Head shakes and sighs. 

That's what I get when share my opinion with colleagues in PR that I think news is, has been and will always be at the heart of our business.

If they are a corporate type:  "We're a management discipline. We're about aligning organisational behaviour with stakeholder expectations."

The marketing types: "We're all about leveraging earned, paid and shared channels to create engagement with creative content."

And all types; "We are way beyond media relations."

I don't disagree with any of that. 

But I still believe it's our grasp of "the news" - what it is, how it's made and where it fits between organizations and people - that differentiates us from the rest of the wide world of consultants, marketers  and creative gurus. 

And if news is our bread and butter, journalism - real, accountable reporting and writing and editing and producing - is the oven.

Which is why, to get to the point, I think all PR people need to understand journalism and where it's headed.

I'm not sure I fully accept the suggestion below that one form of journalism - newspapers - should have stuck with print in the face of digital disruption.  But I do think titles that at least try to deliver real journalistic content - independent, verified and fact checked - will find a way to survive and even thrive. 

And for PR people, that would be a good thing.