Similarities and Differences in the World of Writing

          There are many differences and similarities between public relations and journalism. One major difference is how the two are structured. In public relations sentences are short and straight to the point. They consist of few words and must be in present tense. Unlike public relations, journalism which is also known as news writing may include wordier sentences. It uses present, past and future tense depending on what is being discussed. When writing about a certain date or event which ever tense applies may be used, otherwise present tense is used. Also, the purpose of each style of writing is different.
          Those who write for the news work to inform their audience with accurate and reliable information. It is a factual based style. News categories include hard news, breaking news, soft news and specialized news. On the contrary, public relation professionals work to influence, promote and protect a person or organization's image. This form is used in press releases, media kits and other forms of persuasion.
        As stated public relations professionals are hired to promote people, products or companies. This may cause them to be bias. When hired to write for others, you are being paid to take the side of those who pay. News on the other hand is not supposed to be bias. Journalism is meant to state facts and not show favoritism. Though this is true, I do not feel that all journalism is strictly unbiased.
         Last week I discussed the Fox News scandal in which they blatantly lied to America about a certain milk company. I believe that Fox has clearly shown that the news can be bias. If is not illegal to lie in the news then how can it truly be unbiased? Favoritism was shown for the company and was protected by the news. I think the two styles may both be bias.
         Another similarity between the two is that both forms of writing are aimed at specific audiences. For example when a company hires someone to do PR, they need to decipher who they want to reach. The writer must decide how to target what age group, ethnicities and so on. They then use their persuasive powers on the intended audience. This is the same when writing for the news. When a journalist writes a piece they need to decide who they want to target and how they will do this. If a journalist is writing for a town newspaper, they would want to write about town events and issues. Overall, there are many similarities and differences between public relations and journalism, but I tend to see more differences.