SIU PRSSA Southern Illinois University Public Relations Student Society of America
Related Articles
Public relations skills have utility beyond PR specific work. In most areas of business, interacting with the public, maintaining and growing public image are paramount. Public relations courses help even those who aren’t focused on a career specifically centered on PR. The communication, research, and compositional skills honed in PR courses aid any professional who interacts with the Public. These same skills translate well to intra-organizational communications as well.
Let’s introduce some students at SIUC who study other subjects alongside PR and see how they feel about the intersections of PR and other fields. Cory Dorr, a PR major with a Journalism minor, spoke about how the two fields intersect. She relates how in both Public Relations work and in journalism, students hone their communications skills. Both fields are interested in communicating with the public and often work hand in hand with one another.
“In both PR and journalism, you have to be good at communicating with the public. Journalism will help me by teaching me more about interviewing and storytelling which will assist me in the PR field… my advisor told me that journalism would aide me with my PR work.”
Another student at SIU, Courtney Bartkiwwicz, spoke with me about how her economics minor and PR major intersect. “Good public relations can disrupt existing markets. When Uber launched it disrupted the existing taxi market. When a company pairs with a good PR strategy they have increased economic gains.” Here Courtney underlines the importance of successful PR strategies and professionals as they interact with the economy.
Public Relations is an intensely useful area of study. SIUC offers many courses related to Public Relations and even hosts the PRSSA student RSO. PRSSA offers students a chance to network with other future PR professionals. If Public Relations work or courses interest you, be sure to speak with your academic advisor.
