PRWeek

About PRWeek

PRWeek is the essential trade publication for public relations and communications professionals in the United States, published by Haymarket Media. Launched in November 1998, the U.S. edition built on the British original founded in 1984 by Geoffrey Lace and Lord Chadlington and acquired by Haymarket Media Group in 1988. PRWeek epitomizes the modern business publishing brand, spanning online, print, events, and social media with a paid-content strategy and gated website. Its journalism covers breaking news, analysis, and opinion for an industry playing a more pivotal role than ever in corporate strategy and the C-suite. The brand extends into the iconic PRWeek Awards, described by the Financial Times as the highest honors in communications and PR, alongside conferences, roundtables, webcasts, and rankings. It publishes at prweek.com.

The 1998 U.S. launch

PRWeek's U.S. edition launched on November 16, 1998, when Haymarket brought the successful British formula to the American public relations industry. The launch recognized that American PR, the world's largest market, needed a dedicated trade publication covering its agencies, practitioners, and issues. The magazine quickly established itself as the industry's paper of record, documenting the business of persuasion as PR grew from press relations into integrated communications. Its 10th anniversary coverage noted how the brand had evolved into a full-fledged media property alongside the profession it covered. The U.S. launch's timing, at the dawn of the internet era, positioned the publication to chronicle communications' digital transformation from the start.

Haymarket Media

PRWeek is published by Haymarket Media, the U.S. division of Haymarket Media Group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Haymarket Media established American operations in New York in 1985 and publishes market-leading specialist titles for marketing, media, medical, and other professional audiences. The company's backing by the worldwide expertise of Haymarket Publishing Group, Britain's leading independent publisher, gives PRWeek resources and stability. Haymarket's portfolio strategy focuses on specialist B2B brands serving defined professional communities, a model PRWeek exemplifies. The publisher's investment in the brand's digital transformation, events, and awards has kept it at the industry's center across changing media economics.

Editorial scope

PRWeek's journalism reflects an industry playing a more pivotal role than ever, not only in companies' marketing strategies but within boardrooms and the C-suite. Breaking news, analysis, and opinion fuel PRWeek.com, distributed through the Breakfast Briefing, weekly online edition, and social media. The monthly print edition highlights senior communications executives as cover stars and analyzes issues in depth, supplemented by special reports and surveys. Coverage spans agency business, corporate communications, crisis management, public affairs, healthcare communications, and technology. In a transparent world epitomized by social media, where corporate reputation is crucial, the publication gives executives the timely, authoritative, insightful content they need to navigate the landscape.

The PRWeek Awards

The PRWeek Awards are the communications industry's most prestigious honors, described by the Financial Times as the highest honors in communications and PR. The annual awards recognize excellence across campaigns, agencies, and practitioners, with categories spanning the industry's disciplines. The Hall of Fame honors visionaries who shaped modern communications, celebrating careers of influence at gala events. Winning a PRWeek Award has become a defining achievement for agencies and in-house teams, validating their work before the industry's toughest judges: their peers. The awards' prestige reflects the publication's central position in the profession's institutional life.

Rankings and research

PRWeek produces the industry's definitive rankings and research products. The Agency Business Report provides the annual accounting of the PR agency business, while quarterly and annual new-business rankings track competitive dynamics. The Salary Survey benchmarks compensation across the profession, the Power List identifies the industry's most influential figures, and 40 Under 40 honors emerging leaders. Best Places to Work recognizes the agencies building exemplary cultures. These data products give the industry standardized measures of performance and reputation, informing career decisions, business development, and competitive strategy. The research franchise makes PRWeek as much an information service as a journalism outlet.

Events and community

The PRWeek Conference, roundtables, webcasts, and virtual forums convene the communications profession for learning and networking. These gatherings bring together agency leaders, corporate communications chiefs, and practitioners to debate the industry's future. The events reflect the modern B2B media model: journalism builds the professional community's trust, and live experiences deepen engagement. For an industry built on relationships and reputation, the events provide the face-to-face forums where careers are advanced and ideas exchanged. The brand's extension into events has diversified its business while strengthening its institutional role.

Digital evolution

In 2009, PRWeek U.S. changed from a weekly to a monthly print publication in response to declining print advertising and the shift to online readership, keeping its name for brand recognition. The new format featured longer articles and introduced a paid subscription model for online content. The UK print edition followed suit in 2013. The digital-first strategy, with its gated website and paid-content model, positioned the brand for the economics of professional media: serving a defined audience willing to pay for essential intelligence. The Breakfast Briefing and daily digital coverage give subscribers the immediacy the weekly print edition once provided, while the monthly magazine offers depth.

Industry influence

Across 25 years in the U.S., PRWeek has shaped how the public relations industry understands itself. Its 25th anniversary retrospective featured Haymarket founder Lord Michael Heseltine recounting the brand's 1998 birth. The publication's journalism has documented the profession's evolution from media relations to integrated communications, from press releases to social media, from publicity to reputation management. Its rankings and awards have created the profession's status hierarchy, while its reporting has held agencies and practitioners accountable. For the industry's professionals, PRWeek is not just a publication but an institution: the record of their profession's history and the forum for its future.

Crisis communications coverage

PRWeek's crisis communications coverage addresses the moments when reputation matters most. Its reporting on corporate crises, from product recalls to executive scandals to social media firestorms, analyzes how organizations navigate reputational threats. The publication's case studies of crisis response give practitioners models for managing their own emergencies. This coverage reflects the industry's reality: in a transparent world, every organization faces moments when its reputation is at stake, and the quality of its communications response determines the outcome. For PR professionals, the crisis beat is both the most demanding and the most defining part of the practice.

Talent and careers

PRWeek covers the talent dynamics of the communications profession through its Salary Survey, Best Places to Work, and 40 Under 40 programs. These products address the industry's workforce questions: compensation trends, workplace culture, and the development of emerging leaders. The coverage reflects the profession's growth and professionalization, as PR careers have become more structured and competitive. For practitioners navigating their careers, the talent coverage provides benchmarks and inspiration. The 40 Under 40 program, honoring the industry's rising stars, invests in the profession's future leadership.

PRWeek publishes at prweek.com from New York, where its digital journalism, monthly magazine, events, awards, and research serve American communications professionals. From the 1998 U.S. launch through the digital transformation of media, the brand has remained the essential title for PR professionals. As communications grows more central to corporate strategy and more complex in execution, PRWeek continues its mission of providing the news, analysis, and recognition the profession needs to navigate its expanding role.