After working as associate editor in London for the United Kingdom edition of Mediaweek, Claire Atkinson crossed the pond in 1998 to write freelance articles for several U.K.-
based publications, such as The Independent, The Observer and The Express as well as the U.K. edition of Time Inc.'s Entertainment Weekly. Atkinson, now a staff reporter (since
December) for Crain Communications' AdAge, where she covers advertising agencies and the public relations field, recalls the speedy education she got on the differences between PR
people in the U.K. and the States. "In England, we're all very jolly and happy and if we can help each other out, great," she says. "Here, [PR execs] are pretty clear what they
want from you" as a journalist. But Atkinson, who also contributes to Madison & Vine, an online extension of AdAge that covers the nexus between Hollywood and Madison Avenue,
knows how to handle them.
Atkinson's Bugaboos
>> PR by committee. There have been plenty of occasions when Atkinson is told she will be doing an interview with one important source for a story, but when the time
comes for the interview she is ambushed by a group conference call. This creates confusion. "You don't know who they are, people haven't introduced themselves, they're trying to
one up each other and you end up with half sentences," Atkinson says, adding that group conference calls "make it hard to develop a rapport with any single person."
>> Press releases as a crutch. If Atkinson gets a press release from an agency announcing a new client account, she'll probably toss it aside. "Don't pitch the client,
pitch the idea," she says. "Our job [as reporters] is not to get ink for your clients but to look for new ideas and trends."
>> Desperate calls. Atkinson says it's bad form when she gets an irate
telephone call from a PR person who is ticked off because she didn't run XYZ
piece after several pitches. Worse is when she gets calls from PR pros who supplicate,
saying, 'My client is leaning on me' to get the story published. This won't
do you any favors with Atkinson. "Never, ever say you're client is leaning on
you," she says. "That's your problem, not my problem and it makes me even less
inclined to do the story."
What works: Cashing your tips in. Atkinson says PR pros who "get it" know well enough to pass on to her information they've heard through the grapevine (read: good dish)
although she admits that that type of PR animal is rare. "There should be a lot more give and take. You want to help people who help you," Atkinson says.
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