Ken Makovsky’s latest blog points to results from a study by the Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism with The Holmes Report that show 87 percent of agency PR executives predict in five years the term “public relations” will not accurately describe what they do in their jobs.

Global Communications Report 2017

In addition, one-third of agency-side PR pros and 41 percent of those on the corporate side feel their profession needs a name change.

Makovsky agrees that times have changed and the tools of the trade are vastly different from the early days of the profession, but public relations—managing relations with publics—is more relevant today than ever.

Ken MakovskyKen Makovsky

He points to recent media and social media disasters such as the debacle surrounding United Airlines and the bloodied passenger forcibly removed from their plane, Pepsi’s tone-deaf commercial showing supermodel Kendall Jenner giving a can of soda to a policeman as a peace offering, and Fox News’ ouster of Bill O’Reilly.

Each of these events was a result of an organization misunderstanding how its publics were changing as well as misunderstanding the power and reach of rapidly evolving communications channels, according to Makovsky.

Makovsky concludes that less time should be spent redefining PR, and more time spent convincing the C-Suite on how important PR is to understanding today’s changing communications landscape.