Dear reporters, I’m not the dirt bag you think I am

No one aspires to these labels. I know that a reputation revolving around these three words and their plethora of synonyms wasn’t what I dedicated four years and $160,000 to achieve.

So imagine my concern when, since entering the full-time world of public relations, I have been bombarded with countless studies, figures, and even direct email responses touting the despicable nature of my industry, my occupation and, when you get right down to it, me.

Maybe I’m being sensitive. But while I am the girl that cries at every clip of soldiers reuniting with their kids (despite having no friends or family in active duty), I think anyone would be weary after enough constant reminders that no matter how great you are at your job, or how satisfied you make your clients, society renders you worthless.

This week, Adobe and Edelman Berland released a survey of more than 1,000 consumers and marketing professionals that highlights how marketing and advertising jobs are seen as holding less societal value than the work of bankers and politicians. It hit a little too close to home when they called out PR as the lowest of the low, with only 11 percent of respondents considering it a valuable career path.

How’s that for a morale boost?