August is often a time to look ahead, as organizations prepare for a busy fall and communicators reflect on how to navigate an increasingly complex media and information landscape. For this month’s In Conversation With blog series, we connected with Carolyn Shaw-Rimmington, who oversees public relations, international engagement and stakeholder relations for the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
With an extensive background in financial services, Carolyn provides strategic counsel to the OSC’s CEO and Board on reputational issues and opportunities to strengthen visibility. We spoke with Carolyn about how the role of communicators continues to evolve, the growing importance of stakeholder engagement amid declining trust in institutions and traditional media, and why sound judgment, credibility and trusted relationships will become even more valuable as AI reshapes the communications profession.
How has your role as a PR practitioner evolved in recent years?
It has evolved dramatically with the rise of social media, and the erosion of trust in, and reliance on, traditional media outlets. These changes have made my role more complicated, as the channels for communicating with our stakeholders, delivering organizational messages, and monitoring our public reputation have rapidly expanded.
Delivering messages that shape an organization’s public image has become much less of a top-down exercise, and more of multi-channel dialogue with stakeholders. For an organization like to OSC that has an important public interest mandate, this has helped us to reach a broader audience than traditional media silos might have allowed.
What major shifts have you seen in the PR profession, and how are they shaping your work today?
Like everyone, I’ve witnessed the widespread cuts to newsrooms, growing distrust of traditional media — and declining respect for social institutions — developments that have made the job of PR more challenging but, I’d argue, much more critical
Engaging key stakeholders and seeking candid feedback on our work has become more important than ever. To that end, my team is using our existing ‘owned’ channels to full effect, making hard decisions about which social media platforms to lean into, and providing journalists with meaningful assistance — ensuring that we communicate the ‘why’ behind everything we do — and finally, tracking and measuring the impact of our work.
Looking ahead, what trends or changes do you think will define the role of PR practitioners in the future?
Clearly, PR professionals are going to be dealing with growing use of AI, and an accompanying expansion in digital “noise” that makes organizational messaging more challenging. We’ve all been exposed to AI ‘slop’ and false narratives. For this reason, skilled communicators will be even more indispensable in the future.
While some organizations may opt to have AI write, distribute and ‘pitch’ their stories, what will distinguish PR practitioners in the future will be an ability to cut through that noise with clear, concise and well considered messaging.
In this environment, professionals who have a well-honed and savvy sense of narrative that will resonate with their audience will be essential.
At the individual level, that means being well read, curious, and being able to write and edit with clarity. Also, building strong relationships with experts in their industry, and in the media, and demanding excellence of yourself.
What is your biggest piece of advice for PR practitioners moving forward?
Exercise tremendous care when it comes to relying on AI, and other tools.
AI is a powerful resource that can save time but there’s no replacement for creativity, good judgment and trusted relationships. Make sure you and your team seek out and verify against the original underlying sources before publishing content and responding to media. Do your research, to build and protect your own credibility, and to be viewed as authoritative both within and outside your organization. Essentially, be a source of truth.
About CPRS Toronto’s In Conversation With blog series
Once a month, the In Conversation With series spotlights voices from across the communications field, featuring leaders and rising professionals who share their perspectives on industry trends, the future of the profession, and their own career journeys. These conversations aim to inspire, inform, and highlight the diverse experiences shaping the future of public relations.
If you would like to share your story or nominate a colleague, please contact us at communications@cprstoronto.com.