Why So Glum, PR? Got Another Letter Today?
“I’ve got here irrefutable proof that PR is indeed a person! Hundreds and hundreds of letters written directly to him!”
As someone proud to work in the PR profession, I get bummed when I see articles, blog posts, and comments that start with the phrase “Dear PR…” The letters that begin this way might continue “Dear PR hacks,” or, “Dear PR colleagues,” but to me they’re all just reasons to sigh.
I haven’t found another industry that so often receives Dear John letters. It’s not often one encounters something that starts “Dear Scientists,” or “Dear Secretaries,” yet all it takes is googling the phrase “Dear PR” to see how often someone has taken it upon themselves to address our entire industry in a formal letter in order to express regret or disappointment.
These letters come from news outlets and mommy bloggers asking to be pitched a certain way. They come from people on the receiving end of a bad pitch. They come from our colleagues to admonish us to our duties and remind us of how much more work we need to do, and now! Separately each one may make sense in its context but taken together as individual missives in a gigantic mailbag, they begin to weigh heavy.
One reason I think so many (and often times so many unqualified) people want to tell off “The Flack” is because there’s not a broader understanding of what PR does. The average person knows the rudimentaries of how a factory works, or how a law-office is structured, but doesn’t really know the function that PR serves in a larger company’s objectives or the difference between in-house and agency. Much worse, there’s a lack of understanding about who a PR employee actually is when they represent a company with a pitch or Facebook post.
Another major force that drives this very public outpouring is the very public nature of our industry. Defined in so many terms as “driving engagement” or “drawing the attention of key stakeholders,” much of the point of our profession is to say, “look at me!” Spending that much time demanding attention creates the petard on which we’re hoisted when one of us screws up.
I suppose if I had to write my own “Dear PR,” it would say something like: “I know people make fun of you, and say you’re stupid. Let’s face it, sometimes you are stupid. But so is everyone else! You’re out there doing some really neat stuff, and I ain’t mad at ya. Keep doing your thing.”
Of course if I did send that letter to PR he’d probably copy and paste it and send it to everyone he knows, and I’m not sure I want to be on record saying “I ain’t mad at ya.” I’ll probably just keep my letter to myself this time.
– Topher
