The digital revolution will ultimately strengthen journalism, but so far public relations has managed the web far better.
In the century in which PR has been an organised trade, the case for its importance in business has been the establishment of reputation. Now, the speed and ubiquity of digital communications both makes reputation more fragile — they can make a chief executive history with a tweet — and allows corporations and their leaders to develop their own channels, direct to consumers, without the intermediation of pesky reporters.
The power balance has shifted. “Brand journalism”, produced by corporations and institutions and beamed direct to audiences through social media, is on the rise.