In all honesty, I was a little in the dark when it came to PR. When asked what I knew about this field I mumbled a bit about how it was related to media and advertising, desperately trying to manoeuvre my way around the question, before deciding I had said enough and finishing with somewhat of a broad statement, confirming my lack of knowledge. I had a lot to learn.
Over the week I spent with the Genesis team I felt I began to understand firstly what PR involved, but secondly how important it was. I realised just how many different branches and aspects there were and, after having individual chats with each member of the team, it was made clear how much variety there was. I learnt how to use software creating infographics and posters as well as observing meetings and evaluating articles ever increasing my depth in knowledge.
The thing that intrigued me the most was the unbelievable significance of social media. Naturally, having my own profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, I was fully aware that companies took advantage of the benefits to online publicity. However, I had never properly considered the extent to which social media was used nor did I comprehend that PR firms had such an impact on the information posted. It was an eye-opener into the world behind the scenes.
PR, to me, is indeed the backstage to the media. When reading a newspaper article or a small mention in a magazine, you never consider how much is behind it. Firstly discussing what is the key aim of those few sentences or 1000 words, then actually writing it and finally spreading the word and encouraging the media to post it to the public for all to see.
