The media landscape is undergoing radical transformation, marked by a decline in the number of media outlets and journalists. This contraction significantly diminishes opportunities to highlight our clients’ stories, thus impacting all forms of proactive communication.
Simultaneously, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is exerting growing downward cost pressure on content creation, making the cost of human writers sometimes prohibitive.
Far from viewing this evolution as a gradual decline of our profession, I see it as an opportunity for adaptation and innovation. It’s a chance for public relations (PR) professionals to take the lead in mastering this new expertise.
Just as the farmer swapped his mule for a tractor, we must embrace change to shed the superfluous and focus on higher value-added tasks.
Taming the beast
The era of traditional PR as we knew it may be drawing to a close. We can reinvent our methods, leveraging new technologies to tell our clients’ storiesmore effectively and precisely, instead of letting them replace us.
Artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool for optimizing our content production, freeing up more time for us to develop creative strategies and impactfulcampaigns, or reallocating our resources to support journalists in their daily challenges, who are perennially short on time and, increasingly, resources.
I sometimes spend (unbillable) time assisting journalists in finding information or sources, even if it’s beyond my client base. Because my added value for journalists isn’t in selling them my clients, but in providing them with quality information swiftly.
Future-proofing
Ultimately, this transformation in PR is an invitation to rethink our role. We can move far beyond being merely a conduit between clients and the media. We can become better content creators and curators, strategists, and trusted advisors, supported by powerful generative AI tools that will evolve over time.
In this new era, our ability to tell stories authentically and engagingly remains paramount. The tools change, but the essence of PR remains the same: building and maintaining solid and meaningful relationships with our audiences. We must lead this revolution while staying true to our core principles of truth, transparency, and ethics.
This is an opportunity to expand our scope of action and strengthen our impact. As PR professionals, we must be the architects of this change, guiding our clients through this shifting landscape and finding new ways to make their messages resonate. So yes, old PR methods may vanish, but the spirit of PR – that of connecting, informing, and inspiring – is more alive than ever.
PR is dead, long live PR.