Comments on: PR and Journalism - the same thing?

By: Jeremy Head

Jeremy Head — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:16:10 +0000

PRs are all frustrated journalists at heart (But I would say that, I’m a journo)

By: PR si jurnalism - acelasi lucru? « Blogul de Relatii Publice

PR si jurnalism - acelasi lucru? « Blogul de Relatii Publice — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:47:15 +0000

[...] Sursa de inspiratie: PR and Journalism - the same thing? [...]

By: PR Fail | Rock Star PR

PR Fail | Rock Star PR — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:02:54 +0000

[...] and it’s got me into trouble before (but I wont point out where and when, that’d be silly (journalism and PR are the same, anyone?!) but I listened to what people said, stood up (had stuff thrown at me!) and then made a [...]

By: admin

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:00:34 +0000

I agree about the motive. Emma Griffiths made a good point on Twitter that PR is all about your client’s reputation - journalism doesn’t care about your client’s reputation.

By: Steve Jackson

Steve Jackson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:59:09 +0000

If someone in PR said this then it just proves that they know nothing about journalism - in which case they probably aren’t a very good PR.

Stupid argument.

By: Jed Hallam

Jed Hallam — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:58:49 +0000

Guy hits the nail on the head; while the motive is different the skills are very similar.

By: Jed Hallam

Jed Hallam — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:57:32 +0000

You make one off the cuff remark and look what happens…

By: Guy Clapperton

Guy Clapperton — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:47:42 +0000

Certainly there is commonality in the skills required by PRs and journalists but there are many differences. As a journalist I mustn’t serve anyone’s interests but those of my magazine and my reader - as a PR exec, someone has the absolute duty to be biased in favour of their client.

That’s the nub of it. Clearly I’m writing about stuff in which I probably wouldn’t be interested were someone not throwing money at me, but beyond that I have to be even-handed, actively seek someone who disagrees with the opinion one commentator has just expressed.

Frankly it’s often my job to try and cut through the management of information flow and say what’s going on rather than what someone feels they want to announce. These are very often different things.