Public Relations and Communicators Blog

Recently, I interviewed a young journalist wanting to turn to public relations as a profession and I asked her two questions. The first, why she joined journalism received an appropriate, though expected answer - 'To give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves', followed quickly by 'It is perhaps the only profession in which you can be fearless and work towards correcting the wrongs you see in society.'  I gave her a smile, and lodged my second question. 'Why then do you want to shift to Public Relations?' She remorsefully replied, 'I'm disillusioned.'  That conversation, in a nutshell, sums up most of mainstream journalism today. Viewed from the outside, most see a brave, determined journalist standing up for the truth, upholding the 4D principles above all - Detect, Discern, Doubt and Demand. When seen from the inside, most journalists have experienced persuasion - bordering on mild coercion disguised as 'advice...

With over a decade of professional experience in the field of public relations after having spent the previous decade in various other unrelated businesses, I often remember the time when I was first introduced to term ‘Public Relations’ as a professional opportunity. I gaped back in answer. Despite my outright rejection at the prospect and my first words in reply being “What’s that?!”, I was comforted and told that all I had to do was read newspapers, have common sense; and I would be able to make a business out of PR. The response I first gave when confronted with Public Relations is the very same I get from many others when I tell them what I do for a living. Not much has changed I guess. Even sibling professions like advertising or marketing don’t know what PR can do, much less how it gets done. Almost ten years later after I joined the profession, I have promoted & managed two successful PR agencies (Blue Lotus Communications and i9 Communications), the second of which w...