War correspondents and public affairs officers – mutual or forced cooperation

Anna Antczak

English version of the article

In the XXI century, the role of the media and their influence on social awareness in most political, economic, cultural and social aspects is gradually rising. The “picture” of reality created by media and processed to society about events that most of the audience can possess only through such means, is sometimes one-dimensional or incomplete, which is not always an effect of journalists’ unreliability or lack of specialist knowledge. The aim of the article is to present research results which was conducted among public affairs officers and war correspondents in Polish military contingents participating in peace support operations. It deals with detailed analysis of the interdependences, relations between the two groups and other units operating during missions and the contribution of public affairs area to the success or failure of the mission. It discusses the role of public affairs officers in the process as well the importance of various factors determining the quality of PA activity.

KEYWORDS

public affairs officer; war correspondent; public affairs strategy