While many of the points you make are valid I believe that PR is not a science that can be learned. There are required skills and those can be learned in a short time - at a short course or even from a book. What can't be learned and must be experienced is PR thinking. Osmosis is the best way to do this and time spent in a major agency, even if it means acting like a postman, is the place to absorb the vapours that allow professionals to charge the high rates you allude to.

I agree with Brian's views, from postman to Postmaster is the goal surely, and one, no matter how tedious it may feel at times, has to pay one's dues - where and how you pay them however is your choice. Not every consultancy subscribes or is even a member of PRISA, so fee structures and the like are set by the company itself based on their experience, qualifications and delivery surely? However I do believe that public relations is a 'humanities' where people skills, inter-action, mentoring are essential.

Best you don't apply for a job at my company...I have been in the business for 25 years and am still doing dirty work. People who aren't prepared to roll up their sleeves and to the work should go an ask daddy for a trust fund.

You obviously one of those people who don't value empowering people... trust fund se voet man.. Why don't you focus on tackling the pertinent issues, mr/ms know it all for 25 years???

Well, Mr/Ms been in the business for 25 years, you sound like someone who would take the wind out of one's sails... Watch your words... some people don't have "daddies", as you say that's where they must get "trust funds"... Let's tackle the major issues that you seem to be avoiding, yes... the black empowerment issues - Mr/Ms know it all. Brag is a good dog, but holdfast is a better.

"Who's going to do the scut work if its not the most junior monkey?"
Get interns who are currently studying to start with the basics, so that by the time they complete their studies, they are ready for the more challenging responsibilities!

And for the record who mentioned anything about making tea...?? And you think I haven't been doing the absorbing of skills being used by my seniors, watching, listening, doing things well and making suggestions? Let me tell you something, sometimes when you take initiative to do things, they are just overlooked to the point that your spirit gets broken, losing your vision, potential and all the rest. You eventually swear not to take initiative again. I don't know if this is a racial thing or what, but I can bet you now that if a white person did all the proactive things as much as a black person does, it would be quickly noticed and the white person will more than likely get first place...
I just feel there seems to be a lack of racial trust in some parts of the industry.

I have been a close observer of PR, marketing and brand management for a while. If you want to play the race card you are making a big mistake. Black people are doing better than ever in PR, marketing etc because more and more companies realise the importance of the black consumer and thus the input of the black employee. My advise is go and find another company. I can think of at least 5 national/international companies where only black people are employed to manage and to work in PR. clearly you have an internal prejudice further enhanced by a bad experience -trust me my girl, there has never been a better time than now for black people to excel in PR/marketing, don't look back in 40 years' and then realise that you wasted time with other issues. go out there -get to know the hot-shot black PR people- join their ranks.

I think that before ANY of you (the individual who wrote this article and those commenting on it) continue with ANYTHING,in particular in an industry where the English language and the mastery thereof is imperative, that you learn how to spell and learn when, where and how to use words/metaphors.

But, what are your views Mr/Ms perfect??

I agree wholeheartedly about the spelling issue. The number of times I have read utter rubbish written by PR executives is alarming. These are meant to be people with English as their first (maybe second) language, yet many of them cannot even string a respectable or coherent sentence together. I think it has a great deal to do with the way people speak. Poor vocabulary is inflected in your poor writing skills.

The world does not need people like you! These are serious issues that the initial writer has raised. Stop being so idiotic, what does "spelling" have to do with all this? concentrate on what's important and stop being so brainless. If you do not have anything positive to add, save us all your negative vibes and shut up! These are real concerns/challenges that people face, they need not be taken lightly.

Speaking as one on the receiving end of PR claptrap, if I receive copy that requires too much re-working I'm more liable to sideline it for later, or never.

I would expect someone whose business is in communication to be able to spell (especially their clients' brand names...), understand how punctuation works and have at least a passable knowledge of decent grammar.

In my book, the best PR is written by journalists, or people with journalistic studies behind them.

Well, Mr/Ms "Spelling grammar is serious..." You are avoiding the issues here. Yes, I do not have a journalistic background to be able to write an article to your standard. But, the fact is serious issues are being raised here and the least you can do is contribute your views on this. Speak wisely or not at all.

