Agency News: The Changing Face of Public Relations
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Idaho Business Review blogger Michael Boss to talk about how public relations is changing. Mike asked several local PR colleagues to share their thoughts, and I was pleased to be included in this great group of professionals.
I’ve worked in the public relations industry since 1981, and it’s been only in the past few years that I’ve seen such significant changes in the profession. Traditional public relations has always been about working with the traditional media – television, newspapers, radio – to get the word out about a organization, program or person. PR people had the media connections and, in turn, media people stood as the gatekeepers on what news got published and what didn’t. It’s been like that since the day I wrote my first press release.
But over the past few years, social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etcetera – have opened up whole new ways of communicating. In theory, anyone can post anything they want – a blog, a video, a Tweet on Twitter, and become their own “media.”
It’s a new landscape for sure, but public relations professionals still have a critical role to play. Why? Because its still all about communicating the accurate message, and reaching the appropriate audiences. We can help organizations and the media (traditional and new) get to the facts and uncover the accurate information that is so important for the public to know.
Here is Michael’s blog, “How many PR people does it take to issue a press release”!