Strive Notes

Every weekend I look forward to sipping a cup of java and reading the UK public relations profession’s trade mag, PR Week.  I love it; I really do.  It’s chock full of interesting stories about the business I’m so passionate about.  There is news, campaign case studies, media profiles and collection of columnists worth reading.  No other publication can touch it for depth of coverage and specific industry knowledge. I learn from it every week.

A quick glance at page one of this week’s issue reveals that it’s undergone a facelift.  I noticed it with dismay. “Oh no!” I thought, “I hope they haven’t screwed around with MY PR Week.”

Over the past couple of years I’ve been disappointed to find some of my fave mags being ‘dumbed down’.  The tendency is to go for lots more white space and a lot fewer words. What had once been thoughtful features tend to be restructured into shorter Q&As filled with soundbites and quick facts.

Now, I am a self confessed media snacker.  I tend to dip in and out of online content, skimming, scanning and sometimes, if it’s not too long, actually reading copy.  But with PR Week it’s different.  I read the magazine, not the website. I have always thoroughly enjoyed and looked forward to it.

So I am relieved to report that the new PR Week is not that much altered. Yes there is more white space and a few more box outs. Editor Danny Rogers says the revamp makes the content ‘more user friendly’.

The masthead is bigger and proclaims the readership to be ‘professional communicators and reputation managers’.  Contact book update is gone and Charlie Whelan seems to be missing , but both are unlikely to be missed.  Ian Monk has a new mugshot and Diary is now ‘Flack’.

But for most part, everything I love about the magazine is still there.  So it will remain a nice part of MY PR week.

Filed under: Media, public relations