The first thing they taught me in my undergraduate course, Public Relations Thought and Practice, was "don't lie," and it’s best to advise your clients never to lie either.
Come to think of it, that's the first thing they taught me in my journalism classes, too.
Unless things have changed over the past 30 years, I'd imagine they're both teaching the same thing today, no matter whether the course headings come under a journalism curriculum or some composite school of communications.
I don't see a controversy over a supposed need to separate them, as currently advocated thoughtfully in this E&P column space by George Beres, nor would I necessarily see it as a service to young people who may not yet know whether they'll work in one field or the other.
I'm glad I studied both pursuits in college and, later, in graduate school. The combination of skills served me well in both capacities, as a journalist and a PR man, I think, without causing any crisis in credibility.
I'm certainly glad I had PR on my resume when between journalism jobs years ago I got hired temporarily by an upstanding PR professional (also a former journalist) at the then-astonishing rate of $10 an hour.
It kept a roof over my head and food on the table for my young family during those months.
Yes, I finally regained good work in my true newspaper calling, but I was proud of what I'd accomplished in my public relations phase, and took great satisfaction in hearing the radio ads for motor oil I'd produced airing for several years thereafter.
These were communications skills I further enhanced later in my graduate studies, and they served me well when I worked on marketing campaigns for my newspapers, including writing some pretty good television commercials for the paper.
Still, I always tear up a little when I lose one of my newsroom's best to an often better-paying PR job, but people make those choices in life, as did I once.
I can't say that a young woman who left my shop to become a spokesperson for a utility company made a mistake, nor can I question the motives of another who's now communications director for a religious order that feeds, clothes and provides spiritual guidance for underprivileged people in dozens of countries around the world.
Sounds to me every bit as rewarding and ethical as journalism, and perhaps in the latter case, even more so.
It's been traditional for practitioners of both journalism and public relations to move from one profession to the other, and some of the best PR practitioners also have been terrific journalists.
We share a similar skill set and creative outlook, so it's natural.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to study public relations and marketing, in addition to journalism. Both exercises made me a better journalist.
Not only do I better understand the market, readers' desires and consumer behavior, but I also understand my sometimes "friendly adversaries" in the PR field when they occasionally do try to manipulate me.
Randolph D. Brandt is editor of The Journal Times in Racine, Wisc.
