Is the role of the media then only to present information to us with objectivity and factually? Once upon a time this was the role everyone thought was the right and moral one, but the immense power of television to influence, and the rapid growth of communications, makes such definitions naive. The media influences how we see ourselves and our society and not just the events of the day. Media is all invasive and, some would say, all persuasive, but it has a fundamental and significant role in our life for it forms a communication network between communities, between industry and industry and between government and people. In public relations you'll have to make friends with this powerful force and master it.
The relationship of public relations and the media
You can't live with them and you can't live without them may sum up for many public relations people their relationship with the media. You need and will no doubt enjoy a good working relationship with many journalists and publications. On the other hand, public relations is often looked down on by the media as messengers with stories that hold no interest and which will be presented in the wrong way at the wrong time and in the wrong situation. Even worse, some think public relations stands in the way of getting at the real facts.
Don't let this stop you, for the media lives on information. Without you and your information, the media would dry up fast. True, the great majority of press releases go in the waste paper basket. True, many journalists attend press receptions and lunches for free food and to see colleagues. But it is also true that journalists and editors know full well that public relations is an important source of information for their work and often can be the instrument through which they may obtain their story.
The relationship of the media and public relations has slowly grown more professional over the years. For a long time, the public relations industry had a great number of former journalists working on it. Financial public relations still has. When most public relations was writing press releases and liaising with the media, this experience was invaluable, but as public relations has become more sophisticated and developed its skills and functions, so a journalism background has become less important. Still, there is a relationship between the public relations functions of distributing information and persuading people and the same functions at work in the media.
Public relations are much maligned about its influence on the media. It is true that public relations contrive news and events and gets photographs in newspapers which are really just promotional efforts. But in important issues and debates public relations can see that an alternative point of view is put to the media. It can arrange access for a journalist and make his job easier. Good public relations help media to be competent in covering the events, news and stories of the day.
The national press
These are newspapers which have a national circulation such as The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. Each of these has a different editorial policy and, to a lesser or greater degree, a political bias. The public relations worker studies these differences, called 'profiles', so that she knows which paper is best suited for her information to get the best response. The story which is ideal for the Sunday Telegraph may not be of very much interest to The News of the World.
An exercise you can do to get a picture of the difference between newspapers is to go to the library and read each daily in turn. What kind of stories do they seem to prefer? How does each interpret the same story? An earthquake in Mexico will be reported more or less the same by each, but what about the Labour Party Conference or a murder down on a Devon farm?
Style is important as well to newspapers. Each tries to make the potential reader want to buy his newspaper. Much time and fort is spent on getting the front page to look inviting.
A great many people are involved in putting out a newspaper. While, modern techniques in printing are revolutionizing newspaper production, many different people will still have worked on just one story before you read it.
To say that it is difficult to get your client's story into a national newspaper is an understatement. Yet it happens daily to some public relations person somewhere.
How does this happen? It can be a matter of good timing and timing as well as luck plays a part in working with nationals. On the hand it most likely to be because the subject discussed is of great interest to the newspaper's readers. The announcement that your manufacturer has brought out a washing powder that does away with washing machines would make every front page. The fact that the powder contains a new scientific break through might interest some. The fact that you say his powder is 'new' will most likely interest no one.
When you start in public relations, you need to meet journalists who work on the newspapers: press receptions, product launches, pubs around Fleet Street, the Press Club there are many ways to do this. A PR person working in London has decided advantages over one in the provinces.
All this sounds complicated but it isn't. National newspapers thrive and live on the publicity material and information generated by public relations people no matter who they represent. Like a great hungry beast, all media needs constant feeding with information.
