ABSTRACT
Media relations remains the core skill of public relations. It is what differentiates it from all the other communications disciplines, many of which offer some similar services to PR, such as digital communications, events management, promotions and advertising. But it is the PR person who is left to pitch the story to the sceptical journalist, or to take that difficult call when the media have uncovered damaging information. Take away media relations from the PR equation and what is left? Among the possible exceptions are lobbying or public affairs and corporate social responsibility (CSR), but even these tend to boast of their media relations prowess. Moreover, PR is vital to the media. Without it, journalists, reporters and bloggers would struggle to find stories and fill their pages and airtime. Included here in the term media are not just journalists from ‘conventional’ or ‘mainstream media’ where PR has traditionally ‘earned’ media coverage by selling in stories, but bloggers and ‘influencers’ on social media and also organisations’ ‘owned and shared media’ such as websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or Instagram accounts, where the PR does not have to deal through a third party like a journalist or blogger but can speak directly to its audience. This chapter examines how PR people can deal with the media while navigating a minefield of issues relating to truth and transparency and looks at:
PR’s relationship with the media – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Is it ever OK to tell a lie to a journalist? Is it possible never to tell a lie? And whether PR can ever really be transparent about the much-used term ‘transparency’.
PR’s role in suppressing bad news and its use of the ‘Dark Arts’.
How the growth in owned and shared media creates new ethical issues.
