From Pulitzer-prize winners to Shakti Kapoor's selfie: Why life is hard for a PR professional

Since early this morning, an article has been shared umpteen times by various journalists and editors and news publications. It is an article that rues the death of journalism and laments upon how “life is hard” for journalists. The salaries are so low and life can be so hard, that sometimes journalists have to cross over to the dark side – to, hold your breath, PUBLIC RELATIONS. The article in question talks about how Rob Kuznia, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist on the education beat, has had to leave journalism to support himself. Kuznia is now “a publicist in the communications department of USC Shoah Foundation.” The writer spoke to Kuznia and the ex-journalist “admitted to a twinge of regret at no longer being a journalist, but he said it was too difficult to make ends meet at the newspaper while renting in the LA area”. [caption id=“attachment_2205844” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Shakti Kapoor picture from the Press Release[/caption] As someone who made the opposite journey, from PR to journalism, I haven’t appreciated the brickbats that public relations as an industry gets from journos. PR really isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be, regardless of the furious sadness that drips from the sentences about Kuznia’s new life as a PR professional. However, my defence of my former industry received something of a blow today. Just as I was ruing the flak that PR was getting thanks to Kuznia’s story, a press release reached me: “Shakti Kapoor mobbed by girls in a mall in Delhi”. As if this subject wasn’t enough to grab one’s attention, there’s the creative writing in the press release itself. Given below is the unedited copy. Shakti Kapoor mobbed by girls in a mall in Delhi “Shakti Kapoor is a hard working man. While working on many projects simultaneously, the actor also makes up few time for himself. Recently, while shopping in a mall in Delhi, the actor was surrounded by a barrage of girls. When the girls spotted the celebrated villain, they all rushed towards him, clicking pictures. According to the sources, the actor was stunned when a girl screamed “Oh My God! SHAKTI KAPOOR!”. It didn’t take more than a minute for all the girls present to turn their heads and gather round him. They were so excited on seeing him, that many of them got chatty with him. A few even told him that they loved his daughter Shraddha in Haider. Shakti being a gentleman that he is, even stopped for a few selfies in the mall with his other fans. What a man! The actor has his kitty full and is working in a number of films like Ramesh Sippy`s Simla Mirch with Hema Malini, Balaji`s Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 with Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani, Manoj Aggarwal`s Surkh Wala Love with Jimmy Shergill and Hrishitaa Bhatt, and Paresheshanpur to name a few.” If you didn’t understand that Shakti Kapoor is indeed a “hard working man” — sans hyphen — he’s even wearing a shirt informing you of this. Steel yourself and look closely at the photograph – Kapoor’s T-shirt reads “Life Is Hard”. Now, why would you not want to join a profession which allows you to write such creative prose and make such inventive use of your imagination? To be able to key in “Shakti being a gentleman that he is…What a man!” requires a skill that few fantasy authors possess. Also, spotting a story in Shakti Kapoor going to a mall and accosting or being accosted by young women requires a special eye for newsworthiness. Something of which the best editors may be a little envious.​ The press release also follows the doctrine that all us editors have told reporters on our teams – if you can get a picture of the subject of your article, always take a picture. It can only bolster your article. Case in point: what would this press release have been without this photograph? So stop dissing PR as a profession and send in your CVs pronto to Shakti Kapoor’s PR agency. Or hire yourself a PR agency to send out a press release akin to the Shakti Kapoor-genre, announcing your walk in the neighbourhood mall. If Kapoor’s agency isn’t hiring, you could always try KRK or Chetan Bhagat’s publicity teams. PR professionals, the world is your oyster.