PR Has a PR Problem: Why the Industry Still Struggles to Prove Strategic Value

Public relations is in the business of shaping perception, yet it struggles to explain its own worth. The industry still leans on academic, catch-all definitions that sound polished but collapse under executive scrutiny. In boardrooms focused on growth, revenue, and risk, PR’s language feels abstract, which relegates the function to tactics instead of positioning it as a strategic business partner.

Edison Misla, a Partner at Newsmakers LLC, brings a rare mix of newsroom, boardroom, and government experience to the question of PR’s value. A former senior government communications leader and longtime journalist and publisher, he has worked across healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and public sector institutions, often at moments where reputation, risk, and public scrutiny collide. That perspective shapes his view that PR’s fixation on new tools distracts from a more urgent task: clearly defining what PR actually does for a business.

"PR has a PR problem. We keep talking about AI and storytelling, and those are excellent tools. But the focus should be on doing a better job explaining what PR is and what it can do for a company," says Misla. For him, the root of the issue is a failure of translation. The ambiguity in PR’s academic language definitions can push executives to fall back on what they know: sales and growth.

• PR flatlining: "When you’re a business leader, you’re looking for growth, sales, and results," Misla explains. "If PR can’t clearly explain what it does in those terms, it immediately gets pushed into a transactional box, even when that’s not what the practice is meant to be." That confusion has even crept into industry talk, including a BBC radio moment where advertising executive Martin Sorrell declared PR "dead."

• Chasing numbers: PR’s identity crisis keeps practitioners stuck in debates over measurement, from outdated metrics like Advertising Value Equivalency to constant pressure to prove ROI. Without a shared understanding of what PR is responsible for, the industry often defaults to adding tactics, layering in AI tools or chasing Search Generative Experience instead of addressing the root problem. "If clients don’t understand what they’re paying for, they’ll always ask for proof in the wrong places," Misla says. The result is a practice rich in activity but thin on authority, where powerful tools drive output and visibility without positioning PR as a strategic function that can successfully build reputation, protect against risks and crises, and generate long-term value.

Misla’s solution begins by reframing the purpose of existing tools. He advocates for balancing traditional tactics, like the still-relevant practice of media relations, within a strategic framework. His approach helps position PR as a core advisory function, rather than a simple marketing expense, by repositioning its focus onto shaping and protecting the company's reputation—a concept he says is more akin to the business function of branding.

• Mission critical: Misla frames PR as a business safeguard, not a nice-to-have. "The PR professional is as important as a CPA or a lawyer. It’s a critical business function that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it." That responsibility shifts with company size. Startups often lean on PR to drive visibility and support sales momentum, while established organizations rely on it to protect reputation and contain risk. "The challenge is helping leaders see that PR matters at every stage. The objectives change, but the function doesn’t," he adds.

• A seat at the table: "PR needs to insert itself not only higher up, but at the very beginning. Too often, management has the strategy set and just hands it to you. By then, it’s too late," Misla states. He argues that early involvement allows PR to flag reputational risk before decisions harden, not after fallout begins. "As a professional, you can see which choices will be controversial or create obstacles long before they reach the public."

Ultimately, Misla believes the responsibility for fixing PR’s image problem lies with its own practitioners. New technology and buzzwords alone are unlikely to solve the issue if the industry doesn't get its own story straight. The core of the challenge, he concludes, lies in abandoning outdated definitions and learning to communicate PR’s value in the language the C-suite understands. "When you get into the real world, those definitions are not enough. We simply need to do a better job of explaining and communicating what PR is and what it can do for companies of all sizes."