There has always been a love-hate relationship between PR specialists and journalists. We are, after all, fundamentally different. The journalist frowns on the work of the public relations specialist because they perceive it to be tainted by the client paying the bill. PR people, conversely, often think journalists are just a little too big for their britches. But they have always needed each other and now, they are becoming one. We are united by social media.
I just found my long lost cousin, Michael Storey on Facebook. He is a good ole' Southern boy and a 32-year TV columnist and humorist with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I am a die-hard Chicagoland advertising and PR specialist who does everything possible to make a journalist' life easier and my clients happy. We both love story-telling, writing, hiking and cats. Mike loves the South, I love the North. He loves to give his opinions to readers and make them laugh with his alter-ego cat, Otus the Head Cat and a twice-monthly hiking column. I love to weave my clients' contributions into a problem-solving solution for people who might benefit by what my clients have to offer.
Social Media is leveling the playing field between the two groups of news makers. My cousin still gets to give his opinions and entertain people with his humor, but he can do it online as well as for his paper. He can still sway public opinion through blogs, tweets and comments and as an opinion leader for 32 years, his influence will be broader than the market he has been writing for - expanding his reach to anyone, anywhere who wants to know what he has to say.
As for me and my fellow PR specialists, we get to tell our clients' stories directly to interested people without the journalist's filter. But we still need to make our client's services and products relevant by showing their application to real people and situations. The unwritten social mores of social media demands this transparency and accountability.
Social Media really is a beautiful thing for everyone. The readers get to know a company, organization, or person directly from the muses they share on blogs, articles, comments and posts. The journalist gets to expand his/her influence to a wider audience than the media for whom they are working, and the PR specialist gets to inform, educate and entertain interested people about their client's contribution.
Debra Sheridan is President of IVY Marketing Group located in suburban Chicago. Since 1990, IVY has been serving senior housing and health care service providers, commercial real estate developers and not-for-profit organizations with full service marketing, advertising and public relations services.
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