I can't imagine a better time to be a PR pro.
In today's post-truth, fake-news, 140-character world, talented PR practitioners play a unique and uniquely valuable role. Traditionally, we've always worked to shape the news, but now we can create, curate, counter it. Knowing how the media works gives PR pros strong insight and sharp instincts that allow us to navigate a news world where truth and fact are often cast aside, and share-ability reigns supreme.
We are the original masters of media literacy. Fake news is nothing new - MAT releases, astroturf PR campaigns, publishing books for vanity purposes, not to educate but to activate (remember the 1st Gulf War's "Rape of Kuwait?"). We know Wikipedia isn't a credible source; a submission's links often lead to work that we've done. We know that news is now just "content." Publish your own content, and you get to be reporter and PR pro rolled into one. (With apologies to my journalist friends.)
We understand that anyone with a smart phone now has a megaphone. We know that not every knucklehead screaming into that megaphone, however, necessitates a response. A career of training gives us the instinct and experience to know the difference.
News has always been global; but now it's instantly global. Time zones rarely matter. PR was audience-centric before most industries even knew what that was. Today, we build audience exponentially - and at times, we build the appearance of audience, where perhaps none exists.
Newsflow used to be linear - one story led to another, reporters worked contacts to add to and build on a story. Today, it's geometric. Now, the source or news outlet reporting something often has little bearing on the reach of a news story. In 2017, Watergate could be reported by any number of outlets - sorry WashPo, you're out. Websites we've never heard of now have the ability to impact entire industries. Share of voice has given way to speed of voice - get out there first, before it's too late to shape the news.
PR pros know that non-news is still news. Does a reporter have to write about something in a major publication or cover it on radio/TV? A reporter's tweet to an audience of millions can have greater reach than the news outlet they work for. The reporter can have a larger audience than the outlet - think about that. Given the ongoing tumult in newsrooms every day, smart reporters are building their brands - often creating blogs, podcasts or enewsletters that will follow them from one news outlet's shrinking newsroom to another.
We also know that real news is not always news. The goal of a press release today (with the exception of financial reporting) is to generate a Google alert, not attract a reporter to a story. Press releases have become tools for internal communications, "sweeteners" to close a deal, and grist for the media machine. If you want a reporter to cover a story, no self-respecting PR pro would rely on a press release. A blog post can get news out, so can a tweet. For non-fake news, relationships matter now more than ever. In today's post-truth world, giving someone my word and having that mean something is the strongest coin in the realm.
Managing this new media landscape is tricky, and that's where talent comes in. The wrong tweet could turn a minor no-interest story into a firestorm - which then becomes news itself, creating a day-2 story. A blogger that you've never heard of can stumble upon a prototype left by a careless employee or share a point of view that then creates a story. An entire cottage industry of "insiders" has sprung up to feed the media beast - knowledgeable people are now influencers; Apple, Samsung, Tesla, and others are religiously chronicled by non-credentialed reporters; yesterday's water-cooler-talk and rumor-mill is today's inside scoop.
The balkanization of media - the echo chambers that Pres. Obama has spoken about - has created self-selected audience bubbles that can be a gift to a talented PR pro. Tailor your messaging one way for this audience and another way for that one - positioning out-maneuvers spin; post-truth, none of that matters. Add social-share buttons and spice up your headline into something just shy of click bait, and it's now possible to move an audience en masse. Tell people what they want to be told, and they'll come back for more. Even better, they'll tell other people. PR gold.
I've always said in PR "we make the rules." Today's media landscape is the wild west; Donald Trump's press conference yesterday proved that. CNN, the pioneer of 24/7 new, is boxed-out and ridiculed as fake news; FOX news becomes its defender. His press conference/media circus was carried live around the world; post-truth, what the President-elect says becomes fact. The First Amendment on steroids.
I'm sure that being a reporter in this untamed and always-changing media world is difficult - the rules they learned in journalism class no longer apply. But a free press is still key to our freedoms and journalists do noble work (even if a shrinking share of the public believes what they report).
But being a PR pro in that environment? Awesome. News junkies like myself (and any self-respecting PR pro) found yesterday's Trump presser riveting. I tweeted that it should be required viewing in all future PR classes. There's a new media master that moves the press where he wants - and then makes it the villain (when in reality, it's likely to be our savior).
What a good time to be a PR pro, indeed. Sure, we have to be "on" all the time, quicker on our feet than ever before, building our own voice and followers (and brand), and willing to go toe-to-toe when we don't see eye-to-eye - but that's why we do this job...do it well...and relish every twist and turn it presents.
Josef Blumenfeld (@JosefBlumenfeld) is the founder of EdTech180, a PR and communications consultancy with expertise in serving the EdTech industry. EdTech180 has a global client mix, representing EdTech companies in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. For more information, please see EdTech180.com or follow @EdTech180 on Twitter.