Journalism students get expert advice about the public relations industry from MWWPR agency

Ked Mather, director at MWWPR, gave an insight into careers in PR and explained what recruiters are looking for.

Ked Mather discussing the range of clients MMWPR works with.

Ked Mather, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) alumni and Director at MWWPR, joined our BA (Hons) Journalism students this November for a guest lecture about careers in PR. MWWPR is a PR agency which works globally, with offices based in the US and UK. The organisation works in the corporate, consumer, lifestyle and technology sectors, and has clients including Tidal, Stoli Vodka, Bloomberg and Shutterstock.

He began by covering the concept of PR and why it’s important to brands in terms of building, retaining and defending a reputation. For our journalists, it was interesting to understand the ways in which journalists and PR professionals work together to build stories for various outlets.

Ked studied English and Psychology at NTU, and emphasised how varied the skillset for Public Relations is. The importance of developing transferable skills such as communication, organisation and creativity were highlighted as key attributes of a PR professional. Ked also identified the growing need to have expertise in social media and an interest in technology, in order to adapt to an ever-changing media landscape.

The lecture also covered the challenges of the industry, including managing client expectations concerning stories, time management and the changing media landscape, which now includes both free and paid media. The students were able to ask insightful questions about careers in PR and explored how journalists cooperate with PR professionals to achieve a story that satisfies all stakeholders.

Ked told us: “The blurring of boundaries between PR and journalism means that is becoming increasingly more important (for those on both sides) to understand the mutually beneficial benefits that each can bring to one another. To this end, it was a delight to speak to the next batch of BA (Hons) Journalism students at Nottingham Trent University to hopefully inspire them to look at Public Relations as a career, or at least, see its importance within the wider marketing mix and its relationship with the journalism landscape.”