PR master’s students meet PR Master

Veteran journalist and public relations advocate Kim Fletcher met master’s students last week to discuss his experience in the industry as an agent for change.

Kim, a graduate of the School of Journalism, Media and Culture who studied PGDip Journalism Studies in 1979, is a partner at the international strategic advisory firm Brunswick. His is also chairman of the National Council for the Training of Journalists and editor of the British Journalism Review.

Speaking to an audience of nearly one hundred MA International Public Relations and Global Communications Management students, Kim said, “One of the most important challenges facing public relations today is to become an advocate for change in corporations.

“It is no longer enough for firms to simply talk about having a corporate social responsibility policy. Social responsibility should instead underpin everything that an organisation does.

“Very often, as public relations practitioners, it is our role to identify areas where company practice exposes organisations to risk, and to start a conversation about how company behaviour could be perceived and changed.”

Kim, who is also author of The Journalists Handbook and sits on the board of The International Press Institute, addressed how the relationship between public relations practitioners and journalists has been fundamentally changed by the digital environment.

Programme director Dr Susan Kinnear said, “It is such a privilege for our students to be able to meet esteemed alumni such as Kim.

“His experience and vision for public relations, as well as his remarkable journey from Cardiff graduate to leading media and communications consultant, was genuinely inspiring."

Kim spoke as part of the MA International Public Relations and Global Communications Management speaker series.