Public Relations vs Journalism

Public rela­tions vs journ­al­ism — how does it work?

Public rela­tions and journ­al­ism are closely related, yet so far apart.

How does this rela­tion­ship work?

Here we go:

Public Relations vs Journalism

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Public Relations vs Journalism

PR pro­fes­sion­als and journ­al­ists share many prac­tic­al skill sets. Still, pub­lic rela­tions and journ­al­ism are fun­da­ment­ally different:

Public Relations is the effort to sub­ject­ively advoc­ate agen­das on spe­cial interests’ behalf.

A fun­da­ment­al cri­tique against pub­lic rela­tions is that advocacy is an afflu­ent priv­ilege that manip­u­lates the truth.

Journalism is the effort to object­ively report the news on the pub­lic interest’s behalf.

A fun­da­ment­al cri­tique against journ­al­ism is that objectiv­ity is unreal­ist­ic and the pub­lic interest heterogeneous.

But even if both pub­lic rela­tions and journ­al­ism 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 Don’t Like PR (Sometimes)

Journalists have plenty of reas­ons to dis­like PR professionals:

Why Journalists Seek PR Jobs

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 few good pub­lic rela­tions jobs are 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 pub­lic rela­tions pro­fes­sion­als as journalists.

Journalists often ask me for advice: Should they switch to PR?

I often say no.
Here’s why:

When Journalists Move to Public Relations

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 deeply disappointing.

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.

PR Resource: Public Relations 101

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Doctor Spin’s PR School: Free Introduction PR Course

Get star­ted with this free Introduction PR Course and learn essen­tial pub­lic rela­tions skills and con­cepts for future suc­cess in the PR industry.

• Public Relations Meaning (What Is PR?)
• Public Relations Definition
• The Stakeholders in Public Relations
• The Influencers in Public Relations
• The Publics in Public Relations
• What Public Relations Does for an Organisation
• Kirk Hallahan’s Five Types of Publics
• PR Approaches: Excellence, Rhetorical, and Critical
• The Four Models of Public Relations
• The PESO Model: Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned Media

Comparing Public Relations

• Public Relations vs Marketing
• Public Relations vs Journalism
• Public Relations vs Media Relations
• Public Relations vs Publicity
• Public Relations vs Advertising (to be published)
• Public Relations vs Public Affairs (to be published)
• Public Relations vs Human Resources (to be published)

“Be so good they can­’t ignore you.”
— Steve Martin

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