I’m starting a public relations Q&A advice column. I’m calling it On Background.
The focus will be on people early in their PR careers, with an emphasis on earned media. But the same pressures, decisions, and tradeoffs show up across all channels, disciplines, and levels of seniority.
Spoiler alert: things don’t always go by the book. Sometimes there are wide gaps between what you’ve been taught and what the job demands.
Most of my career has been spent in corporate and government communications, working closely with reporters on earned media. It’s the kind of work where outcomes depend less on clever tactics than on judgment, trust, and understanding how the system actually operates.
I’ll be writing about the ethical, operational, and strategic realities of the work, as well as the nitty-gritty stuff: crafting a good story, pitching, chasing down facts, talking clients off ledges, working insane hours and always being on, reworking ideas that won’t hold up under journalistic scrutiny, and figuring out when to push, when to wait, and when to walk away.
The goal is to help you navigate all of this while taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally.
If you have a question about any aspect of the business, you’re welcome to email me at paul@paulgriffo,com.
So hit me up and let’s see where this goes!
Maybe it will go nowhere, but I thought I would at least give it a try!