Don’t blame PR for the decline of journalism

By Chris Nee, social media planner

It seems to be an online inevitability that public relations professionals are exposed to open, often cruel criticism from journalists who feel aggrieved at their treatment by sections of the PR industry. The open public arenas of social media allow arguments to flare up, battle lines to be drawn and frustration to be laid bare.

On the one hand, it’s easy to look at this from a PR perspective and be offended by the attitude some journalists have towards an industry full of hard-working, smart people. On the other, there is absolutely no doubt that some practices employed by the PR industry are horrendously outdated. The old hit-and-hope approach to unfocused media lists is rightly criticised by journalists and, thanks to Realwire’s Inconvenient PR Truth campaign, by many senior PR professionals.

However, the claim reported by Neil Boom on The Independent‘s website seems a little unfair but raises questions about the growth of PR and its relationship with journalists: “[in] the minds of some reporters the growth of the PR industry over the past couple of decades has been a factor in weakening the power of the press. Can under-pressure hacks, already filling in for redundant colleagues, cope with the barrage of calls and emails from ever-more PR executives flogging stories?”

Personally, I don’t think the growth of public relations can be held accountable for the current state of journalism. The chippy relationship with some of the more vocal journalists has created a growing discussion online, and Boom’s conversations with several senior figures from within the PR industry leads him to conclude that modern PR is about more than just “briefing reporters”.

That’s certainly true, and working in the digital space I come across different aspects of the job every day. Porter Novelli is about planning, about understanding audiences, about content creation and integration. In that sense, we are about more than just picking up the phone and selling in a story – even those of us who do that particular part of the job well. The same is true of other agencies too. As an industry, we are moving on.

But I think to say that we’ve “outgrown” journalism is to stretch the point. Despite the sometimes frosty relationship, PRs need – nay, love – journalists. All our best results require the input of a journalist and as bombastic as we can be about blogs and social media, few can match the national newspapers for sheer numbers. Importantly, few clients would get the same buzz from seeing their brand on even a large blog as they would from a profile piece in The Sunday Times.

So, have we outgrown journalism? I don’t think so. But it’s right to acknowledge that we have many more strings to our collective bow, and with them we can present a really powerful offering to our clients and prospects. Journalists remain a crucial part of that mix.