{"id":18843,"date":"2016-08-18T13:05:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T13:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/seo\/https-www-nobraineragency-co-uk-blog-blog-journalists-and-prs-why-cant-we-all-just-get-along\/"},"modified":"2023-10-24T14:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T14:54:42","slug":"journalists-prs-why-cant-we-all-get-along","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/business\/journalists-prs-why-cant-we-all-get-along\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists and PRs \u2013 why can\u2019t we all just get along?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Journalists and PRs\u00a0\u2013 if they were in a relationship, Facebook would describe it as \u2018It\u2019s Complicated\u2019. To some, they are two sides of the same coin, but too often they\u2019re seen\u00a0as grumpy old hacks and those working on \u2018the dark side\u2019.<\/p>\n
Here at No Brainer we know that building, maintaining and developing positive and mutually rewarding relationships with journalists is essential to our clients and to growing our own business. Relationship building should be the core skill on which a successful PR company is built upon. The 2016 Journalism Trends survey from\u00a0Mynewsdesk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0threw up some interesting findings \u2013 none more so than the fact that journalists still see personal relationships with PR professionals as the key line of communication, above any social media channel or even email.<\/span><\/p>\n To hold up our side of the deal, for a PR professional that means understanding the needs of the media outlets and journalists you\u2019re speaking to. It means understanding that they\u2019re not just sitting at their desks with an empty newspaper waiting for you to call. And it means understanding that they\u2019re going to need a legitimate, robust news reason to help you out.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>After spending more than ten years working as a journalist in both print and broadcast, I recently made the transition into PR and so \u2013 albeit with just a few weeks of PR experience under my belt \u2013 here\u2019s my take on what each needs from each other.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1. First and foremost, a journalist wants quality.<\/span><\/p>\n Ok, ok, I know\u2026.a good PR should only ever push out quality stuff, but we know that\u2019s not always the case. A reporter or correspondent on deadline at a national paper or dealing with a big, breaking story doesn\u2019t want to hear from you if you\u2019re offering a press release about the opening of a new shop. But on the flip side, I promise that whether you approach a journalist by phone or email, if it\u2019s quality content<\/a>, presented well, they will listen.<\/span><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0<\/span>Try and offer the full package.<\/span><\/p>\n I hope I\u2019m not insulting anyone when I say that many journalists are either lazy or so up against it that they don\u2019t have time\/can\u2019t be bothered to do too much extra work. If you can provide pics, audio, video, a ready-made guest or an interview they\u2019ll be grateful for it and there\u2019s every chance they\u2019ll look on you \u2013 and your story \u2013 a little more favourably. You need to be useful to them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>3.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Honesty is\u00a0<\/span>always<\/span>\u00a0the best policy.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s no budging I\u2019m afraid on this one. Journalists will sniff out a liar or a PR person trying to push something that\u2019s nothing like as good as they\u2019re making out. If you don\u2019t have the answer to a question, just admit it and promise to find out whatever it is they want to know.<\/span><\/p>\n 4.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Time is of the essence for journalists.<\/span><\/p>\n When you\u2019re pitching a story, I reckon you have about ten seconds to get the journalist interested. I was never one for small talk from PR firms \u2013 I just wanted them to tell me as quickly as possible what and who they were offering. Speed is also important when you\u2019re dealing with any queries. If you say you\u2019ll get back to a journalist on a certain day or by a certain time, make sure you do. And you should think about timing too. A newsdesk doesn\u2019t want to hear from you at all if they\u2019re dealing with a terrorist atrocity \u2013 but equally, there might be some days when they\u2019re crying out for some light to balance the shade.<\/span><\/p>\n 5.\u00a0<\/span>Understand who you\u2019re calling or emailing.<\/span><\/p>\n I can\u2019t remember the number of times I took a call from a PR person who had no idea what my radio station was all about, pitching a story in some sort of ridiculous PR language. Basically they were just throwing their rubbish out as far and wide as possible without any thought \u2013 and hoping it stuck somewhere. There\u2019s no excuse for that anymore. There are so many resources and media databases available that can help you find out a bit about an outlet or a journalist before you pick up the phone or press send. If you don\u2019t have access to a database like Gorkana, have a look on social media as part of your digital PR<\/a> due diligence.<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Feedback!<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s very hard to get better at anything if you\u2019re not being told where you\u2019re going wrong so feedback from journalists is very valuable. If you don\u2019t like a story that you\u2019ve had by email or over the phone, it won\u2019t take you two minutes to explain why. A two-line email might mean the next time that PR person calls you, it\u2019s with something worth listening to.<\/span><\/p>\n 2.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>A little sympathy and some good manners go a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n I feel a little hypocritical writing this but it\u2019s true. You never know when you might need a relationship with the PR guy that you\u2019ve just fobbed off so why not be polite on the phone!? PR and journalism are built on personal relationships so why burn a bridge if you don\u2019t have to.<\/span><\/p>\n 3.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Honesty works both ways.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was working in newspapers I saw journalists go behind the backs of press officers when, if they had just asked a question, they might have got the answer they needed \u2013 or a very good reason why they couldn\u2019t have that answer. Remember they have different objectives and stakeholders to you. But this goes back to relationships. If you\u2019re honest with a PR person, you\u2019re more likely to get what you want. That\u2019s not to say there aren\u2019t times when, as a journalist, you might need to navigate your way around an unnecessarily obstructive press office(r)!<\/span><\/p>\n 4.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Trust. Simple.\u00a0<\/span>If a press officer has given you an off the record steer, then it should stay off the record. No ifs, buts or maybes. I sound like a broken record, but we\u2019re back on the importance of relationships again!<\/span><\/p>\n 5.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Give credit where it\u2019s due.<\/span><\/p>\n If you do decide to use a story from an agency or an in-house team, giving credit where credit is due is vital. They\u2019re not giving you a story for their own good \u2013 it\u2019s because they\u2019re being paid by a client or by the company they work for to get results. A mention of a company can be done in a subtle way and agreeing how that mention is made before going on air or to print is a good way to keep everyone happy \u2013 it also avoids those excruciatingly clumsy mentions of a product or a brand.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat journalists want from PRs\u2026.<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
What PR professionals want\u00a0from journalists\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n