Philly arts and culture PR is suffering. Here’s why that matters to audiences.

Fortunately, these organizations are outnumbered by the ones who want to build positive relationships with journalists, but this is still troubling, and I think it’s part of a bigger issue in arts PR I have increasingly observed over the last several years.

Why should you, a reader and audience member, care about the state of arts PR? Why dish about insider issues? Well, for one, the internal machinations of PR can be interesting. In recent years, the ugly back end of PR battles between feuding celebs have captivated the public, along with creators like crisis communications expert Molly McPherson, whose popular social-media videos give ordinary folks the tools to parse the spin every time a new scandal breaks. But there’s a more important reason the state of arts PR should matter to our readers. Stick with me.

How has the PR scene changed?

It used to be standard for large and mid-sized Philly arts organizations, like regional theaters or museums, to have an in-house public relations staffer. Some of the larger ones still do, but it’s rare. No doubt under budget pressures, many orgs have cut their in-house PR and rely instead on a rotating cast of inexpert interns, board members, artists, or volunteers to approach the press. Others hire consultants or contractors from a growing ecosystem of PR companies. These range from local one-person operations to large out-of-town communications firms with many associates.

The challenge for journalists

This makes our job as arts journalists more challenging. I used to have a reliable point of contact for most institutions; this person was well integrated with the company’s leadership, understood its mission and offerings, and had an ongoing relationship with me that made it easier to say yes to coverage, get our writers in the door, and connect them with the materials they need to do their job. But now, there’s little consistency from show to show, even within one organization: the person who’s pitching me on a fall event often won’t be the one who’s contacting me in the spring. They are not deeply familiar with the organization they’re repping, or invested in its mission, and it takes extra time for them to interface with the staff and artists when needed.

That means I’m not sure who to contact month to month. Turnover is high, different associates handle different events at the same company, and some companies drop one firm and hire another in the middle of the season. Suddenly the person who’s been working with BSR is gone, and their replacement has no idea who I am or what we’re working on. This all leads to chronic delays, miscommunications, and missing materials. BSR is a weekly publication, and like most media outlets, we work at a quick pace that PR contractors increasingly struggle to match.

Particularly when dealing with a larger firm, I never know if the person currently assigned to that account will be good at their job or even observe basic norms (for example, one rep hired by a major cultural corporation harassed our team by phone and email and threatened to sue us for libel when they didn’t like our story). And even when someone is skilled, pleasant, and reliable, they are obviously pulled in too many directions by too many accounts or clients, burning the midnight oil just to keep up.

On the inside of my job, lousy PR is one of the biggest signs that an institution is struggling. Outreach goes ignored, follow-up is late and flustered, and media events suffer. For example, I could tell that crisis was brewing at the Philadelphia Art Museum years before its current leadership debacle: dealing with their press office was like pulling teeth, pointing to deep instability and a lack of effective leadership in the institution as a whole.

A tough industry, on both sides

None of this is to imply that working in PR is easy—especially nonprofit arts and culture PR. As in any field, some people excel and others are uncaring or incompetent. In my own experience, it’s a grueling job. When I volunteer for community causes, it’s often in a PR role, interfacing with the media and the public and creating content to boost their mission. I also started my career working in arts PR. It’s hard work, especially as budgets shrink, the Internet churns, and media outlets dry up. We at BSR work with several excellent PR reps, but their quality highlights the growing deficiency elsewhere.

What the public deserves

But why should all this matter to our average reader?

Yes, it’s rude and outside of arts industry norms to disregard journalists and professional critics, or refuse to seat them. It’s deeply frustrating for the BSR team, including our hardworking freelance writers, when we hit roadblocks simply trying to access the work. Because we do not access it on our own behalf. We access it because our coverage serves you. The public deserves a clear perspective on the institutions that cater to all of us (and request our dollars). You deserve to know if the art onstage or on the walls is worth your time and money. You deserve to know whether and how a cultural institution is serving our community. You deserve to know, period—I love it when readers comment that they never would have heard about something if BSR hadn’t written about it.

So when institutions stop investing in good PR, what they’re really cutting from the budget is their relationship with you. This might be a workable plan…if an organization is never going to take a risk on new work that will demand new narratives and new representation, and draw new audiences thanks to effective outreach and communications. Accountability to the public, innovation, and clarity of mission have never been more important in our sector (especially as organizations struggle to regain their patrons post-pandemic). Interfacing with the media should not be an afterthought, farmed out to someone who will never shake hands with the journalists they invite.

Help us help you

We at BSR believe that you, our readers, deserve to understand how the industry works—especially since your donations keep us publishing. That’s why we develop educational programming, including the third annual session of our HELP US HELP YOU webinar, full of PR tips for independent artists and small grassroots cultural groups. We want everyone, regardless of budget, to have the tools to succeed when they reach out to the media, and everyone is welcome at this session, from seasoned PR pros to casual readers who want a window on our editorial process. It’s coming up on Wednesday, December 10 at 6:30pm ET on Zoom. You can register here. Tickets are a suggested $25 donation, but there’s a pay-what-you-can option starting at $1. We’d love to see you there!