Transitioning from Journalism to PR: Can it be done?

My friend and former colleague Benet Wilson, who has been in journalism and PR for nearly a quarter of a century, discusses how one can transition and make the switch from journalism to public relations.

On her blog, "Musings of a New Media Maven" (found on my Blogroll on the lower-left part of your screen), she says making that transition is not as easy as it can be. I would certainly agree that it may not be as easy as it seems.

Wilson:

But as journalism continues to hemorrhage jobs -- 13, 868 so far in 2009, according to Paper Cuts -- I now hear those same journalists who pilloried me for my trips to "the dark side" saying they now want to look at public relations as an option. I also heard this a lot when I attended this year's National Association of Black Journalists annual convention, and I've been meaning to do a post on this very topic. What I have to say to these journalists is -- PR is not as easy as you might think it is.

The biggest mistake journalist make is thinking that just because they can write, they can just take those skills right over to PR and smoothly transition in. No, no and NO. Some of the skills do transfer over -- writing/editing, attention to detail and curiosity.

But in the end, you are the slave to the company you're working for. If you don't believe in the company/organization, you will never last. As such, you will have to write things that you'd never write as a reporter.

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E.C. :)