Where PR is Needed Now

I belong to several private groups for communications professionals on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Slack. In following the conversation strings, one can’t help but notice a palpable frustration by many practitioners that PR as a marketing communications discipline is DOA during the coronavirus crisis. This is mostly true, except for the brand-focused story angles that are supportive, not exploitive, of the tragic circumstances in which we now find ourselves.

Sure, many niche media beat reporters continue to report breaking, non-COVID related news, most noticeably in the entertainment arena, e.g., Quibi’s ramp up or Roku’s stock price, but most others require some tie to the reality on the ground. Even then, lifestyle-focused PR peeps need to tread lightly, as the journalist, author, and all-around astute observer of life Virginia Heffernan recently noted in a tweet:

One tool in the PR toolbox that is clearly flourishing during these harrowing times is internal communications. When prickly reporters disparage our industry, they mostly do so as a result of the inane and misguided story pitches that fill up their inboxes…