“So you’re crossing over to the dark side?”
It’s a question I’ve heard several times over the past few weeks since announcing to friends and colleagues my decision to leave journalism for public relations. “The dark side,” a term (mostly) jokingly used by journalists, is the other side of the news desk—PR.
Back on the other side, I was an editor and reporter for Community Impact Newspaper and, before that, the Bossier Press-Tribune in my home state of Louisiana.
While images of journalistic Obi-Wan Kenobis such as Edward R. Murrow or Woodward and Bernstein paint a romantic picture of “the light side,” the reality is that making it as a journalist in a post-Google era can be trying to say the least. Finding a full-time gig can often be next to impossible and there’s typically a major emphasis on the “free” in freelance writing. It’s a bit funny then that journalists still refer to PR as the dark side: As the media wrestles with expenses and keeping staffs lean in the everything-for-nothing digital age, this dark side may start looking a little brighter.
Still, even with the occasional headache, I wouldn’t change a thing about my time spent as a reporter.
Although the media is often criticized for delivering a constant barrage of bad news, rather than make me negative, I feel the experience has made me less cynical. When you actually get to talk to the people behind the headlines, it becomes clear that, like most of us, they’re just trying to do the best they can.
From my new position here at Ketner Group to my encounters with PR firms as a writer, the people I’ve dealt with on this side have shown the same level of integrity as the finest journalists I’ve known. I’ve yet to run into any PR firms trying to peddle cigarettes to kids, just as I’ve never worked with any reporters who would intentionally slant the facts in a story to align with their own political bias.
As for me, an expatriate from the world of journalism adjusting to PR, when asked about the switch to the dark side, I just smile and laugh. Despite the old mass comm cliché, I’ve yet to see anything dark about PR. I’m loving the experience so far and look forward to the journey ahead.
Tags: career changes, journalism, PR
Congrats!