Thinking like a Journalist in Public Relations
By Ani Vahradyan, Account Supervisor
A long-term career in journalism and I nearly missed each other like asteroids.
When I was first entering the College of Communications as a graduate student studying public relations, I was surprised to learn how many of my peers were advancing from undergraduate degrees where they studied the same subject — they were veterans. While I spent most of my uni days perfecting my ledes and nut grafs, my peers were mastering how to integrate objectives, strategies, and tactics into a public relations campaign.
It was in one of my core four upper division courses, Contemporary PR, where this difference in background became most apparent to me. I had never heard of a SWOT, or SOW, or RFP, or any other terms we use to great effect in our industry’s lexicon. Immediately, I felt like I needed to play catchup, filling in the gaps that were missing to start thinking like a practitioner of public relations.
But my initial efforts were misguided—I didn’t need to flip on a PR switch and dim my journalism-brain to make room; what I needed was an open-hearted approach to public relations that built off everything I had learned in years prior.
I’ll give you some examples:
- Our writing for media professionals class reaffirmed the need for concise, effective storytelling across different media and platforms. While some of the writing we do in public relations inevitably can be more straightforward and fact-driven, it is up to us to create memorable stories that connect people to ideas, products, and organizations. Journalism presents that same challenge—no fluff, no subjectivity, but incredible nuggets of memorability.
- Media relations is another space that proves most successful when you understand the rhythm and practices of reporters and editors. Having been in the receiving side of email pitches, I understood the workflow of a newsroom—which pitches inspired reception, the times at which my editors were looking for the next day’s stories, and even the need for hyper-specific pitching that pays respect to different beats.
- Crisis management has two key functions: limiting the duration and impact of a crisis. This can often be done, to varying degrees of success, by crafting and controlling the narrative surrounding the crisis event. Having a strong grasp on the necessary communication that needs to come from your organization, anticipating media coverage, and having key members of the press in your back pocket to help you tell your story can make, or break, a crisis moment.
Having made these connections, I’m encouraged and fortified to see how many industry professionals, including some that have visited our courses as guest speakers, were seasoned journalists before they moved into public relations. In this same vein, I’ve loved seeing how a diversity of backgrounds is exactly what professions such as public relations need—different skill sets and perspectives that serve as unique advantages in the public relations professional landscape.
In public relations, embracing the essentials (good writing, original thinking, informed counsel) is a key component of success. But embracing our passions and specific skills will also propel us forward when we connect them to public relations.