By the way thank you to Brian and Sue for their opinions. Brian, I do agree with you when you say “PR is not a science that can be learned”. I honestly don’t think the postman approach works for someone who’s being in the industry for two years. Otherwise I might just be that for the rest of my life and I am not prepared to stick around an agency for too long being somebody’s postman. I have had enough of that already. Sometimes you abhor going to work because you already know what your job is… being some postman instead of being exposed to the real PR thinking.

Sue, yes, I do understand that most PR consultancies aren’t members of PRISA, but one would expect anyone practising PR to be registered under PRISA. They are supposed to be the authoritative body of PR in any case. And the postman advice does not work, believe me. PR interns could perhaps do the postman duties and then later (on completion of their studies) be exposed to the real PR thinking.

Share concern, thank you for your input as well. Goes to show that I’m not the only one experiencing the colour issue, but some of the people claiming to be experts in the field seem to be avoiding the colour issue and all the other issues mentioned in the main article.

Would playing postman for years really make one grow in this industry? I don’t think so.

Fact: If you can't spell or write, you will never be anything more than a PR bimbette, ever in search of the 'glitz and glamour'.
It's not about colour, the real issue is about the young people starting out in our. Those who are prepared to work hard, learn and work their way up through the ranks, have a bright, exciting and rewarding career ahead of them. Those who expect to be earning big bucks, swanning around glitzy functions (while who does the work, the client??) and heading up client accounts 2 years after their wet noses emerge from college are delusional. Don't ever apply for a job at our company.
Helen & Sarah

Ya Helen and Sarah who said I wanted to work for your stupid company anyway? You are missing the point here. Yes, I agree with you when you say "Those who are prepared to work hard, learn and work their way up through the ranks, have a bright, exciting and rewarding career ahead of them." You think I haven't been working hard enough? Well, think again once you get the point of this forum.

And who said anything about earning big bucks? It's about craving a challenge and more responsibility, not the big bucks, girls!

Tell me, how many black people do you have working for your company and actually managing accounts??

And what are you? Dry noses heading up some inconspicuous accounts?

Thank God that none of you remedial idiots listed the companies you work for. As a senior marketing manager, I would feel pretty red-faced after employing your inferior skills and racial intolerant bickering. Bitching over BEE compliance, your employers should replace you ASAP with whatever colour human, as long as they can do the job and respect the value of spelling and language use, which is the core of your profession. Why don't you go play on a train track right after you can't spell.

I've read all the views and much as I may agree with some of the responses to the Main Article I'm bound to consider that this may be experienced largely by people of colour. I've worked at this particular organisation for some years now, learning the ropes, sharing my ideas and raising some concerns about certain applications to some projects. Displaying a strong desire to be involved and learn. A particular project did not meet expectations though thousands and thousands of rands were injected into this project, regardless that I had my reservations about the proposed marketing strategy.
I still believe to this day that had they heeded my concerns the end result would have been different. More positive than negative. This is just one example of quite a few rejected suggestions, simply because it was from a young woman of colour.
Also, a move by a colleague to my division has seen a salary gap though she's considered a junior. It's this question after the other...No wonder we are bound to be disillusioned.
Whatever happened to the more you put in the more you get!
PS No, there's nothing glamorous about the marketing/communications/events field. It's hard work throughout and yes, you expect excellent rewards, not the likes of Mr/Ms Know-It-All and the crew who'll tell you about 'daddy's trust fund' - what's THAT!

How disrespectful can you get? The manner in which you write to respectful individuals that have succeeded in the industry does not score you any points!

Just to let you know - race should never become an excuse. Haven't you seen all the affirmative action positions being advertised? I have also completed my degree in PR and am only in the industry for three years and one thing I have learned is: when you want something bad enough, make it happen. If race is such an issue then look on the positive side of your situation; you are in the fortunate position of starting a black empowerment PR company... why not look for a solution to your problem instead of blaming everyone else for your situation?

I would love to be a young black woman in today's day and age - you have endless opportunities.

Lara, I am not being disrespectful - Why should I just keep my mouth shut if people are going to say denigrating things to me and not give helpful advice like Brian and Sue - now those are the people I should be respecting and not Helen, Sarah, the spelling fanatics and the "trust fund know it all" person. And for your info, I'm not looking to score any points here LARA. And the fact that affirmative action positions are being advertised means nothing, it is what you do once you are hired and inside that organisation that counts. I am not blaming anyone for my situation LARA.

