Making the change from journalism to academia

Or, how I learned to top worrying and embrace public relations

Are you ready?

Don’t make the change just because• You think the work will be a lot easier• You think the money will be a lot better• You think the hours will be a lot less – or a lot better• You want to get away from change and/or technology• You want to get away from deadlines• You want to get away from a bad boss

Evaluate your skills

Tamara L. Gillis, professor of communications at Elizabethtown

College in Pennsylvania, says writing ranked as the top skill in demand in a

study she made of 514 job descriptions for the International Association of Business Communicators last year.

Be ready to learn new skills

• What I needed to learn quickly were many of the nitty gritty, tactical things, like producing annual reports (we do ours mostly in-house), trade show material, brochures and the day-to-day tools and skills most PR practitioners probably honed while doing a summer internship.

– Mike Spear, former journalist, PR Consultant

Learn what PR is

“Public relations helps an organization and its publics

adapt mutually to each other.”

Definition adopted by the Public Relations Society of America in 1982

PR Defined

“Organization” is denoted in this context, as opposed to the more limiting

“company” or “business,” to stress public relations’ use by businesses, trade unions,

government agencies, voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals,

schools, colleges, religious groups and other societal institutions.

PR Defined

“Publics” recognizes the need to understand the attitudes and values of — and to develop

effective relationships with — many different stakeholders, such as employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders

and other institutions, and with society at large.

Become an expert

• Join professional organizations like PRSA, IABC, NFPW

• Read professional journals – and write for them• Join online communities and learn from you peers• Attend professional conferences – and present at

them• Seek accreditation – like the Accredited in Public

Relations (APR) designation through PRSA• Invest in yourself and your future

Pick the right place

• The company had to be engaged in work that had meaningful impact on the community.

• I needed to feel comfortable with the company's values. I understood that a spokesperson represents one point of view -- the company's -- but I needed to believe I could have a relationship with the media that was straightforward and truthful.

From The Big Switch: Hack to Flack and Back

By Butch Ward, Poynter Institute

Higher Education

• An affinity for education, campus life• Personal experience with the university-based PR

professionals• Started in a comfortable role• Learned from working with an experienced public

relations professional

Read the literature

• Chronicle of Higher Education• Chronicle of Philanthropy• National Association of Independent Colleges

and Universities• Council of Independent Colleges• American Council on Education• National Association of College and

University Business Officers

CASE

Council for the Advancement and Support of Education: www.case.org

• Conferences, publications, networking, list servs, tools• Principals of Practice for College and University Editors• Principles of Practice for Communications and Marketing

Professionals at Educational Institutions• Management Checklist for Communications and

Marketing

Parting words

• While I'm never happy to learn that people are leaving journalism -- especially when the decision is made for them -- I'm now able to reassure them that their abilities to write, to gather and to organize information, and to think analytically, will serve them well in the business world.

• And, I can assure them one other thing: PR -- like journalism -- can be a very honorable way to spend one's life.

- Butch Ward, Poynter Institute

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