There are plenty of misconceptions floating around about the PR profession and industry in general.  Many of these misconceptions are only altered for PR professionals when they are in school studying PR.  For the rest of the world, these misconceptions may never be addressed.

In my mind, we can thank pop culture for many of the mistaken beliefs about PR.– Samantha was supposedly in PR in “Sex and the City,” but I don’t think I ever saw an episode in which she worked with a member of the media, outside of gossip columnists.  Jessica Biel’s character in “Valentine’s Day” was in PR and we really only saw her in her office running on a treadmill and eating candy.  And of course, right now there are a slew of PR-related reality TV shows on the air including “Kell on Earth” and “Spindustry.”

These shows and movies — good or bad – are certainly a guilty pleasure of mine, but I also think they have begun to beg the question of how much impact pop culture has on my profession and the PR industry in general.  Is there any truth to these shows from a PR perspective?

While I can say that none of these pop culture representations persuaded me to study public relations in college – they have an impact on many students in recent years., We’ve interviewed countless intern candidates hoping to work in the music industry and plan parties, among other things that I rarely — if ever — do as a PR professional at a top-ranked agency.

With this in mind, here are some ways that these shows and movies are creating false understandings of what PR really is and three things others should know about the industry. 

1.) We don’t just plan parties: Yes, Samantha on “Sex and the City” may have done that and yes, there are opportunities to coordinate launch events and parties – look at the iPad launch for example.  When first released, iPad was covered by an outrageous amount of journalists, but the key to such astounding interest wasn’t because Apple threw a raging party, it’s because the company and its PR team had something to say and a new, exciting product to showcase. 

PR is about just this — getting our clients in the news in a positive light in order to generate interest for their target audiences — not just making sure they have a rockin’ party for their newest gadget, product, restaurant, etc.

2.) Part of PR is acting like a salesman:  In Valentine’s Day, a reporter — Jamie Foxx’s character — comes barging down Jessica Biel’s character’s door to get information from her.  I can honestly say that I have never had any reporter banging down the door to my office, demanding information about a client.  In truth, a majority of the time, we’re reaching out to reporters to schedule meetings, bringing our clients to their office.

I was once told that every job has an aspect of sales in it and PR definitely falls under that philosophy.  You’re selling your clients, their products and their story to the media.  PR people make follow up calls to gauge a reporter’s interest on a story angle and there’s always a chance we’ll get hung up on, but it comes with the territory.  The key to being a good PR ‘salesman’ is being smart about what you’re sending to the media and ensuring that 1.) It is relevant to the topic(s) they cover, 2.) Relevant to the media outlet, 3.) Relevant to what is happening in the industry and/or news cycle.  When you don’t follow these rules, that’s when you hear “click.”  Which brings me to my next point—research.

3.) We track news topics and industry trends to get our clients in the news:  This is something you’ll never see in the movies or on TV: We read and follow loads of news outlets.  That means everything from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to Travel + Leisure and Cosmopolitan. 

Why is this important?  So we can identify the right reporters to pitch our clients’ news to and understand how different news outlets present their news.  For example, the Seattle Times has a regular feature column called “Interface.”  This column regularly features a general overview on local companies and gives us, as PR professionals, an opportunity to suggest our clients for consideration.  If I didn’t regularly read the Seattle Times, I would have no clue about this opportunity for my Seattle-based clients! 

While these shows and movies get some things wrong in my opinion, they do highlight one of the keys to being a successful PR professional – establishing and creating relationships.  That could be with a potential client, a fellow PR person, a reporter and a client. 

“Kell on Earth” is a good example of this.  During a trip to London Fashion Week, Kelly is shown sternly asking people to move out of several front row seats during a fashion show because they were reserved for American press that she had invited.  PR is about creating relationships and for the media, making sure that they have all of the information and resources they need to write a story – whether that means getting a front row seat at a fashion show or providing an interview with a client spokesperson that has expertise on a topic they are writing about.

With all that said, are these shows creating loads of misunderstandings about PR?  I haven’t fully decided, but I know it’ll be refreshing when I tell someone “I work in PR” and they no longer say “Oh yeah, like Samantha Jones, right?”  Sigh.