I saw a shirt the other day that said, “Made in the 90s.” As in 1990 – 1999.
I was in elementary school and mastering the art of adding and subtracting whole numbers up to three digits, and people that were “made in the 90s” were mastering the art of opening their eyes.
It got me thinking that public relations, and everything that goes with it, has definitely evolved since my first job with an agency. From how publicists gather sources to the means in which we distribute press releases, a lot has changed over the years.
Cision
Every publicist knows what this is – an online database of media contacts that aides our research to find the appropriate reporter. Except that a few years ago it was called Bacon’s (it’s had other names, too but I’m not familiar with those. I’m not that old). Bacon’s used to also be a book, so you had to flip through thousands of pages to find the contact you wanted.
Clips
One of my initial responsibilities at my first public relations job was to clip the coverage we secured for our clients. I had to read the newspaper and use scissors to cut out the clip, paste it to a sheet of computer paper with a glue stick, and then use an ink stamp to mark the clip with the agency’s logo. Then I put the clip in a clear sheet protector and added it to the three-ring binder that was known as the clip book. Now, our intern logs onto the newspaper’s website, takes a screen shot of the clip, turns it into a PDF and adds it to the client’s digital portfolio. Sigh.
Media Alerts
The concept and format are still the same – the who, what, where, when and why are all still included in media alerts. The difference is how we get them to producers or reporters. Now it’s a quick email. Before that it was a fax machine. And before that media alerts were mailed to reporters. Talk about having to plan ahead for an event – publicists has to allow enough time to snail mail “breaking news.”
Blogs
Back in the day, publicists couldn’t be bothered with blogs. Now, bloggers are game changers for those in the public relations industry. Not only are their posts typically uploaded immediately, but they have huge followings and are considered some of the most influential people in the media industry. I remember removing bloggers from an RSVP list for VIP media events because they were obviously just there to crash the party. Whoops.
