Edelman hunts for journalist to join agency as content trend creates need to ‘hire differently’
Edelman is the latest PR agency to eye up journalist talent, with the agency looking to recruit a professional journalist/editorial specialist who will help clients get cut-through in a content-dominated market.
It’s not the first agency to target journalists, with M&C Partners boasting a large number of former journalists including Asher Moses and Ben Grubb, while Allira Carroll’s Tonic PR wanted to recruit journalists as clients as a PR agency with writing and story-telling skills in-house.
Lynnette Edmonds, Edelman’s talent director, told Mumbrella the rise of content creation in PR agencies is leading to a need to have a more diverse team.
Edmonds: “Ensuring a story gets cut-through means we need deeper specialist skills”
“Storytelling has always been at the heart of PR agencies and people with journalism training and experience have always been appealing. But now with content creation taking a greater lead, there is the need to hire differently,” Edmonds said.
“The growing requirement for a strong commentary across various landscapes and the experience inr making content more relevant to readers in digital media has encouraged this shift.”
According to the job ad on LinkedIn, Edelman is looking for an “experienced financial journalist and/or editor”, with the role suited to “someone with a reputation for developing strong commentary on Australia’s corporate and financial landscape, as well as experience in making this content relevant to readers across the move from traditional to digital media”.
“You will provide strategic counsel to senior clients, helping them to earn the attention of their audiences through meaningful story-telling,” the job ad reads.
Edmonds said the decision to employ journalists stems from the need to ensure story cut-through.
“Writing skills, interviewing, editing, researching, storytelling, crafting a message – these have always been essentials in a PR practitioner’s tool kit but with increasing need to ensure story cut-through among the deluge of content available, means that we need deeper specialist skills.”
According to Edmonds, editorial skills are considered “gold” at communications agencies.
“It’s in a journalist’s DNA to identify a story angle, tailor that within the greater media and news landscape, understand the need of readers and craft an impactful and compelling story that still communicates client propositions,” she said.
“Couple this with the ability to work fast and to meet tight deadlines. This combination of skills is still gold in a communications agency.”
Edmonds said PR agencies need to start to diversify their talent.
“The world is changing faster than ever and we have to change with it,” she said.
“Edelman’s approach to this is communications marketing – putting earned story-telling firmly at the centre of the full marketing mix. That means our talent needs have changed considerably and diversification, including more specialist roles, is critical to our business model.”
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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I have a morbid curiosity about this – does anyone have any idea what this sort of a role would pay?
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Is this really a new phenomena? Journalists moving into PR has been a mainstay of our industry.
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This isn’t a new thing in PR at all – journo’s are always getting tempted across to “the dark side” with far, far better pay than they’ll ever see in journalism, plus a promise that they’ll get to do tons of writing. What would be novel is if Edelman bucks the trend and allows this role to actually write most of the time and not force them into being a regular Account Manager type role, scraping and bowing to clients whom the journalist will probably loathe, based on their time as a writer. That’s what blows most journalists out of the water when they crossover to PR. While they have an extraordinarily strong skillset in some areas, it’s the account management, being able to account for every 15 minutes of their day in timesheets, and that “scraping and bowing” in general that just rubs them wrong and is usually completely alien to them.
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Nice job ad for Edelman! Can we all have some free advertising on Mumbrella please? 🙂
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What a bizarre story. Is it even a story? It’s the same as a story which read: “Restaurant decides to hire a cook” or “Airline changes the routine by hiring pilots.” I mean- seriously. The real story is about PR firms hiring outside their heritage- not going back to the future. Chris Savage
I think this piece neatly demonstrates what’s expected of the new hire
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Hire me, hire me, hire me! I need more work!
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Well said Chris, what a joke this is. It is clear that Edelman really continue to drink their own cool aid, its embarrassing you have even published this Mumbrella. PS Lynette, your focus would have been more valuable understanding why you lost the best “talent” you had under the previous management and I am not referring to Michelle! Yes your talent needs did change and you didn’t know how to embrace us or treat us with respect for our specialist skill set.
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@Chris, I think a more fitting analogy would be something like ‘McDonalds hires qualified chef to deep-fry McNuggets.”
I think it’s a relevant story and a reflection of the sorry state of affairs that is (under) investment in journalism vs investment in corporate spin.
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