Public Relations does not equal Print Relations

In her Media Week column recently, Tess Alps, chief executive of Thinkbox, commented that “you can’t do PR without print titles”. I disagree. PR is and has always been about more than just print press relations. Print is just one flavour in a pick n mix bag of media that has continued to expand over the years. Press relations has expanded in last 20 years from TV, radio and print to include web sites, and social media (blogs and microblogs and other online communities of interest). And while it’s true that picking up a magazine and reading press coverage or listening to a client being interviewed on the radio still excites me, there are other PR activities outside of press relations - analysts, investors, industry organisations and other opinion formers for example - that have always been important to target in order to reach and influence stakeholders. So even though I believe that for some time at least people will continue to value picking up a magazine or newspaper, I can still imagine a PR campaign without print.