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Media Communications and Public Relations characterize how organizations and businesses publicize their brand mission. While both publicity strategies overlap in different aspects and are used interchangeably, there are key differences that are worth mentioning.
What Sets Media Communications Apart from PR?
While Media Communications is a lot broader because it overlooks different areas, Public Relations is a more specific part of that field. Let’s take a closer look at both disciplines and discover which key features blur the line between the two:
| Media Communications | PR | |
| Average Salaries | $66,240 | $67,440 |
| Job Growth (2022-2032) | 114,300 job openings | 6% or 25,800 openings |
| Licenses/Certifications | * Communication Management Professional * Accreditation in Public Relations * Certified Professional Technical Communicator * Digital Radio Broadcast Specialist | * Public Relations Society of America * International Association of Business Communicators |
What is Media Communications?
Within a company, trained media communicators generally deal with external and internal communications. Professionals in this field are responsible for connecting all the other departments within an organization through targeted communications like internal websites, blogs, and employee newsletters.
In most cases, internal audiences vary from business to business, although they will usually include investors, employees, the executive team, and shareholders. Conversely, the external audience varies, too, although the most common ones include potential customers, current customers, and stakeholders.
Media Communications specialists are generally responsible for communicating with both internal and external audiences in a cohesive and slick manner, making sure that the messages will come across as genuine and authentic.
What does Media Communications involve?
A Media Communications manager’s role is split into two parts:
- Promoting the company’s mission, vision, products, and services
- Ensuring all messaging, from a company’s social media posts to emails, strongly aligns with the values of the organization
Some of the qualities and skills needed to excel in a media communication role include:
- Resilience and self-motivation
- A strong vision of the organization’s future
- Creativity and critical thinking skills
- Excellent writing and speaking skills
- A proactive and analytical mind
- Solid presentation skills
- Research
- Decision-making skills
- Project management skills
- Strong communications strategy
- PR knowledge
Media Communications Education and Career Path
A Bachelor’s in Media Communications coursework prepares students for work in many industries and across different platforms. The concentrations include:
- Social Media Design
- Introduction to Communication and Media Studies
- Message Design
- Public Relations
A Media Communications specialist typically lands reporter, writer, interpreter, editor, and PR roles. Channeling your creative side, you can also pursue related programs such as Multimedia Design or Visual Communications.
You can also be in on the latest and focus heavily on social media to become an influencer.
A career in Media Communications is for you if:
- You have strong interpersonal, marketing, and communication skills.
- You want your creativity and new ideas valued.
- You wish to work with emerging technologies.
- You love to work from anywhere (for freelancers and entrepreneurs.
- You want to work in a fast-paced environment.
A career in Media Communications is not a great fit if:
- You hate irregular and demanding work hours.
- You don’t like the idea of being pressured by tight deadlines.
- You prefer to follow a more stable and uniform routine.
What is Public Relations?
PR professionals deal with information shared with the public. Internal PR professionals or those working in PR agencies have different roles, both with varying daily tasks and responsibilities involved.
PR is basically the Persuasion Business. As a PR specialist, you are there to convince your audience—whether it’s inside your town or building or even outside your sphere of influence, to purchase a business product, promote your idea, or recognize your accomplishments.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines PR as a strategic communication process that allows organizations and their public to build mutually beneficial relationships.
PR specialists are good storytellers. They make narratives to boost their agenda. PR may also be used to enhance, protect, or build reputations through social media, the media, or self-produced communications.
A good PR specialist will study the organization or business, look for positive messages, and translate those into positive stories. When bad news happens, they can easily come up with the best response to help mitigate the problem.
What Does PR involve?
Public Relations professionals deal with the business or organizations’ external communication. They work alongside Media Communications professionals to ensure the messages will remain cohesive throughout.
Public Relations may be outsourced to an agency or completed in-house. Some of the qualities and skills needed to excel in the field include:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Good presentation skills
- Creative thinking skills
- Ability to create a solid plan and prioritize tasks
- Interested in public affairs, the media, social influence, and politics
- A people person—one who can build mutually beneficial partnerships with different parties
PR Education and Career Path
A Bachelor’s in Public Relations is ideally the best path for a career in the field. However, you can also enroll in English, journalism, business, or communications programs and still get qualified for a PR role. But if your ultimate goal is to secure a job in the government or politics, a Public Relations minor or political science major is your best option.
Courses in advertising, public speaking, business administration, marketing, and creative writing are also good choices. These equip you with the skills to respond to public inquiries, construct a public image for a client, influence the public, and develop product information.
Those who hold a master’s degree in PR may also fill managerial positions, including marketing managers, PR managers, or marketing communications directors.
PR graduates can find so many employment options in different majors, such as non-profit organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and the media. It is an exciting field that allows you to interact with clients regularly, communicate, study target events, write, or manage public opinion.
As a PR professional, you can opt not to get stuck in one job. You can switch careers easily. PR majors qualify for jobs in different industries such as sales, healthcare, television, education, social media, radio, or consultancy.
A PR career is for you if:
- You want to build on your communication skills.
- You prefer to work in a fast-paced, ever-changing landscape.
- You love to learn new things every day.
- You are after a career that is rewarding, creative, challenging, and diverse.
- You are creative, energetic, and outgoing.
A PR career is not a great fit if:
- You cannot work under pressure.
- You are shy and afraid of the public.
- You are not open to working longer hours.
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