By Paul Shinoff
One tech reporter calls them "bunnies," the young PR staffers who bounce from pitch call to pitch call - to the annoyance of journalistic colleagues. Having spent some years in
senior positions at newspapers and in public relations, I cannot recall a time when the relationship between professionals on either side of the media divide was worse.
The growing disconnect affects more than just the agency or client involved. The PR practitioner from hell can be hell for all PR practitioners.
While it is convenient to lay blame at the feet of junior staffers it's a lot more complex than that. Consider the comment of San Francisco Chronicle technology reporter
Carolyn Said. "I've been asked several times to participate in roundtables," she says, "to help educate the PR masses on doing a better job -- but I've never seen any improvement
come out of it."
The underlying problems between the PR field and journalists are more than tactical. Journalists, too, are part of the problem. It's structural. And it's often a three-way
triangle involving clients. There is enough blame to go around.
Agencies
Blame growing pains. The talent pool has been drained, particularly of those who can offer strategic counsel. And there seem to be fewer staffers with good media relations
skills. Agencies were once sprinkled with ex-journalists who understood the relationship from both sides. Today, fewer have press backgrounds; fewer have even been inside
newsrooms.
Blame segmentation. As the practice has become more sophisticated, less emphasis is being given to media relations. Senior staff don't want to be perceived as publicists
hawking their wares to reporters - but rather counselors giving sage advice to the CEO. It pays more. So the lower- paid kids do the pitch calls.
Blame the dark side. There are agencies out there pandering to clients, selling their services as pitchmeisters - even when it is counterproductive. There is, however, a
good news/bad news side to all of this. The flood of pitch calls into newsrooms is ebbing somewhat, in part due to the failure of so many dotcoms and PR agency layoffs.
Journalists
Too few understand that our profession is part of a communication chain that starts with issues, events and announcements - and ends with the consumer. The experienced PR
practitioner and journalist learn to work together, knowing it enhances access and information.
"I have high regard for the profession done right," Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walter Mossberg told a PRSA conference in San Francisco several weeks ago.
The less experienced on either side see it as shameless buying and selling.
Cultural and professional distinctions further broaden the divide. PR practitioners have better social skills, reflecting their work within business and industry. Journalists
inhabit one of the few professions in which the lack of social graces can be a distinct advantage. One side returns all phone calls, the other, . . .well. . . Reporters are
obsessed with facts, PR folks understand process and nuance. The irony is that journalists tend to be better professionally trained and, supposedly, adhere to clearer
standards.
Clients
It would be a better industry without them, runs the old joke. Much of the problem comes from their failure to establish reasonable expectations. Too many of us have heard the
client say at the first meeting that their immediate goal is to be on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. But do we shyly smile and walk out with the check and
signed contract? Or do we commit truth?
Another problem is the way PR is managed from the inside. Particularly at tech startups, the PR strategy tends to be managed by the marketing director who tends to view
communications as a function of that totally controllable discipline. Those with education greater than mine tell me this sort of lineal logic is taught at fine business schools.
Of course, both functions are important, but each has a separate and distinct role.
If you have followed me this far, you likely agree that the disconnect is complex, and can't be fixed by hints likenot calling on deadline. Or wondering as Rodney King did,
why can't we all get along?
On one level, we don't have to. The natural tension brought on by communication checks and balances is a good thing. Yet, we should strive to educate each other and learn to
work together more carefully.
I have begun to quietly suggest to friends in PR and media that this is a time when we should be quietly meeting to review the rules of engagement. This should be done with
care to ensure that it does not benefit particular practitioners. I have heard suggestions that include large, friendly social gatherings thrown by PR and media types where little
business is spoken, but much is learned.
Heck, we could invite the clients too.