PUBLIC RELATIONS IS FALLING APART—FRACTION BY FRACTION
Welcome to PR’s Fork in the Road By Adam Nelson, Award-Winning Communications Executive
August 7th, 2025
Every Thursday, THE BOARD BRIEFING brings you curated industry insights directly from our Members to your inbox.
Let’s not pretend
Public Relations didn’t evolve—it stalled.
While the world reshaped itself post Covid, the industry clung to pitch calendars and soft metrics passed off as strategy. Execution got buried in bureaucracy. The fight, the urgency, the creative edge—all went missing.
Since then, the universe has expanded.
Clients have always required precision and relevance. Now, they demand velocity. No more soft-porn presentations. No more dog and pony shows.
That’s why fractional PR isn’t a trend—it’s a reckoning. The wise and the well-capitalized know where to find pressure-tested expertise—and how to deploy it exactly where, and when, it matters.
And if you are serious, so should you.
To the old-school doubters: this isn’t your grandmother’s part-time PR. It’s high-impact, senior-firepower—on call, on target.
AND THE DATA IS CATCHING UP
LinkedIn profiles identifying as “fractional leaders” rose from 2,000 in 2022 to 110,000 in 2024. The Frak Conference reports 120,000 total fractional executives in the U.S. alone—double the number from two years ago—and nearly a third work in marketing or communications.
I founded Workhouse 25 years ago. We’re still driving legacy campaigns and award-winning work across culture, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle. Workhouse isn’t a relic—it’s present tense. Our team moves like SWAT.
I go on missions.
In a creative conflict, some may call for sharpshooters, not platoons. That’s why I joined THE BOARD—a collective of veteran C-suite leaders who embed precisely when clarity, speed, and impact are nonnegotiable. No ceremony. Just sharp thinking, fast action, real results.
In 2019—well before the AI revolution systematically destroyed the written word—I wrote Public Relations Riot, a white paper that dared to ask: “Will PR adapt—or be erased?” It wasn’t a provocation. It was a warning. Six years later? You can still smell the smoke.
Let’s dig into some more devastating data:
More than 10,000 media jobs have been eliminated across the U.S. and U.K. in the last two years. Entire newsrooms—Condé Nast, Hearst, The Washington Post, CNN, BuzzFeed, NBC, ABC, LA Times, Vice—have slashed staff, gutted coverage, and folded titles. Over 3,800 roles were cut in 2024 alone.
THESE AREN’T BELT-TIGHTENING TRIMS. THEY’RE AMPUTATIONS.
Legacy media is no longer where news lives. It’s migrated—to Substack, to podcasts, to LinkedIn feeds, paid media, social media, and creator-driven platforms. The audience didn’t vanish. They rerouted. But most of the industry still pretends we’re pitching in 2001 using Burrelle books and a broken fax machine.
A few months ago, a founder came to me in freefall. Funding was slipping. Press had gone quiet. They were “re-evaluating.”
He booked an hour together through THE BOARD.
By the end of our call, we had a story that made sense. Four days later, they had national press. They didn’t need a reset. They needed a response. Their story wasn’t broken. The process was.
*Fractional doesn’t have to mean fractured. It can mean focused. Embedded. Exact.
And it’s not for everyone. Some companies require full-service agencies like ours, long-tail planning, deep resourcing. And that’s where Workhouse remains a trusted force. But when speed and decisive clarity are the only currency? That’s a different ball game.
That’s THE BOARD.
Make no mistake: this isn’t a funeral for PR.
It’s a field report.
The industry didn’t fall—it calcified.
The audience didn’t vanish—they migrated.
And the firms still clinging to legacy hopes and dreams? Pretty much speaking to an empty room.
If your publicist is selling presence over purpose, your story is inert. If the coverage you’re getting doesn’t shift reputation, revenue, or recognition—it’s camouflage, not strategy. And if your “plan” opens with a PowerPoint? You’ve already lost time you can’t afford.
At the intersection of apathy and algorithm, fractional isn’t a pivot.
It’s a power move.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Nelson is the Founder & CEO of WORKHOUSE, a 25-year-old creative agency driving earned media and brand campaigns across entertainment, culture, fashion, and lifestyle. He is also a Founding Advisor on THE BOARD, a collective of senior C-suite talent offering fractional leadership in public relations, communications, and brand strategy.
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