Proper gander at a different profession

One of my possible career diversions is to become a press officer. And so it was with some curiosity that I listened in on a lecture on public relations.

I'm trying to work out where press officers sit - within what I see as the (usually) noble profession of journalism or within the mysterious world of public relations - of which, I have to admit I'm deeply suspicious of.

My suspicion mainly comes from an undergraduate lecture in which it was claimed that PR was given the name of Public Relations because the word 'propaganda' had got a bad reputation in World War 2.

Our lecturer suggested that journalists and public relations people should trust each other, but also provided a number of ways in which they manipulate each other and provide a threat to each other. It seemed to me that PR people wanted a better 'press', but weren't all that willing to fulfil their part of the bargain and become more transparent.

I was though impressed with the emphasis on accuracy that was pushed by the lecturer. The point was made that a journalist won't use a source that turns out to be false.

Most importantly though, I think I've concluded that press officers and PR officers often like each other, which suggests to me that a press officer spends most of their time as a journalist, and less of their time dealing with PR.