Paulina Kuranchie writes: Can PR professionals avoid paying journalists for coverage?

As part of its bi-monthly conversations, Women in PR Ghana had an insightful discussion on “The Media and PR” on Twitter (X) spaces. The discussants were Akosua Kwafo Ogyiri and Ohenewaa Brown, MCIPR, and they were very well moderated by Jacqueline Johnson Quaye.

As is usual with conversations about PR pros and the media, the conversation dovetailed into “Brown Envelope Journalism” or “Soli” as it is known in Ghana.

The subject of brown envelope journalism raises a lot of concern among PR pros due to the ethical issues that come with it. Below, I share my opinion on the subject and discuss why I think it persists in many African countries.

My thought on the issue of brown envelope journalism, or soli, is that it is unethical, whichever way you look at it or whatever name you choose to give it. The fact that journalists are paid poorly is no justification for soli. There isn’t any amount of money PR pros can pay them to make up for the poor working conditions and lack of a decent work environment our journalists work in. Journalists need to unionize and speak out against their working conditions.

The argument about their poor working conditions can be made by several other professionals, but we all do not put the burden of our poor pay on the people we provide services for; otherwise, all my students will have to pay “something small” for the teaching I do because…

Again, I think the payment of soli persists because PR pros sometimes “benefit” from the extra cash that remains after all the invited journalists take their money. That element of corruption is why I think it persists, and I am speaking from experience here. I have worked in places where PR pros share the money that’s left.

There is also an element of power dynamics at play between PR pros and journalists when it comes to soli payments and receiving. PR pros can choose to blacklist journalists who do not report on their stories after paying them soli, in the same way that journalists and their editors sometimes say “Oh, that business doesn’t pay, so we won’t cover their stories”. I think those power dynamics need to be acknowledged by both sides.

Media in other jurisdictions outside Africa understand content, while most of our media don’t. I have always said that because of commercial interests, our media has inverted the way it is supposed to operate: Great content-> eyeballs/ears-> advertising revenue, and the cycle repeats.

Our media unfortunately starts with advertising revenue, thereby inverting the cycle.

Finally, the issue of media ownership, which leads media owners to abuse the rights of journalists, needs to be discussed and addressed. There’s research that shows that over 70% of the media in Ghana is in political hands (i.e., politicians and politically exposed persons), and that is very dangerous for our democracy.

That said, is it possible to work in PR without paying soli? I believe it is. In my last consultancy for Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa, I didn’t pay soli, yet our stories got published and received airtime. Akosua and Ohenewaa, as well as Eunice Asantewaa Hansen-Sackey, made some very useful points about how we can engage and maintain the relationship between PR pros and journalists. I think the conversation is a must-listen-to for those who missed it.

Why do you think Brown Envelope Journalism persists in your country? Share your thoughts.

The writer is an accomplished Strategic communications practitioner, researcher, and lecturer.