When Public Relations isn't Public Relations

I coach and advise students about careers in public relations. So I see my share of online job postings for PR positions. Too often, they read like this:
By Esra / Esra
(http://www.sxc.hu/photo/230083)
 [see page for license],
via Wikimedia Commons

 [Headline:] Entry-Level Public Relations/Sales/Marketing
In Your Eye Marketing Inc is currently offering entry level sales and marketing positions that include comprehensive training. No prior sales or marketing experience is necessary, and we will train you at the entry level to learn a variety of skills from sales and marketing to management and mentor-ship. (sic -- mentorship is seldom hyphenated)
Responsibilities in Entry Level Include:
  • Assisting in the daily growth and development of our company
  • Assisting with efforts of new business acquisition
  • Expertly managing the needs of external customers
  • Developing strong leadership and interpersonal skills
  • Face to face sales of services to new business and/or consumer prospects
  • Preparing marketing and sales strategies alongside our Marketing Managers
  • Great interpersonal skills and social competency
  • Professional demeanor, organized, reliable
  • Effective and skillful communication skills
  • Ambition, a strong work ethic, and an earnest willingness to learn
  • Results driven attitude with a hunger for success
  • Ability to excel in a high-energy, fast-paced environment
This ISN'T public relations. It's sales. Period. If you don't see words like writing, news release, social media, media relations, or strategic planning, it's not public relations. It doesn't talk about working with editors or developing relationships with influencers or gatekeepers.

You may contact members of the public, but it's not a PR job. You won't be building a brand or working to understand attitudes. It's just sales promotion. Nothing wrong with a job like that, but if your goal is to do PR work for NASA, Ford, United Way, a college or professional organization, this isn't the best first step.

Yes, I get it; "entry level" opportunities are intentionally vague. But to suggest this role has much to do with the public relations profession is an outright lie. And the first rule of real PR is: "do not lie to the media."

Or, in this case, through the media. 

Popular posts from this blog

Questioning the New York (Times) Athletic Club

Image
The New York Times dropped the axe on its legendary sports department in early July. Sports reporting we read in the Times henceforth will originate with The Athletic, a younger (and perhaps more agile) sportswriting website purchased by the NYT Corp.  You'll find a good assessment of the move here .  As a Times subscriber, I have automatic access to any sports reporting it produces. I won't call it "free access," however, because my ever-increasing monthly rate for a three-day Times subscription surely will include a tithe to cover the Athletic.  But ditching the Times ' sports desk and dispersing its fine sports journalists and photographers to other NYT jobs? That's a loss. Here's why: Conflict of interest: The Athletic allows its staff to report on sports gambling, while some are paid contractors of the sportsbook companies. Is there a Pete Rose-style conflict here? I'd expect so. The Times allowed no double-dipping within its sports staff. The s
Read more

Readers get the (drive) shaft in motorsports coverage

Image
In mid-August, the U.S.'s premier auto racing sport will compete at a road racing course in Watkins Glen, NY. NASCAR's brutish Cup series cars will race in this rural community Aug. 20.  May 2023, Charlotte Motor Speedway. (c) DKassnoff, 2023. But, don't expect  The New York Times  to cover NASCAR before then. The newspaper's sports section -- now outsourced to The Athletic, its sportsbook subsidiary -- hasn't covered NASCAR since July 2. That's when NASCAR's drivers competed on the rain-soaked streets of Chicago. The Times provided no coverage of their July 30 race in Richmond, VA, or any NASCAR race since early July. The Times  has focused its motorsports coverage on Formula 1 racing. These are the expensive, open-wheeled, high performance racing teams once called Grand Prix. This class of racing is controlled by another media company: John Malone's Liberty Media, which purchased Formula 1 in 2017 and returned it to profitability. Visit the Times '
Read more

Your hand's already in my pocket

Image
I use an ad blocker, and probably you do, too. Every day, even on websites where I pay a monthly subscription fee, I see a pop-up that say: "We Notice You Are Using an Ad Blocker." And they ask me to turn it off. I don't. I'm already paying for that news website's reporting. Their hands are already in my pocket. And, truth is, I don't mind digital ads that are somewhat relevant to my tastes. Show me an ad for a guitar deal or Ford car parts, and I'll probably read it. Screen shot, unnamed Gannett publication, Sept. 2018 But I don't care about Patrick Swayze's secret son. Or what forgotten 1970s actress Loni Anderson looks like today. (I was more of a Howard Hesseman /Dr. Johnny Fever fan, anyway.) When newspapers relied on print ad revenue, I'd glance at those ads -- and sometimes, I'd bite -- because those ads were for local or regional merchants. They wanted to build a relationship with me.  They didn't try
Read more