Working in a Dynamic Field
News readers are bombarded with poor economic news on a daily basis. The gloom and doom coming out of newsrooms is likely being augmented by the fact that the news industry is among those that are struggling. As the news industry struggles to redefine itself, public relations practitioners are left with a changing industry. How should successful practitioners adapt to the changing news industry?
5 thoughts on “Working in a Dynamic Field”
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Interesting post. I’m glad the question was posed. Today I had the chance to listen to a webinar from PRSA that talked about the social media tactics in Obama’s campaign. (https://www.prsa.org/PDseminars/DisplayEvent.cfm?semID=452) Very interesting.
With this fresh in my mind, I think practitioners need to move to a more interactive, social mean of communicating. Traditional media just won’t cut it anymore–it’s expensive, time-consuming, and slowly becoming outdated.
But, really, this isn’t new news.
The upside to the economic downturn is that we, as practitioners and future practitioners, are forced to make the switch from traditional media to social. The news industry is changing, there is no doubt, and we should use the change to our advantage.
As big media struggles, one thing PR practitioners need to recognize is reporters are being laid off left and right. That means that they have less and less time to cover the same amount of news. PR practitioners should adapt their media relations to this style, and part of that is being able to help reporters when they need it. Helping them out ultimately will get your foot in the door.
Nick,
That’s a really good comment. I hadn’t really thought of that. How exactly can we help them ‘when they need it’? Be more aware of their deadlines or is there more we can do?
I greatly appreciate both comments that have previously been made but I don’t feel that these are the sole options or ideas. The economy, as in life, is full of ups and downs. Markets will always follow trends with some of the highest peaks and deepest valleys. Great comfort for PR students and practitioners can be found in the versatility of our chosen profession. In public relations, we have the great opportunity and challenge to reach out to new opportunities – today it’s “new media” tomorrow it could be something entirely different. Ultimately, we have great authority and pressure to shape the future of business, commerce and philanthropic ventures. We are communicators! Let’s take communicating beyond traditional news media, beyond social networking and blogging and find new, innovative ways to represent ourselves and our clients. In doing this, we can expedite economic recovery and strengthen ourselves and our field.
Public relations practitioners should adjust to the news industry and its stories about a poor economy by providing information that will help during these times of instability, need and disparity.
While there is no one answer for every practitioner, all professionals and soon-to-be practitioners should be able to use their creativity to match the needs of the consumers, which will ultimately drive the change in the economy. While many professionals/companies are trying to encourage spending, it would be better to match the current mindset of consumers by showing them how to save or get the most out of the money they do actually use with companies. For example, everyone knows that gas is expensive nowadays, so a gas company would do well by telling consumers how to get the most out of their gas mileage and how to look out for discounts on gas prices.
Some may challenge this and ask “How does that help the ‘bottom line’?” Well, this suggestion may seem to be discouraging the consumer to purchase, but you’re ultimately providing them with the best way to go about continuing business with your company while the times are hard. It’s a way of showing consumers that a company truly understands, while still driving some business. No company can expect to see the sales and profits that they’ve seen in recent, more lucrative years. That’s just the reality. We must adjust.
Providing this information to the media should better serve practitioners, as economy-related stories are on the “agenda.” This way, you’re alleviating the “doom and gloom” messages about the economy.