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Claudia Hyde's Reginald Watts Prize entry

“Public relations today is horrible. Any dope, any nitwit, any idiot can call him or herself a public relations practitioner.” Edward Bernays, 1991. Is he right?

There is nothing unique or particularly impressive about having a platform.

There are more than two billion active Facebook users, over 328 million people are active Twitter users, and more than 357 million people have a Tumblr blog. At a few clicks, virtually anyone has access to a platform which empowers them to communicate with millions of people at a time, convey their opinions and project a narrative onto a desired audience. In this sense, it is now more possible than ever for “any nitwit, any idiot” to become a practitioner of public relations. However, this has left the professionalization of communications, and the public relations industry, more valuable than ever.

In this essay, I will set out the following argument: Edward Bernays’s statement is true more today than it was at the time it was made. But far from rendering the PR industry obsolete, the proliferation of communication platforms has given rise to a new challenge in PR which makes specialised knowledge and expertise more important than ever.

The “democratisation” of media

The birth of the blogosphere, as well as the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, disrupted the monopoly over instant and mass communications that was previously held by a handful of media conglomerates. The value of a professionalized PR service lay in providing clients with access to those platforms, and the knowledge of how to use them to achieve a set of communications objectives. Whilst previously only those of significant stature and fame were able to communicate a message to a large audience with relative ease, this ability was placed into the hands of anyone with a computer. Through this process, it became far easier to project a narrative to more people, more quickly – and crucially, it became more affordable to do so.

Moreover, the growth of disruptive media platforms has challenged the norms and conventions of communications. The rise of “micro-blogs” such as Tumblr and free online publication services presents a challenge to the effectiveness of mass communication channels such as print journalism, television and radio, which are less and less necessary for the spread of information. As a result, conventional communication strategies have dwindled in relevance. With all financial and other impediments to mass communication quickly lifted, communication is now more accessible, grassroots and democratic than ever before. As long as a “dope”, “nitwit” or “idiot” can have access to a smartphone, therefore, they can achieve what scores of public relations practitioners for decades before them prided themselves on being uniquely positioned to deliver.

The role of PR in a new digital order

With individuals, campaign groups, private companies, or indeed any association with a set of campaign messages now able to communicate with billions of people around the world for a low cost, it would be easy, but foolish, to think that the PR industry is diminishing in relevance. On the contrary, the democratisation of media as I outlined previously creates unique challenges which make communications expertise more valuable than ever. Far from being rendered obsolete, the role of PR has merely adapted.

Whereas the challenge of PR professionals previously was to secure access to mass communication platforms on behalf of their clients, through coverage of press releases or television appearances, the unique value of a PR practitioner now lies in how they make use of platforms. Expertise and experience in devising and executing communication strategies empowers practitioners’ clients to use platforms such as Twitter and Facebook effectively. If anyone can practice public relations in the form of tweeting or blogging, the industry’s role becomes about ensuring the client’s messages resonate among the plethora of shouting voices. Having a distinct “digital offer” is an ambition that more and more PR agencies are pursuing, in recognition of the growing demand for this.

Moreover, the diversification of communication platforms gives rise to demand for specialist knowledge of the different networks, the audiences that frequent them, and the unique communications risks each one presents. While it may be true that anyone can tweet, it is not the case that all twitter users can pre-empt and mitigate the risks of using Twitter for a campaign. PR’s challenge is now to comprehend how their audiences use these platforms, and how they will respond to the key messages of a campaign, which requires stand-alone expertise and a nuanced understanding. This understanding draws on wisdom from PR’s experience with more conventional forms of media, as well as knowledge gained through the cultivation of digital communications experience.

Crucially, this is a specialism that will continue to flourish as access to the internet worldwide – and therefore, potential campaign audiences – continues to grow. Over time, more social networks and methods of communication will be developed, and the challenge of PR practitioners is to ensure that they are continuously able to deliver value to their clients in the form of knowledge of these networks and how to navigate them.

Conclusion

It is correct to say that “any dope, any nitwit, any idiot can call him or herself a public relations practitioner”- innovations in technology, the rise of free, high-impact media platforms and the diversification of media sources has meant that there are effectively no impediments to communicating a narrative to a broader audience. Any person can be a communicator, and in that sense, anyone can practice public relations.

However, it is important to distinguish between practising public relations, and the public relations industry, and it is against this backdrop that the professionalization of public relations is so crucial. Only an industry whose specialism is understanding the risks of communication can provide the intelligence needed to devise effective strategies for delivering a campaign. In a world where anyone can communicate and must compete with everyone else to do so, the public relations industry is more important than ever.