For graduates who are fresh from studying a journalism degree, it can be quite tricky to decide between a career in journalism or a career in PR.

These two careers certainly do have a fair amount in common, as well as some key differences: both involve crafting engaging, well written articles and copy, designed to convey information and convince an audience. While PR is more business focused, journalism is more about covering news stories and current affairs.

A specialist journalism degree is a great way to gain the skills and knowledge required for either of these careers. Let’s take a look at which of the two fields makes a better career choice.

Horses for Courses

Choosing between PR and journalism depends to some extent on the writer’s personality. While journalism can be very exciting, particularly covering breaking news stories, PR can be more business focused, and involve a lot of strategy and branding.

Aims

PR can offer decent salaries for senior staff with a raft of experience. Journalism is a more diverse industry, but can be competitive to get into, with many more people now able to self-publish thanks to the advent of social media. Journalism can also offer a great sense of purpose, bringing stories to the public.

Purpose

While journalism is often about delivering news and information to the wider public, PR often focuses more on driving business forward, and communicating a brand. This may appeal to people with a strong interest in marketing or business.