How has PR changed?

With the ever-changing digital age and all pervasive social media, the world of public relations has dramatically changed.

It appears that the traditional term ‘press release’ has evolved over time.

The first press release was produced by Ivy Lee, a former financial newspaper reported turned public relations officer. In 1906 his agency was working with the Pennsylvania Railroad at the time of a train wreck accident. He proactively wrote up a press release and distributed it to journalists. The release told the story from the perspective of the Railroad and soon found itself enjoying positive press coverage in spite of the unfortunate accident (Cutlip, 1994) - and the press release was born. The official statement issued to the media for the purpose of announcing something newsworthy seems to have developed from the basic, and often categorised as ‘boring’ document. Due to new technology, press releases are distributed quite differently compared to 100 years ago. The advances in communication and technology PR has allowed releases to be shared with journalists in ways which are better received and more successful.

According to Meltwater blog by Mark Cowlin, here is a distribution history breakdown:

Press release in early years = paper

Press releases in middle years = paper + wire service

Press releases today = email + wire service + post on websites + social media

Press releases have developed many different multimedia elements such as SEO words for the purpose of search engine optimisation, interactive videos to offer more information on a story, photos to illustrate a message and links which can help drive traffic to a website. The structure and general purpose of a press release has remained the same, however new technology and the digital age has helped progress releases into a more modern and multi-purpose communication tool.

Following on from this, the need for real-time news is imperative. As new technology advances, so does the wide array of social media platforms and channels. This means that news is continuously traveling to a mass audience which can build awareness, maximise media coverage and stimulate conversations. According to a study published by Eric Schwartzman’s iPressroom, PR professionals are now being placed in charge of website content, blogging, social networking and podcasting. This means that they can communicate a message effectively and instantly through the digital media landscape, however this has resulted in a lack of control. News travels faster than before and it is vital for companies to exert control over any conversations they begin. It has become increasingly evident that the digital media landscape has allowed the public to utilise control, through the process of sharing information and interactions.

Due to the demand for information in real-time and the stimulation of interactions, it is essential for companies to be transparent. As previously mentioned, the digital media landscape has shown us that information and news travels rapidly, reaching a large audience. Gino Dietrich, author of Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age, explains “no amount of PR messaging can counteract one person’s negative experience” and bad news has the ability to travel fast, especially on social media, which could include tweets, complaints or negative reviews. It is vital to be accountable from the offset and provide honest, sound information. If a company fails to do so, it may be harmful to their reputation and undermine their image.

Overall, PR has and will continue to change within the digital media landscape. Recently, in a lecture by Richard Bailey, we discussed converging communications and how Shirky (2008) argues ’the distinction between broadcast and communications used to be clear’ in the 21st Century media landscape. Traditional PR has evolved into a source of multimedia communications, the digital media landscape has made information more readily available and connected on various channels, and content is now distributed to millions through social media, furthering the need for companies to be transparent and ethical in case of crisis. From the ride of new technology and new media, broadcast conversations and communications have been converging. Here are a few examples listed below.

One-to-many: TV, video, news, celebrity, tweet

Many-to-one: RSS, aggregators

Many-to-many: Twitter, forums, comments on popular blogs, Facebook groups

One-to-several: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Group email

One-to-one: IM, email, DM, Skype

It has also become apparent that it is vital for companies to keep on top of the changing digital age, through innovative ideas and effective communication strategies. As quoted by Richard Bailey and a concept I feel strongly about, it is essential to ‘be interesting’.