Is collaboration between journalists and PR professionals beneficial or detrimental?
Industry leaders participate in the debate at e4m PR Dialogue
At the e4m PR Dialogue, speakers presented their opinions on the question – Is Collaboration Between Journalists and PR Professionals Beneficial or Detrimental to Public Information? Speaking for the motion, the debate featured Dr. Navneet Anand, Founder & Director, Grey Matters; Dr. Sarvesh Tiwari, Founder & Director, PR Professionals; and senior journalist Rajiv Tikoo. Speaking against the motion, the debate featured Arindam Bhattacharjee, Business School Editor, Business Standard; Shishir Sinha, Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line; and Rachna Chowdhary, Editor and Publisher, India. The Session Chair for the debate was Bhaskar Majumdar, Head - MarCom, CSR & Digital, Egis, South Asia.
Setting the tone of the debate and speaking for the motion, Sarvesh Tiwari said, “We complement each other, we complete each other.” He explained that journalism and PR go hand-in-hand, even though there are instances where the two may not have any need for one another. But, collaboration between the two always makes things better.
Explaining the point on collaboration further, Dr. Navneet Anand who spoke for the motion pointed out that PR was at a nascent stage from 1996 to 2008 when he was at Pioneer. While complimenting Sarvesh Tiwari, Anand also said that in the early years, there was a lack of understanding back in the day. Still, today there is a better understanding and a mutuality between PR and Journalism. He further mentions, “We are both in the industry of knowledge. The amount of reading that I do personally, and the variety of reading that one has to do, because it is a competitive industry, is not a joke.” He stresses that when a PR person meets an erudite sharp journalist, that person needs to read and prepare. He agreed that journalism has now started to appreciate the value addition PRs bring to the profession.
Rajiv Tikoo, speaking for the motion, emphasised the PR agencies' evolution. He also cautioned regarding the word ‘collaboration,’ which is mentioned in the topic of the debate. He stated that the word needs to be carefully evaluated, as it has both positive and negative connotations.
Anrindam Bhattacharjee was the first to speak against the motion and sought to know the point the speakers who spoke for the motion tried to make. Moving on, Shishir Sinha spoke next about the practice of press releases. He said, “Churnalism is the younger sibling of journalism. This means you are giving me a press release, and I am churning out news. I have no work; I am printing whatever you have sent.” He questioned the relationship we are referring to, the one that defines churnalism, or the one that keeps the basic principles of journalism alive. He further questioned whether PR agencies and journalists respect the boundaries. He spoke about five boundaries or Laxman Rekhas that must never be crossed – trust, freedom within boundaries, transparency, respecting privacy, and respect for the position of an individual.
Dr. Rachana Chowdhary who was the last person to speak on the topic against the motion said, “I see PR and Journalism as clearly two sides of the same coin. Our currency is our perspective.”
The debate went head-on when Sarvesh Tiwari spoke about the problems that PRs face. He mentioned that 10 to 20 percent of a PR’s work is to get articles printed. He mentioned how journalists think that they do all the work and PRs get paid, and this is confusion regarding the work of a PR. He also said that at times the articles PRs send out are completely different from what was intended. Shishir Sinha on the other side rebutted, questioning that perhaps the wrongly printed article is the fault of the PRs. Going on about this, Sinha said that the relationship needs to be transparent and honest. Citing an example, he mentioned that PRs often send 'exclusive' articles to three different journalists, expecting good things to be written by all three.
This marked the opening of the floor, and speakers from both camps began to speak and rebut their opponents. Dr. Anand pointed out that getting published is a tiny part of the mandate in the PR industry. While Rajiv Tikoo concluded that PRs these days are only concerned with sending Press Releases and getting them printed, and do not pay heed to relationship building.