Yes, there are endless opportunities, but what's the point if they are not challenging and riveting?
SOLUTION: I think I will stick with Sue and Brian's advice.
Case closed, since no one wants to contribute worthwhile comments.

...and the capital, I bet, would come from any funding house, hey? Believe me, you don't wanna be a black woman!

Lara, just because you [and your forefathers] got there early, please do not assume unless you have walked in a black woman's shoes [forget footsteps]!

Crickey! Very little has changed in South Africa! It's still very color focused which saddens me as I would love to return. When will you guys get rid of Affirmative Action and that BEE crap and appoint on merit. Even your sports teams have a color tint. South Africa will only prosper if and when the color of one's skin is no longer a consideration. South Africa has had a decade of "independence" and yet, the past is still used to justify AA and BEE. As they say here ---Pigs arse!!

I understand what you are going through, I wrote an almost similar comment late last year on this forum and believe me, got the same comments. If there’s one thing PR experts do on this forum is to point to you how lazy they think you are, how you can’t write proper English (firstly you did PR not Journalism, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you don’t need the writing skills) and from what I’ve seen some PR agencies outsource to journalists to do the writing anyway.

A friend of mine was doing her internship last year, had her computer taken away because her mentor (who was an intern herself once at the same company 4 years ago) convinced the director that my friend can’t have a computer, an e-mail address or a telephone because she didn’t get all those things 4 years ago while she was doing her internship! How stupid and naïve can one be? My thoughts are that, some PR professionals had a hard time while starting their careers back then and they think that it should take you as many years as it did them to start handling things on your own, but for others it’s because they can see you are not yet ready. Right now I work in a very small PR agency and I’m close to my manager who is also my mentor, her intention is to train me so that I can handle some of her accounts on my own by end of this year. I work hard and put on long hours if needs be, and as much as she worries about the image of the company, with her guidance, I do most of the stuff that someone on this forum told me would take me five years to do.

Not having a car in this industry is whack! But after two years people start having faith in your skills and hopefully pay you more! Girl, do the dirty stuff quickly and ask for more work maybe they’ll run out of the dirty work and give you some real stuff to do! I’m black and I understand.

In Sepedi I would say "O robile kgomo lenaka.." meaning you have hit the nail on the head, even though some people's comments have indicated that two of a trade never agree.

This particular forum made me feel really uneasy. The childish back and forward pointing of fingers and race remarks did not make me feel proud to be a PR professional. In my opinion this particluar forum just contributes to the bad publicity that the PR industry is getting right now. Imature bickering and fingerpoiting have no place in any profession. Sort it out people, please.

GEE WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO GET ON WITH LIFE AND STOP BLAMING YOUR SKIN COLOR AND/OR HISTORY. GET ON WITH IT AND THROW OUT BEE AND AA. DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA? IS EUGENE TERBLANCHE A CATHOLIC?

Hi - in response to the initial comment, I appreciate the ambition and drive that a lot of 'new-bies' have when embarking on a career in PR, but I get frustrated when they regard important tasks such as media lists, phone calls and assisting at events as "dirty work" - in my opinion one MUST learn the ins and outs of these basic elements to PERFECTION before embarking on the larger tasks! Being able to write a perfect strategy, opinion piece etc is great - but if you have not perfected the finer elements such as a confident and pleasant phone manner, the importance of ACCURATE lists as well as a CLEAR understanding and respect for media - you will get nowhere with it! Thats just my thought! Being ambitious and wanting to get to the top is fantastic - just take it easy and learn as you go - you will far more successful at the top if you have absorbed all the knowledge you can along the way!

I speak on behalf of myself and my own experience in the industry - I accept all the differences we have (ranging from race, personality, gender etc) - what we should be passionate about is the industry - growing and developing it to make our country proud. I have and have had over the years many many assistants - black, white, indian, etc - I am as passionate about them and encouraging them to be as passionate as I am about my job and my clients. Some have left - moved onto better things, some have stayed and others have changed direction - the truth is regardless of race, creed or gender - some are better cut out for this industry than others - I think it has A LOT to do with the nature and personality of a person - there are so many facets to communications - its just about finding your niche and enjoying what you are good at and being open to challenges. Its not about the colour of your skin, your gender or anything else - its just simply about the element of communication - you either click with it or you dont!