According to an article published today in The Independent, some are speculating an unexpected source of future journalism: public relation agencies. Such speculation has been sparked by Edelman, an American PR firm, which recently appointed Richard Sambrook, the former head of BBC News, to the position of Chief Content Officer. More speculation has been caused by the company's hiring of Stefan Stern of the Financial Times as its new head of strategy. While the worlds of PR and journalism frequently overlap, Edelman's hiring of Sambrook and Stern could indicate a new strategy by PR firms. Sambrook, who claims that "every company has to be a media company in their own right," suggests that companies should bypass traditional news sources and go directly to the consumer. While Sambrook maintains that the company is "not moving into the news business," he does assert that the changing landscape of journalism presents valuable opportunities for PR to expand.

So, does this move by Edelman suggest a future journalism-PR hybrid? Some say maybe. Richard Gillis, editor of Platform Magazine, says "the weakness of traditional advertising is encouraging businesses to demand a greater profile within editorial content." Thus, going through traditional media sources may not be effective enough for PR firms, who hope to more effectively reach the public through assuming a pseudo-journalist role.

While Edelman's firm is pushing to gain a more journalistic quality, Mike Morgan, CEO of The Red Consultancy suggests that PR firms could never fill the role of the media because it would lead to "trust issues with consumers." Indeed, the presence of a third party may make consumers feel somewhat safer, and not as though large corporations are accosting them with products. Surely, PR firms would be careful as to how they go about engaging the public, but non-traditional media from the unexpected source might be too strange for consumers to stomach.

While it may seem impossible at the moment, when considering the many issues facing journalism today, a PR-journalism hybrid isn't completely out of the question. Connecting journalistic capabilities with the advertising revenue of PR firms could provide some much needed income for the journalistic world. However, the question would then become if journalistic endeavors would be able to maintain some degree of independence and integrity. If directly connected with corporations, journalists could feel pressured to subscribe to the political viewpoint of PR firm clients. Thus while it could alleviate some problems, the marriage between journalism and PR would have some extraordinarily tragic consequences for honest journalism.

At any rate, only time will tell if PR really is the future of journalism. And if it is the future, if there is any way to protect the independence and honesty of a type of journalism so inextricably attached to corporate interests.

Sources: The Independent