China. According to industry research firm Xinbang, in 2023, WeChat subscription accounts hosted 448 million articles—that's over a million pieces of content daily. Of the total published articles, a quarter-million received over 100K reads each, and 31 million are tagged as original articles. WeChat enables widespread content distribution, high traffic and readership and viral (and re-posted) articles that can spill over into other social sharing platforms in China. WeChat has helped to create more centralization and homogeneity within China's information landscape.
This is hard to imagine in markets like the US. A single platform like Wechat can can drive such volume of information flow. In comparison, the US' information channels are much more diverse and fragmented.
One explanation is that media in the United States is mostly privately owned and managed, grown through long-term market competition, and is supported by a robust (though shrinking) professional journalist community. The Chinese media industry underwent more rapid digitalization and operates on a mix of government-run and commercial models. As highlighted in the 2021-2022 China Media Industry Development Report, one of the emerging revenue streams for Chinese print media involves operational services for government new media initiatives, such as managing WeChat official accounts and other digital platforms for government bodies.
While internet platforms are upending traditional media advertising revenue worldwide, the US market lacks a super app equivalent to China's WeChat. For instance, readers of The New York Times may opt for its digital version or print edition, and regional media outlets reach audiences that care about local issues. Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, and TikTok cater to different information consumption patterns and how information is spread across demographics, starkly contrasting the centralized dissemination with WeChat in China.
Comparison of doing PR between China and the United States
In China, media outlets distribute company press releases but have varied editing requirements and could reject them or request revisions. Chinese media favor topic suggestions from known PR contacts over cold emails and some outlets operate on a pay-to-play model, or at least expect"车马费," or transportation stipend.
In the US, journalists seek exclusive stories and are less receptive to the mass distribution of identical articles, a common practice in China. These identical articles are different from press releases, which reporters can repost, or take parts from. These are articles already written as a story and reposted across platforms in its entirety. This system allows for quick dissemination, buzz, and volume—metrics used to measure PR success. The rapid growth of companies in China has led to a PR focus on immediate business needs and short-term metrics, prioritizing quantity over quality.
US media prefer pitches tailored to their specific interests and beats, valuing detailed research that shows industry trends and understanding of reporters’ prior work. Such personalized pitches foster relationships with journalists who also seek connections with industry insiders.
Article retraction requests—unless there are egregious factual errors—are generally rejected by media outlets in both countries. However, in China, companies can and will negotiate revisions or retractions based on their media relationships and company stature. It is common PR practice in China to review articles and sign off before publication. For large companies with power, this is a standard process in China, and have outsized power in defining the story. In the US, such content review is rare; even making such a request can potentially burn bridges.
Ivy: there is literally a Chinese romcom 《以爱为营》that captures the dynamic between company and media, and the role of sponsorship dollars play in molding the coverage. Just kidding, the show is not that deep at all, just a 霸总love story. But the scene where the reporter goes to the CEO’s home to edit and securing approval to publish, though, is gem. (starts at 18:06)
CEO editing his own feature article in magazine. And eventually marries the journalist.
Chinese companies have less leverage in the US and often lack an understanding of American media practices, making negotiations harder.
For Chinese companies in mature markets like the US, adapting to diverse audiences requires a shift towards a comprehensive, long-term public communication strategy with all stakeholders, including the media.
Some parting words from two PR people
Public relations in the United States boasts a history spanning over a century, whereas mainland China has experienced rapid growth over the last forty years. In turn, also led an accelerated development the PR industry. Despite the significant progress and the alignment of large companies' PR practices with global standards in China, Chinese companies are still grasping the importance of PR and its integration with long-term business strategies, in contrast to the more established PR landscape in the United States.
This is an excellent article. Independent, unbiased journalism has never really existed as an institution in the PRC, so the whole system and way of thinking about the system is different. Also, a lot of the big platforms draft "reverse PR" blackmail articles about companies and threaten to publish unless they get paid.
This is an excellent article. Independent, unbiased journalism has never really existed as an institution in the PRC, so the whole system and way of thinking about the system is different. Also, a lot of the big platforms draft "reverse PR" blackmail articles about companies and threaten to publish unless they get paid.