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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2005)
| Commentary | Guest commentary Quit kidding: Public relations does not belong in J-school Tim Gleason, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, and the Eugene Weekly have gotten into a published debate about the misplacing of public relations cours es in the J-school. I comment on it because of my long personal experi ence in both fields. Though I earned a journalism degree from North western University, I squandered that education as a public relations man for intercollegiate athletics, first at Northwestern, then at the University of Oregon. My views on the debate may there fore have credence. My work as a sports information director was a be nign version of the real travesty. My lies added an inch or two to a player’s height, or 10 or 15 pounds to his weight, or withheld information about a key player’s injury. Coaches insisted, thinking the spin could give them some hidden advantage. I loy ally, and foolishly, complied. That was petty. It’s not petty when your government hires a pub lic relations firm to change its im age, as corporations and politicians long have done. Now it hits close to home with word that the University will start a “journalism” program away from the Eugene campus, at the University’s Portland Center, fo cusing at the start on a program in public relations. That’s playing a dangerous word game, as those en trusted with developing journalists suggest that the two antithetical dis ciplines are synonymous. A capable administrator and tal ented journalist, Gleason disregards principle to defend the indefensible in his letter to the Eugene Weekly (July 28). He claims teaching PR in a journalism school is part of “a clear statement of our commitment to journalism.” The hypocrisy — shared with most journalism deans nationally — is compounded by calling PR “commu nication management,” then claim ing that a public relations program in Portland sets the stage for a “much broader vision” of journalism. Most journalists define their pro fession as getting facts on matters of public concern and presenting them in a straightforward, honest way. Public relations, by contrast, oper ates in behalf of a client, using facts selectively to paint as attractive an image as possible. The very name of the education al program reflects an identity crisis. Most schools now are listed as School of Journalism and Commu nications. How very sly. Just add a word to the name and you justify being able to lump public relations, advertising, promotions, et al with journalism. Most journalism administrators feel forced into the sham by budget needs. Some told me putting PR into journalism is dictated by money state schools get from the number of stu dents enrolled. Since PR has the rep utation of paying better, most stu dents enroll in public relations. Significant journalists reinforce my contention. The late Fred Friendly, who was valued assistant to Edward R. Murrow decades ago, told me that it was a tragedy jour nalism education and public rela tions had to be connected at all. During my visit with NPR’s Daniel Schorr, he said the same thing. Re cent Northwestern Dean Ken Bode met with me during his short time in the dean’s chair; my impression was that he agreed with separating journalism from PR, but did not want to rock the boat in such a sen sitive matter. The identity problem will persist as long as our public funding for educa tion falls short, and journalism edu cators choose to use naming solu tions for larger problems. That choice keeps journalism headed down a slope to meaningless identity. The University could start a correc tive effort by choosing to teach jour nalism, not public relations, at its Portland Center. All schools could help by following one of their basic guidelines: conciseness. Drop that unnecessary word, Communications. George Beres is a 1955 graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. 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