What does a public relations specialist do?
A public relations specialist is the person who gets a brand talked about, accurately and on purpose. They build relationships with journalists, editors, producers and, increasingly, creators and podcasters; they write the press releases, pitches, statements and talking points; they place stories, arrange interviews and prepare the people who give them. When something goes wrong, they are the ones who draft the response at midnight. Unlike advertising, which buys its space, PR earns it, which means the specialist's currency is credibility with the people who decide what gets covered.
The role sits in-house, in PR agencies and inside creative agencies with a communications arm. Titles range from PR specialist and publicist to communications manager and media relations lead, and the work divides into lanes: product and consumer PR, corporate communications, crisis, internal communications and the executive profile work that turns a founder into a voice in their industry.
Why it matters
Why a public relations specialist matters
People believe what they read more than what they are sold. A product featured in a magazine, a founder interviewed on a podcast or a campaign covered by the trade press carries a credibility that no paid placement can buy, and it keeps working: an article is found by search for years after an ad has stopped running. A good PR specialist turns a brand's genuine news (a launch, a hire, a result, a point of view) into coverage that reaches the audience with a third party's endorsement attached.
The role matters most when the brand is not in control of the story. A product recall, a viral complaint, a leaked memo or an executive's bad day can define a company for a decade if it is handled badly and be forgotten in a week if it is handled well. The specialist who already knows the journalists, already has a plan and already understands the tone a brand should take is the difference.
In practice
How a public relations specialist works in practice
- 01
The work runs on a calendar and on the news. The specialist plans the year's moments (launches, campaigns, seasonal stories, awards, events) and builds a pitch and a set of assets for each: a release, images, film, key facts, available spokespeople. They maintain a media list that is actually current, pitch stories one journalist at a time rather than by mass email, and follow up without becoming a nuisance. Alongside the planned work they watch the news for openings, offering a client's expertise when a story in their field breaks.
- 02
The rest of the job is preparation and measurement. Spokespeople are media trained, messages are agreed before interviews, and a crisis plan exists before it is needed. Coverage is tracked for reach, sentiment and the quality of the outlet, and the results feed back into what the brand should say next. In a creative agency the PR specialist works closely with the content team, since the film, the photography and the campaign are usually what gives the press something to show.
At RIOT
Public relations specialists at RIOT
Our work tends to arrive in a PR specialist's inbox as the asset that makes a story coverable. When the Washington Commanders revealed the Major Tuddy mascot, the reveal film and the "Making the Mascot" documentary gave the press, the fans and the club's own channels something to run with beyond a press release. Films made for a moment like that are built knowing that journalists, as much as fans, are the audience.
Watch out
What people get wrong about public relations specialists
Expecting coverage without news. A PR specialist cannot make a journalist care about a product that has nothing to say, and the brands that complain about their PR are often the brands with no story. The second mistake is treating PR as free advertising. Journalists write what they think, not what the brand wants, and a specialist who promises control over the coverage is promising something they do not have.
The third is bringing PR in at the end. A campaign designed with the press in mind has a hook, a spokesperson and assets ready; one that calls the publicist on launch day has a press release and a hope. The fourth is confusing volume with value. A hundred mentions on sites nobody reads matter less than one story in the outlet the customer trusts.
