Does anyone heart PR?
May 9th, 2008 |
The public relations profession has been under siege at least since it was “invented” by Edward Bernays in the 1920s. And it’s gotten worse in the past two years as PR people continue to collide with bloggers in the intricately choreographed, difficulty rating 10 out of 10, social media etiquette dance.
So I was really encouraged the other day when I saw a car with a bumper sticker proclaiming “I(heart)PR.” OK, I thought, at least one person doesn’t hate PR.
As I got closer, I was disappointed to discover that the PR the car’s owner loved was Puerto Rico. Sigh.
Well, I heart PR, when it’s done well, by competent, ethical professionals. What do you think? Do you hate PR? Is the profession doomed? Going through a difficult evolution? Unfairly maligned?
Tags: edward bernays, public relations, PR, siege
| Sphere This |
Great post as usual, Joel. And yes, I’ll stand up and say I heart PR! I talk to young PR professionals and college seniors all the time and tell them I have the best job in the world. There are hardly any dull moments and I’m almost never bored. I look forward to coming to work and have for all the years I’ve been in this business. Now, with social media and all that has changed, it’s even more of an exciting place. Yes there are downsides to the job, as with any other, but nothing beats that feeling you get when you help a reporter with a story, they thank you profusely, and you know the resulting article will educate or help someone out there who needs or wants the exact information you provided. It’s quite a rush!
Comment by Lara Kretler — May 9, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
I read this out loud to my nearest colleagues — we all said, “awww!” when we realized the bumper sticker meant Puerto Rico and not Public Relations.
We *do* heart PR, because we take our jobs and our standards pretty seriously. I tell our noobs, “your credibility and your integrity are your biggest assets;” with that as our center, it’s easy to practice PR in a way that we feel good about: in terms of education, relationships, and interesting new information. So like Lara above — we’re never bored, and we generally feel good about what we do.
Thanks for the post!
Comment by Merredith — May 9, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
P.S. Joel — I shot a pic of a license plate in traffic here in Ohio that relates to this post! I don’t know if they meant Puerto Rico or not, but I’m hopeful they meant public relations.
Comment by Lara Kretler — May 11, 2008 @ 8:24 am