In a Relationship: PR Pro and Journalist
- Robyn Stewart
- May 15, 2014
- 2 min read
Like most relationships, journalists and PR professionals have some compromising to do. Luckily, with a little more understanding and effort, this relationship doesn’t have to end with bitter heartbreak.
Love & Hate
Unfortunately, once valued PR professionals have become somewhat of a nuisance to seasoned journalists.
Public relations as an industry is growing and the ratio of PR professionals to journalists is about 4:1. Journalists are becoming overwhelmed with the amount of pitches in their inboxes.
New technology allows PR pros to automatically send pitches to journalists resulting in multiple copies and irrelevant pitches being received.
PR pros are no longer one of a few sources for journalists. Social media has made it easier than ever for journalists to follow news as it breaks.
Journalists need to produce a larger quantity of news to stay competitive. Being bombarded with plentiful and irrelevant pitches can make a journalists job a lot harder, and burn bridges for PR pros.
Symbiosis
PR professionals and journalists share a special kind of relationship. The title of “love/hate relationship” can be an unfortunately accurate description. However, professionals in both industries have long benefited from one another. Journalists need news sources; PR professionals need free publicity for their clients. A keen understanding of how the opposite industry works can result in a more symbiotic relationship versus one of a “love/hate” nature.
Pitching 101
Good sources can be hard to find. However, journalists still come to trustworthy PR professionals who “get it”. In order to be one of the coveted PR pros who “get it”, journalists have a few tips:
Know my beat.
Tailor pitches to each specific journalist; don’t send the same pitch to the masses.
Keep is short and to the point.
Know the details. Be able to answer questions.
Remember, we need news. “Keep it newsy, not cutesy”.
Don’t make offers you can’t deliver. If you offer a source, deliver.
PR 101
PR pros have a job to do as well. In order for this symbiotic relationship to work, PR professionals have a few tips for journalists as well:
We want closure. Please reply even if you are not interested. Otherwise, we may continue to invade your inbox.
If the pitch would be better received by another journalist, please consider forwarding.
Understand that we need publicity. If you pass something up, we can and will take the story somewhere else.
Know that we will always try to get the information or interviews you need when you need our help.
Civility goes far.
Personal Note: As a future PR professional, this topic is important to me. I don’t want to burn any bridges (especially early on) by making rooky mistakes. Understanding how people work can help you go far in any industry. My future clients will rely on me to get them good publicity, and plenty of it. Building strong relationships with journalists is a must in public relations and I don’t want to be “single” simply because I am a nuisance.
ความคิดเห็น