The decline of journalism, so well documented, has produced collateral casualties in an associated industry: public relations.

Journalists and PR professionals have always been entwined in an uneasy dependency. They need one another to thrive. They get along socially, sharing the same love of language, art and gossip. And their relationship is usually tainted by mutual contempt. (Journalists think PR folks bend the truth for money; PR people think journos bend the truth in the interests of a good story.) And now they’re both in free fall, like Holmes and Moriarty entangled as they plunge to their deaths at Reichenbach Falls.

A recent Dal grad predicted over lunch last week that PR would be dead in two years because the media outlets the industry relies on are becoming rarer and rarer.  I don’t buy that – organizations still need to get their messages out to the public and will pay to see that it’s done. In the ultimate corporate brain-fart, companies and organizations seeking publicity happily pay a PR officer while neglecting the remaining media outlets that continue to deliver news to the public.

PR is far more complicated than it used to be because of the decline of traditional media, and the variety of new media channels that must be mastered. But the cornerstone of the trade is still dealing with journalists, and this is where the modern flack stumbles badly.

Here are the problems as I see them:

Local Outreach – I don’t get it. There are so few reporters these days that I would think all PR execs would be on a first-name basis with all of them. They should know their children’s birthdays and pets’ names. Okay, I exaggerate, but I don’t know why flacks and hacks in Atlantic Canada don’t seem to do lunch and beers like they used to. It’s part of the job description. 

Press Releases – Where to begin with this one? We journalists tend to sneer at press releases, but they are essential components of our job. And boy, do they ever stink these days! It should be simple – present facts in Para 1, flesh them out in Para 2, say why it’s important in Para 3 and stick a quote (without the word “excited”) in Para 4. Fill out all the relevant details and put a contact at the end. And make sure the contact is a) well informed and b) available. Then proofread it. There is no excuse for bad English or missing information in a press release. And omitting contact details just says the organization isn’t really serious about getting its message out.

Export Markets – This, I think, is the greatest shortfall of modern PR in the private sector. The success of Atlantic Canadian businesses rests on their success in selling to foreign customers. Too much of the energy in the PR industry today is focused on the local media and not on developing strategies for getting into larger publications. East Coast businesses now have products that are selling internationally because they solve big problems. And that means readers in large market are interested in these products and the stories of the people who make them. Think CarbonCure being featured in Bill Gates’ blog.

What does this have to do with an innovation column? Everything. Local businesses need to get their messages out – both to their local markets where their support originates, and to international markets where their customers live and work. We discuss this a lot with the high-growth companies we meet at Entrevestor. It’s true for the whole business community.