PR Myth No. 1

Myth No. 1: Public relations and advertising are the same.
Reality: You can’t buy good press.With the exception of certain publications, buying advertising space will not automatically score your business a good headline or your owner a juicy quote. This is especially true in the realm of big media: CNN, USA Today, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, etc.
“Editorial and advertisement are totally separate departments, and it’s sort of the journalistic law that they be independent and you cannot buy stories. Publications, and the media in general, don’t owe you simply because you are an advertiser,” explains Iris Salsman, co-founder Salsman Lundgren Public Relations, Inc.
On a similar note, don’t expect a reporter or publication to espouse the beauty of your business exactly the way you would like it in an article—that’s not their job. Steve Turner, principal and co-founder Solomon Turner PR, says newswriters work to accurately report stories to their readers and make them interesting. “If that includes positive information about your business, then great. In most cases it will. But people should realize that they aren’t getting a free ad simply because they’ve included an article in that publication.”