When I first moved to the U.S. and was filling in my application for a work visa, US Immigration wanted to know why my English Degree was relevant to the field of Public Relations.

Two years later, I am more convinced now than I was then, that possessing an excellent command of the English language and being able to write is essential to being successful in PR.

PR professionals, just like journalists and authors, are storytellers. A writer will look at real life and see a good story. PR professionals do exactly the same.

A novel is made up of many life experiences mixed and twisted together. Similarly, a good pitch will take a piece of news and mix it with current trends and polemical issues to provide an interesting angle.

Why is an English degree relevant to PR?
Isn’t it obvious? Because PR is all about communication and language is the vehicle we use to communicate.

They say that video killed the radiostar and now they are saying that PR is in danger of dying at the hands of bloggers.

Why does PR feel so threatened?

Public Relations, like technology, must also evolve and adapt with the times. Remember the days before email, when press releases were distributed by fax and by mail? The whole PR pitching process was slower then; information could not be distributed as quickly. With the introduction of email, PR specialists became accustomed to having to provide data on demand. The entire profession stepped up the pace and adapted to shorter turn-around.

My point is this: if Public Relations has successfully transitioned through technology changes in the past, blogging will not stand in its way. Bloggers, indeed, will soon be flooded with pitches from PR agencies, who want their clients to appear in blogs!

PR is all about achieving positive brand visibility whether in print, in online publications or even in blogs.

Blogging is not killing PR. Blogs provide another arena in which to publish messaging and enhance brand visibility.

Is it ever appropriate to use someone’s personal tragedy to promote a company’s name and brand?

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many companies are eager to piggy back off this news item to gain media coverage of their own. Indeed, PR specialists are quick to announce that their company or client has made a generous donation to the hurricane relief efforts.

It is, however, a win-win situation. The Red Cross receives more and more donations and those companies donating, in turn receive media exposure.

Perhaps, then, we cannot even criticize people’s motivations when PR is actually contributing to the relief effort. If the fight for media coverage is encouraging people to donate, at least the outcome can only be positive for those people in desperate need of financial aid.