Why journalism school is the right place for PR students
After reading “Why journalism schools should get rid of PR,” I couldn’t help but respond. That post by Bob Conrad offers ten reasons why PR is better suited for a business school, and I’m going to attempt a point-by-point response from the opposite perspective.
For the compete context for my writing here, you should check out Bob’s piece first.
- Bob says public relations is inherently a business function at most organizations, especially when a PR head within an organization has obtained the proverbial “seat at the table” with other executive leaders. At the same time, much of the PR practitioner’s work is about communicating, which is not taught in management class. And doesn’t, um, everyone say the most important skill for budding PR pros is the ability to write well? Guess where you’ll learn that: J-school.
- Bob’s second point is that “Journalism skills needed by public relations students can be obtained usually with about a year and half’s worth of journalism courses” — thus can be done regardless of whether PR falls under a journo department or a business department. I’d argue the same is true about the business classes. Whether we’re talking journalism education or business education, the classes only get you so far; experience takes you the rest of the way.
- Bob argues that news reporters are “antagonistic” toward the things most important to a business: sales, marketing, advertising and other business functions. I’d argue that many journalism students and journalists aren’t; that’s why they’ve gone into PR!
- PR is all about two-way, symmetrical communication, whereas journalists are conditioned for one-way, asymmetrical communication, Bob says. I say, not the journalists blazing a trail for success in the future.
- Bob’s fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth points all address an hugely important topic, which I’ll address all at once here: the role of new media in journalism and PR. Basically, Bob says PR is (sometimes slowly) adopting new media, but new media is slowly killing the journalism business, and that good PR now focuses less on media mentions and more on direct communication via its own blogs and other new, social-y methods. To me, this alone makes the strongest argument for the importance of a journalistic education. The future of PR is a return to what should have always been our focus: telling stories effectively, communicating, interacting with people. It’s not a business function; it’s a human function.
- Bob’s final point is a depressing one: Journalism businesses left and right are being gutted, so gutting journalism departments at colleges would be an “important career lesson.” Well, that lesson might be relevant for an unfortunately large number of current and future journalists, but to me, that doesn’t mean teaching that lesson in that way is a good idea. Even as the status of many journalism organizations deteriorates, we’ll see the need for and presence of solid journalism deteriorate only so far. Solid journalism is to a well-functioning society what oxygen is to an athlete: a crucial life-force. Gutting journalism departments because the journalism business is in upheaval makes as much sense as gutting pre-med programs because our health care system is shitty.
To be clear, I don’t necessarily disagree with all of the arguments Bob makes — just the conclusion to which they led him. I also don’t believe simply that PR shouldn’t be taught in business schools. There’s tremendous value for PR practitioners in a business-oriented education, but I also believe there’s at least as much if not more potential value in a journalism-oriented education.
That, and I just enjoy arguing.
What do you think?
Photo courtesy of CUNY J School on Flickr
