PR Working with Media

By Kelsey Brown
kelseymbrown@gmail.com

As a public relations student, I read our texts very differently than a reporter would read them. Journalists believe they are unfairly perceived as immoral and unethical, but I would argue that public relations specialists deal with that reputation even more because we deal with it not only from the public, but also from the media. Because public relations specialists must attempt to work with the media, it is important for us to understand the journalists' view of our work as well as the journalists' goal and ethical dilemmas when deciding whether or not to use our information.

For example, a journalist strives to be objective, so we must present information in a manner that allows the journalist to see our objectivity, even though we clearly exist to promote a certain product, company or organization. It is vital that the information that we send does not come across as advertising. It must be journalistic in nature and valuable to the public in order for the media to pick it up.

I am currently seeking a job in nonprofit or government public relations, hopefully with an organization created for children. In this type of organization, getting a message across is done most effectively with the collaboration of the organization's constituents. A person will be more likely to sympathize with an organization and its cause if it can see the people the organization is helping and if it can understand how it is helping those people. The best way to understand how an organization is helping people is to listen to those people's stories.

As the public relations specialist for an organization, it is important to understand the benefits of privacy of even your own constituents. While it may benefit the organization to tell a child's story, is that really what is best for the child? And remember: your ultimate goal is to help the child.


Exhibit A: Can you resist that adorable face? Doesn't that make you want to donate to the orphanage at which she resides? Fanny lives at Montana de Luz in Honduras. She has HIV.

Public relations specialists must maintain some of the same ethical principals as journalists, but they often look at these principals from a slightly different point of view. It is important for journalists and PR professionals to understand where the other is coming from in order to create the most beneficial relationship for both parties.