What PR Means to Me

A friend of mine asked me a few days ago what I liked about PR and what I wanted to do with it. She has a sister graduating high school in a few months, so I can only assume she was helping her decide what field to study. I thought about it and I realized that every time I was asked this question, I had a different answer. I assume that is only natural for any college student progressing toward the end of their career. Two years ago when I made the switch from broadcast journalism to public relations, my main motivation was money. That slowly changed to a need for creative freedom and finally after an in-class interviewing exercise, I realized what the real reason truly is.

When I entered the P.I. Reed School of Journalism, I was optimistic about a career as a reporter. I assumed like any naïve broadcast student that I would go to work for NBC or CBS in New York City and be wildly successful. That changed very quickly when I realized how slim that chance would really be. When I actually got out into the field and started reporting for a radio class, I also realized that the fast pace nature of the news wasn’t for me. I enjoyed the client or source interaction far too much to keep up with the ever-changing world of news and wanted to spend too much time on each story. I also couldn’t face the fact that I would have to eventually do a story that would have a negative impact on someone. All of these combined had me running into the arms of the public relations department at the journalism school.

Now more than ever I realize how much I like getting to know clients and providing them with the outlet to the media. It’s a great feeling being able to put to use my former knowledge of the media to aid a company or client. I also really like the fact that I can combine all the elements of journalism and put them to some use in the PR industry.

So to answer my friend’s question I must simply say that I love the client interaction, building relationships and creative capabilities of the field. I want to work for a company or client and help them not only build their reputation, but better interact with the media and other business associates.