Week Four Blog

The central focus of this week’s reading was the interdependent relationship between the media and public relations, as well as how it continually evolves resultant to ever-changing media structures and paradigms. The reading highlighted the need for the Public Relations practitioner to approach their profession with the perception of their position as a continually evolving and dynamic one on account of the shifts in media practices. Vast technological development and the subsequent unbridled ability of the individual to broadcast has suspended the barrier between the media and the consumer causing an unprecedented shift in power from key media conglomerates to the individual and smaller niche markets. With the rise of social-networking sites, personal media and such as youtube.com, the role of the Public Relations practitioner has become difficult to cage and constantly swings in and out of multi-media grey areas. The first debating topic; Media relations is the most important aspect of most public relations work; was clearly of relevance to these readings. Despite a Public Relations Practitioner’s role spanning far beyond simply engaging with and manipulating the media, it could be argued that the most important public relations takes place for the most important companies- which is generally determined by size and impact. A large company/person/organization can not survive and thrive from simply networking and positive relations with publics other than the media; the media, regardless of shifts in media paradigms in an evolving modern, remains and will continue to remain the broadest and most efficient method of forming, maintaining or manipulating public opinion. Therefore the PR practitioner should be very careful of their company’s media relations and reputation.