In defence of the written word: Why the PR industry needs to relearn how to write
In our video-centric industry, copywriting often gets shoehorned in as a last minute afterthought. In this defence of the written word, Weber Shandwick’s Kelly Lane argues the PR industry needs to learn how to tell stories again.
With the rise of visual influence, some might think written content has taken a back seat to other more exciting forms of storytelling.
There’s no doubt that some of the most powerful stories today are being told through a single compelling image or captivating video, and are shared more quickly and more widely than ever before.
A keyboard may have replaced the pen, but the written word still rules
But when you think about it, the written word still infiltrates almost every piece of content we create.
To be fair, most journalists need to relearn how to write as well
Writing as an editor, this is a salutary lesson for PR people. But it does not go far enough, I often think PR companies write press releases (et al) with their client in mind not the publication they are sending it to. So the PR is read by us as a puff piece full of flowery words that read nice to the client but are useless info for our readership. You want to cut through? Educate yourselves, your cllients and discuss with your target publications.
End of rant.
Could not agree more.
However, the institutions are failing PR students. There is little emphasis on writing stories and releases or producing VNRs.
As a result, so many PRs don’t understand the outlets they are pitching to and how the outlets operate, as Phil Ross highlights.
To the unis and PR educators: make students think more like journalists. Clients care about strategy, key words and KPIs but the target audience cares more about the actual content and substance of the story.
And so say all of us!