a PR lesson

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's PR department really excels in traditional PR. And for this reason, I wanted to do a little overview of public relations in the traditional sense - using BSO PR as an example - just in case you're still wondering what in the world public relations actually is.

Both advertising and public relations work to spread the message of an organization. The rudimentary difference is that in advertising, you get to control most all aspects of how your message is broadcast, because you put down a lot of cash for the right to control your message; and in public relations,  you create your messaging and then give it to outside entities in hopes that they will broadcast your message (basically for free) simply because your message is worthy to be heard and people will want to know. For example if the BSO were trying promote a concert, BSO advertising would buy air time with a radio station and broadcast a commercial; BSO PR would convince the radio station that the concert is significant to the public interest and then the radio station would voluntarily cover the concert in the way they see fit. I could go on about message control, credibility, and the nature of news outlets, but we'll leave it at that.

So when it comes to traditional media (newspaper, radio, & television), public relations people must try to capture the interest and favor of journalists, in order to gain free publicity for their organization. On the other hand, journalists must remain cordial with their PR contacts, in order to gain access to information about the organizations the PR contacts represent. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Journalists are the gatekeepers to traditional media, and PR people are the gatekeepers to information.


Day in and day out in BSO's PR department, we are bugging journalists to get them to cover our up coming concerts; but journalists are also calling on us to get them photos, tickets, artist bios, and interviews. And so we try to manage these give-and-take relationships. But then again, most all our relationships (business and otherwise) are defined by how we subconsciously weigh the costs and benefits. It's something we learn in elementary school when Valery asks for one of your Oreo cookies and you think these advanced, future-career-building thoughts, wondering if you grant her your last cookie, will she remember how you sacrificed for her the next time her lunch box has a few squares of her mom's homemade fudge?