Jumping onto the dark side: The move from journalism to public relations.

From the moment I was seven years old and saw John Campbell work his magic on TV, I’ve wanted to be a journalist. I created a poster that read “Emma Clark, Three News,” hung it on my wall and never looked back.

And for seven years, that was it – I was in the trenches of Newshub throughout the mosque shooting and the Covid-19 pandemic, in the middle of a literal (and metaphorical) cyclone while at Stuff and living the lavish life as a lifestyle journalist at Concrete Playground. I’ve covered everything from the medical cannabis referendum to the best place to store bread – the cupboard, thanks for asking – and I loved every second of it.

But the media landscape is drastically different to what it looked like when I started in the Newshub newsroom in 2017, as in, there’s no such thing anymore. In April 2024, my manager asked me to have a “quick chat”, and 10 minutes later I was no longer a journalist.

Journalism has always been a shaky industry, in terms of job security and progression, and I decided it was time to step on to more stable ground by making what seemed like a little hop onto what journalists affectionately refer to as “the dark side”. However, it wasn’t so much a hop, as a giant leap.

Despite many journalists’ (including mine) assumptions, PR is a whole lot more than sending emails. Before the email lands in a journalist’s inbox, months of planning have proceeded it, starting with an initial brief from a client, multiple rounds of feedback, landing on the final campaign idea, collating a list of media targets, writing a press release six times and then – journalists might get an email.

This is just one of the 20 new processes I’ve learned over the last three months, equipping me with countless new skills, as well as immersing myself in an industry surrounded by hugely talented people who are highly respected experts in their field.

The main thing I’ve learned however, is that the media industry as a whole is filled with like-minded people who are MY people, despite working in a slightly different spaces. I wouldn’t have gotten past these first 90 days without the Mangoes being who they are – caring, real, curious GCs who are passionate about the work they’re doing. So although PR might have not been my choice when I was seven, it’s my choice for now – and I’m lucky Mango is the place I get to explore it.