Journalism vs PR — how does it work?
Journalism and PR are close, yet so far apart.
But how?
Here we go:
Journalism vs PR: The Difference
Journalism vs Public Relations
PR professionals and journalists share many practical skill sets. Still, public relations and journalism are fundamentally different:
Journalism is the effort to report the news on the public interest’s behalf objectively.
A fundamental critique against journalism is that objectivity is unrealistic and the public interest heterogeneous.
Public Relations is the effort to advocate positions on behalf of special interests subjectively.
A fundamental critique against public relations is that advocacy of special interests is manipulation by the affluent.
But even if both journalism and PR fail to live up to their ideal states at all times, both practices play vital roles in upholding a balanced and stable democracy.
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Why Journalists Sometimes Dislike PR
Journalists have plenty of reasons to dislike PR professionals:
Why Journalists Seek PR Careers
Journalism is a harsh industry. The digital-first paradigm shift has hit the news media hard. In many markets, schools output a surplus of journalism students, but there are few good jobs around, so the competition is often fierce.
The pay isn’t great, the work is stressful, there are often lots of internal politics to navigate, and the hours typically aren’t great. Many journalists must hop between temporary assignments for years before landing a reasonably safe position.
Despite journalists teasing each other about converting to the “dark side,” many journalists switch. I’ve been told this often is a permanent choice since news organisations rarely hire PR professionals as journalists.
Journalists often ask me for advice: Should they switch to PR?
I often say no.
Here’s why:
When Journalists Make the Switch to PR
Many journalists have misleading preconceptions of what the PR industry is about. While this is perfectly understandable, it doesn’t change the fact that journalists often find PR work to be deeply disappointing.
To understand what a PR professional might be tasked with, I like to point to the stakeholder model:
Stakeholders in Public Relations
In PR, we often discuss stakeholders. And our PR specialisations are named based on which stakeholders we’re responsible for managing.
“In a corporation, a stakeholder is a member of ‘groups without whose support the organisation would cease to exist’, as defined in the first usage of the word in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research Institute. The theory was later developed and championed by R. Edward Freeman in the 1980s. Since then it has gained wide acceptance in business practice and in theorising relating to strategic management, corporate governance, business purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR).”
— Wikipedia
This is the stakeholder model in PR:
Developing and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders is a significant challenge for PR professionals since their information needs are typically very different. 1A widespread misconception is that the PR function only deals with journalists, editors, and influencers (Media Relations) within the scope of attracting new customers (Marketing PR). But such work … Continue reading
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Journalists typically know little about corporate communication in various forms. And it’s a far cry from what they once signed up for when they pursued a career in journalism.
The outcome is, therefore, that ex-journalists are often tasked with full-time media relations alongside more junior PR professionals. But while their PR colleagues advance, they’re stuck with full-time media relations. Forever.
Journalists typically expect media relations, and if that were what all PR professionals did every day, maybe that would’ve been easier to stomach. Or maybe not.
Love or hate it; media relations isn’t about serving the public interest. The best media relations specialists are salespeople at heart. And spending your day selling PR stories to former industry colleagues can be rough for a trained journalist.
Same Same but Different
So, journalists and PR professionals share many skill sets. They’re both operating within the media industry. They’re both fascinated by the news. There are deadlines, stress, and lots of writing.
But make no mistake about it: The work is entirely different.
ANNOTATIONS
1 | A widespread misconception is that the PR function only deals with journalists, editors, and influencers (Media Relations) within the scope of attracting new customers (Marketing PR). But such work represents only a tiny percentage of all the stakeholder relationships PR professionals must manage daily. |
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