Newsletters in Public Relations of Selected Cultural Centres in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the challenges involved in the usage of newsletters to enhance the public relations in several cultural agencies in Nigeria. It engaged in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and simple surveys in arriving at postulations and recommendations. Total of six (6) cultural agencies or centres were consulted for this research. There were sixty (60) respondents for a purposive sample survey, six (6) focus group discussants and two (2) in-depth interviewees bringing the total of all respondents to sixty-eight (68). The paper adopts Uses and Gratification theory, which states that people or organizations can actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs especially as it relates to internal and external communication with their various publics. Thus based on this theory, cultural agencies are expected to use newsletters as an important medium in public relations strategies. The findings revealed that the ineffectiveness of newsletters to function properly as vital tools for public relations is due to lack of funds for constant publications. Others were lack of media relations budgets; poor circulation/distribution strategies; misplaced priorities in editorial contents and packaging of the newsletters; lack of managerial will in keeping and maintaining robust public relations in the cultural agencies under review. Based on the findings, the paper recommends the maximum utilization of limited resources available to public relations executives in the consistent production of newsletters. Online newsletters are suggested where printed ones are becoming difficult to produce. An effective online distribution strategy is suggested, through the official social media handles of cultural centres. This will help in improving public relations in these agencies; increase patronage and service delivery and enhance their maximum contribution to national development.