The evolving world of public relations
I’m chairing and presenting at this week’s PR and New Media Summit in Brisbane, and it’s got me thinking about the evolving nature of public relations.
When I started my BA (Public Relations) at Deakin in 1985, the role of the mass media was of paramount importance to PR practitioners. Mainframe computers were starting to be used for word processing, and telephone calls were made on rotary dial, fixed-line telephones (provided by Telecom).
Today of course, anyone can be their own media outlet, and stream live to the web via a mobile phone.
There are a range of challenges for professional communicators, and we’ll be discussing many of them in Brisbane.
As an educator and researcher, I have to work hard to keep up with the latest changes in technology, and how they impact on the craft of public relations. For busy professionals the challenges of keeping-up, whilst managing a hectic workload, are even greater.
I look forwarded to posting more on my thoughts about the theory of public relations in future blog posts, and perhaps sharing some tips relating to the practice of PR as well.
It’s a topical subject and not just among PR people. There’s a lot of chatter about social media and the various tools that form part of that area of PR and media these days – but I think social media is just another sub-text for ‘communications’. That is, while the technology/tools of the business of PR (and internal PR practitioners as well) are definitely evolving – and quickly, the fact remains that it is all about communications still. One thing we’re discovering at the Media Unit at Deakin is that the new tools are great but are also more time consuming in some respects to use. This begins to affect the way we work and perhaps, even the type of work we do. While anyone can in theory be their own communicator, very few can be – not because they can’t master the tools or the intention behind them, but as you put it Ross – it’s a hectic world. So the role of PR people in coaching, encouraging and driving others to become communicators too – from the executive team to ordinary employees – is growing in importance as not even the PR teams can keep up with the 24X7 news cycle and the insatiable demand for more information and news.