2 posts tagged “public relations”

Interesting development in the world that is ABC's Media Watch.. viewed by some as a watchdog of the Australian media, the programme investigates and exposes media bias and breaches of journalistic ethics and standards. Today The Sydney Morning Herald reported that not only will Media Watch be keeping Australian journalists on their toes... but also us PR folk.

Jonathan Holmes, the new journalist for Media Watch  is quoted as saying he hoped to "expose the more egregious antics of the industry that all too often tries to sway, or mislead, or simply stonewall journalists who are trying to do an honest job".

Maybe I'm living in a PR bubble because the agency I work for certainly doesn't indulge in any behaviour as described above... is anyone else seeing it in Australia? Thoughts... I would be interested to hear from any local journalists about times when PR has stonewalled them. Especially if they feel i have stonewalled them. Do PR people even know they are stonewalling someone... could it simply be that they don't have the answer that said journalist seeks?

Today has been an interesting day for me; a colleague of mine, albiet one who lives all the way on the other side of the hemmisphere to me in San Fran, Luca Penati - Managing Director, Global Technology Practice at Ogilvy PR  - pointed me in the direction of a blog post annoucing that traditional PR is running on thin air.   Wow, haven't i heard that before.. and sure enough, traipsing though a few old blog posts, i certainly had.

Luca and even one of my very own account directors, Emilio Robles, had a bit to say in the comment part of Tom Foremski's post and it struck me that while so many people were constantly saying.. PR is dead... most PR firms aren't approaching new media in a new way... it seemed like all ancient history to me. Not just history - like something i had been through and could relate to - but ancient histroy, in that i couldn't relate to it.

I have been in PR for over six years and during my time, i have always had to think about how to reach out to new media. Media that doesn't necessarily think of themselves as media and don't react to things like the dreaded 'press release.' How often do i write a press release? Less than once every three to four months and i work for the second most recognised brand in the world. There is certainly a time and place for a press release, but i would surprised to meet a PR professional today who thinks they are the end all and be all.

Is this a Gen Y thing? Are we more open to new ways to engage our audiences? Is it just engrained into us because of our Gen Y 'mindset' that enaging with online communities is just expected? (side note, my favourite quote of the week about Gen Yers that we are "spoilt by wealthy parents, stuck in a vacuous "I want it now" mindset and unprepared to make the sacrifices that their parents did" of course we are... and would i change it?)

As one of my previous posts said - the internet is always the first thing i turn to when i have an issue/question that needs solving. Why would what i do at work be any different? 

So who are these PR professionals stuck in issuing out hundreds of press releases each day and bothering journalists with the dreaded 'did you recieve my press release' call that Tom discusses? As for his comment on PR thriving... we bill our time in increments of less than 3 minutes.. clients obsess over all agency spend... PR is no different. 

PR is dead... yeah right. What is dead is journo hacks finding yet another reason to rag on PR professionals