PR's bad PR

The job of public relations agents is to create a positive attitude towards their client. They accomplish this in many different ways. If this is the case, and it certainly is, then why do I always receive a funny look, a discriminatory question concerning potential jobs in the area, or a critical remark when I say I am a PR major? Certainly those apt to change public views on issues could easily create a positive perception on their own occupation, but this is untrue.

PR majors face an abundance of mostly incorrect stereotypes on our campus. Yes there is a disproportionate amount of one demographic that concerns females and a certain type of organization with ancient letters. Many also believe that the classes are a joke and easy to pass. The considerable number of drop outs may disagree with this claim, and it probably didn’t help that the professor declared the course as one to weed out any unprepared students. Especially with our PR department being the second highest ranked in the nation, I doubt it just gives out high grades to students.

Those who ask me what I can do with a PR major act as if there isn’t a single public relations job in the world. I am deeply sorry that there are no jobs specifically named public relations and that society fails to notice the effect of such professionals. No other major that I know of receives this scrutiny and judgment right after announcing their focus of their collegiate studies which they probably took a good bit of time to decide on. I don’t respond to history majors by telling them that a time machine is the only way they could be useful. I don’t tell math majors about China and India or the invention of the calculator. I don’t even give journalism majors a hard time about how newspapers will die in a few years. I hope these incorrect, five second judgments show how stupid the sly comments toward PR majors happen to be.

Now to answer what I can actually do outside of school, and I’ll even gear it towards other majors. Doctors will always have jobs, but universal healthcare would take their pay check and basically tear it up. If they only had someone to represent their cause and lobby against it, this could be avoided. Oh my, I might be able to help with that. Science majors love to put themselves on a pedestal since their majors sound difficult and contain more than four syllables. I and other public relations majors can assist you guys as well, though the China and India theory of killing this profession applies here as well. If someone were to cure cancer, he or she and the company involved would need help with the media and all other publicity events. Also, if a report showed that the same individual used animals for testing or any other unethical practices, it would certainly help to have a qualified person mounting a public defense. Lobbying also could help those involved with science in that the government sometimes, actually always, needs a push to fund research and technology. Future politicians and businesses owners usually don’t need reminding on how public relations makes and saves their careers. Any news article concerning a business or politician in a favorable light probably came from the pen of a public relations practitioner.

Now please stop giving those who study public relations a hard time. Until you actually take a course in the department or even know what public relations is, please don’t take the time to judge it.