07
October
2014
|
06:08 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Bulldog Reporter Closes And The Changing Roles Of PR...

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Sam Whitmore of Sam Whitmore Media Survey, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Jack Odwyer reports that Bulldog Reporter, a service for PR agencies, has closed after 35 years in business. That's a shame because I've taken part in many Bulldog Reporter panels over the years and its team has done a great job educating PR people about the changes in media following the explosive rise of "blogging" in the mid-2000s - a confusing time for many people in communications.

He writes that the PR trade press has been on a downward trajectory for some time even though the number of PR professionals has grown:


PR jobs have grown from 166,630 in 2004 to 202,530 in 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. Jobs in journalism dipped from 52,550 to 43,630. PR Week/U.S. went monthly in June 2010 and its sister publication in the U.K. went monthly last year.

PR Society of America is gradually converting print runs on its two publications to online-only....PR Reporter, a weekly newsletter published since 1958, was purchased by Ragan Communications in 2002 and changed to a monthly. It was folded later that year.

The Ragan Report, previously a weekly NL, went online only in 2008. Ragan now does joint projects with PR Society of America. PR Quarterly was published for 52 years until 2009.


What's going on? Last month I caught up with Sam Whitmore (above) who produces the always excellent Sam Whitmore Media Survey. He said, "PR has been changing a lot. There are all sort of agencies that specialize in different aspects of PR. Some are hired to make sure clients don't get any media coverage." 

I certainly know a few agencies that can't get media coverage for their clients but I hadn't realized that this is now a billable service.

PR publications such as the Holmes Report seem to be doing well, and a key aspect of its success are the awards events that Holmes organizes around the world, recognizing the work of innovative teams.

(Hat tip Alex Shapiro.)