Hi!
I have realized that in Botswana Journalists are leaving journalism to join the Public Relations industry.A typical example for those of you who are from Botswana is Benson Phuthego, the Public Relations officer for the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana. He used to be one of the best in the newsroom.But the big question is why did he run?
The first thing i have realized is money. public relations pays more than Journalism and it comes with mouth watering perks.PR practitioners sit in meetings together with their Board of Directors and they have their own big offices.But for Journalists one will find that congested in small cubicles in the news room's open plan.
There are more career opportunities in PR unlike in journalism which has very thin ranks to move up the ladder and in PR there is less pressure unlike working on tight stressful deadlines that journalists undergo everyday.
The funny part about this migration is that these companies are hiring former gatekeepers who have experience in filtering out puff and digging out real stories.So once they get this new jobs they can intelligently pile puff into news and hide real stories about their companies or clients.
Investigative stories that normally involve spending most of the time doing some research work are not cost effective to freelancers and full-time journalists do not have the luxury of time due to pressure to produce stories on tight deadlines. So these ex-journalists-cum-PR practitioners would easily feed them with ready-made stories about their companies or clients. Basically if you have friends in the media your company or clients would have better chances of getting favourable reporting from your media friends.But this is risky for the practitioners because the real truth might come out one day.
to conclude hectic lifestyle of a journalist suits a particular age and period of life. So probably some people leave to the corporate world for a stable environment free from the adrenaline of journalism. I see this movement as a major threat to the media industry.And we all know that any threat to the media is a threat to a country's democracy.
thanx guys
Tumelo Frederick ( LUCT, Cyberjaya)
5 comments:
Hi
Hey Mr. Tumelo. Just to correct you; Benson is no longer with HATAB but he is the strategy manager for First National Bank.
Well, still I totally agree with you on that one;just to mention a few; Tefo Kebabope is PR for Botswana Housing corporation, Archibold Ngakayagae is PR for the organization I'm working for, so i agree with you. In my own opinion I think may be its because they also realize the power of Public Relations;and what can be the outcome.
Well, another thing I can add on is that still Public Relations work on tight schedules same as Journalist, although it is true that they are well paid.I would also say that despite the shift; i trust that PR is rooted in Journalism culture, which is why it is easy for Journalist to move from another company to the other;opportunities are still many for them; more so that their advantage is the exposure to all the hard talks in Journalism industry.
Well, one thing you need to understand; Public relations and journalism do not inhabit separate worlds; in particular, the relationship between them is not that of sleazy liars seeking to seduce seekers after truth. Truth does not reside on one side only. Standards are not the monopoly of one and unknown to the other. Journalism cannot understand itself unless it understands what public relations has done to it; how murky and grubby the relationship can become, with the connivance of both, and how the relationship might work to the benefit of citizens who should be told something like the truth.
Cheers Man
Regards
Linchwe
Hi Tumelo
Well,I agree with you.Journalists especially in Botswana are well not paid as p.r practitioners.Freelancers for examples are paid basing on how many stories they have produced.Just imagine P500.00 for the two stories,and the funny part is its not like when you are writing stories all of them are published.Due to competition of some spaces especially on newspapers may lead to publishing a few more depth stories.So in that case,more journalist are doing 2 jobs at a time,as freelancers and practitioners.As one may say said this can be a threat to p.r practitioners because as a result of favours from those ex-journalists the truth can result.So I think its time the government make sure no one is doing two jobs at a time because as a result evryone will be practitioners and therefore competition will result.
Thanx for correcting me Mr Tefo.
My mate this is an interesting topic, especially because I did my internship in Botswana, but when you discussed your topic you didn’t be too broad, as this would make it more interesting. The major thing that I have realized is that journalism industry in Botswana has been there in the past years and public relations industry is growing in Botswana.
Since I have mentioned that public relations industry is growing, most of Botswana journalists did public relations, although some haven’t, so when a post of public relations is vacant, it will always attract people by promising of course high salaries, housing allowances and others.
And I can’t run away from the fact that Botswana has few or little experienced Public relations practitioners, hence companies are starting to realize that Public relations practitioners are very crucial and the Public relations practitioner that you place in your or hire in your company should have experience, although he or she has never worked in a public relations industry, but worked in a media company or industry. He or she might be able to take duties or responsibilities in Public relations industry.
Since Public relations practitioners work as spokesperson of the organization/company, using someone who has been a journalists before would be an added advantage when it comes to accessing his or her communication skills, this may be important because the employer might have seen a particular journalists before hiring him or her as a Public relations practitioner in an organization as journalists almost display their communication skills every day.
In conclusion I would say, journalist in Botswana will continue to leave for public relations since public relations industry is growing everyday and many companies are starting to realize the importance of Public of Relations.
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