The Changing Dynamic Between Journalist and PR

When talking about the relationship between the journalist and the PR professional, David Barstow of the New York Times eloquently posed the question… 'are the muscles of journalism weakening and the muscles of PR bulking up - as if on steroids'? He then went on to ask whether the growth of technology and changing times had actually shifted the power between the two, or whether the relationship had actually become more collaborative because of the ever-growing need for each other?

So, as PR professionals – what do we think? Are we the muscle-clad brigade now wielding power over our media counterparts? In a nutshell…no.

The disciplines of both PR and journalism have of course changed over the past few years particularly, primarily due to the rise of online and social media channels, and the evolution of how we all communicate with one another – which is now much more instant and prolific than ever before.

People will say that the power traditionally belonged to the journalist – as a PR, you pitched a story to them on behalf of your client and they would make the call as to whether they would run it or reject it. However, this was in an era when journalists had the time to seek out for themselves an abundance of news. That’s not to say that they don’t gather their own news now, of course they do. But the reality is that with ever-increasing budget cuts and staff losses across the media industry, they simply don’t have the time they used to.

This is where we as PR people come in. The supply of good quality, well-written and newsworthy stories to a journalist is hugely valuable. It means that they get to fill their pages with stories their audience wants to read about quickly and effectively – without having to leave their desks. And for a PR person, they get to communicate their client’s messages to their target audiences. Win:Win.

In essence, the relationship between a journalist and a PR professional is, has been, and always will be mutually beneficial. The power is in both hands. We need journalists to help us get our clients’ stories out there, and they need us, with our ear on the ground, to share those juicy nuggets of news.

We have some great relationships with journalists throughout the UK and beyond – from regional business editors through to national correspondents across sectors as diverse as healthcare, galvanizing and finance, and for us – developing, nurturing and maintaining these relationships is crucial in helping us do the very best for our clients.