So how are we preparing the youth of today to be the PRs of tomorrow? Particularly bearing in mind that many of the tutors of today are the PRs of yesterday... and bearing in mind that the advent of Web 2.0 sees PR changing faster than it has for very many years! Emily Cagle, PR consultant and entrepreneur recently posed this question to me and, as ever, I had a few thoughts...
At the University of Lincoln we are a small but beautifully formed team of ex-practitioners and academics setting PR in the business context alongside Marketing, Advertising, occasionally Management or HR and even less occasionally Journalism. Our purpose is to give students a solid academic grounding in their chosen subjects but with a practical dimension to give that added extra to their employability. To this end we encourage them to get as much paid or unpaid work experience as they can find and to develop a portfolio of work they can show off to potential employers.
Increasingly we are encouraging students to develop this portfolio online in the form of blogs and integrated web pages taking advantage of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn used appropriately – Facebook is very much the ‘Uni life’ and softer side of the portfolio! So, we are inviting our protégés to embrace Web 2.0...and then explain it to us! The portfolio may also be a repository for some of their assignments for example in their studies of Managing PR the assignment is a blog about developing team working skills and a reflection on how the individual has learned about their own strengths and weaknesses as a team player. As part of PR for organisational communications part of the task is to develop a real campaign for an organisation of their choice – a charity or voluntary group – and to get as much of it implemented as possible.
But of course this is just part of the picture, it’s getting those blogs and pages noticed that will count. ‘Behind the Spin’ the Chartered Institute of Public Relations student online publication provides a great outlet for the students to write about their experiences, review books and observe about developments in PR. Recent contributors from Lincoln have attracted comment from far and wide resulting in offers of help with their careers and even jobs. Subjects have included a discussion of the role of Twitter in crisis communications and aspects of the debate between students from different schools at the University – is PR killing Journalism? One book review by a Lincoln student prompted the book’s author to make contact and another student’s observations about a PR campaign to stamp out spamming in PR attracted interest from the campaign manager.
Dissertations form a critical part of the final year of study and students are encouraged to explore something new. This year social media is a popular subject including its role in the workplace as an internal communications tool, its impact on music PR as well as the afore mentioned crisis management. The students are developing a wealth of original thought and creating new angles on old models such as the popular Grunig and Hunt four models of communication (Managing Public Relations,1984).
So, to return to the question, I guess the students are preparing themselves very well and in true academic style we are guiding them to think independently, take risks and try new ideas in a safe environment. I am confident, therefore, that tomorrow’s PR specialists and thought leaders will be able to shift and change to meet their clients’ needs and provide wise counsel to ensure PR objectives are fully integrated into a powerful package of communications using the most appropriate tools and techniques from the ever expanding kit bag.

It’s been a while ....but I've finally cracked

I am determined not to blog for the sake of it, so that’s why I have not written for a while. I guess you could say I am taking a leaf out of one of the current debates around PR and journalism and not spamming myself into oblivion.

PR and journalism are, as I have often said, two sides of the same coin. We need each other. But the arrogance of some journalism colleagues leaves me wondering if they understand this. There are some very bitter and twisted souls out in the world of journalism – or should I say about to launch themselves on that world.

PR folk need to be mindful of what journalists do and journalists need to appreciate the role of PR in this world. PR exists to promote its subject matter, journalists are there to put balance into the story and check the other side. Sometimes there will be a negative aspect to the story but there will be times when it genuinely is all good news! It is not a battle, and it should not be personal. We are each doing our job to the best of our ability.

I am hopeful that the distasteful world of ‘spin’ is on the way out and PR is about to embark on a brave new world of real engagement with the publics. Why do I say this? Well the advent of social media, the influence of the citizen journalist and the power of the individual to publish their thoughts to the world as they ‘click a little button’ means PR must listen as well as inform and PR must respond constructively.

Spring is well and truly in the air so maybe PR and journalism can bury the hatchet as the snowdrops nod in the breeze and daffodils push through the frozen earth. The sunshine of the last few days must surely be capable of lifting the spirits of even the most embittered PR or journo?