Dan Rather says public relations should be for public interest

Dan Rather urged public relations (PR) professionals to recommit to working on behalf of the public's best interest. When the profession operates at its best, it is helping more than a client or corporation--it is helping the general public, said Rather, the keynote speaker at the PRSA New York Chapter's 25th annual Big Apple Awards on May 24. Some PR practitioners and journalists continue to believe that there is a natural and everlasting adversarial relationship between their two professions. While journalists and PR practitioners may have different employers, both professions serve the public, he said.