They're hard to contact and easy to annoy, so dealing with them
requires a delicate balance. Editors, reporters, correspondents and
producers who, for communication execs, often spell the difference
between a PR story that gets heard and one that's buried in the
avalanche of failed PR pitches. In several contributed pieces from
a disparate group of journalists (and one PR executive who has
played both sides of the fence) PR NEWS offers PR pros a few doses
of tough love. The advice contributors provide doesn't exactly come
from the tablets. But with PR pros either unwilling (or incapable)
of responding to reporters' fundamental needs, such guidance never
seems to go out of style: be honest, treat the relationship with
respect and, most important for dealing with reporters who are
increasingly under the gun, don't make any promises you can't
deliver. Another consensus is not to take a rejection of a story
pitch too personally. As Jennifer Smith, an entertainment reporter
with Teen People makes clear, if your first couple of pitches land
with a thud get the blueprints back out and try to come up with an
alternative angle. Of course, the best way to minimize rejections
is to cultivate, nurture and build relationships with members of
the media and -- as the accompanying story on e-mail pitches makes
clear - think like a journalist rather than simply try to schmooze
one.
Steve Ellwanger, Founder- Press Counsel
Group
203-291-6986, [email protected]
(Ellwanger spent 20 years in journalism, including a stint with
Associated Press and 12 years of trade publishing, culminating as
editor-in-chief of Inside Media in 1997, before he founded Press
Counsel Group).
Best practices in PR can be summed up in two words: honesty and
professionalism. Today more than ever, a little honesty goes a long
way in the business world, considering there's so little of it.
This means don't ever try to blow one past a reporter or editor
just because your client has unrealistic coverage expectations. Be
professional in every contact with a journalist--know what you are
pitching and why you are pitching it.
Unfortunately, some journalists don't feel they have to respond
in kind, or at all. There are few things more frustrating than
carefully crafting an overture (even an exclusive one) and not
getting the courtesy of a response. You know the type of
journalist: usually at a trade publication, lord and master (or
mistress) over their fiefdom, wondering why they have to be civil
to anyone. Seriously, how long does it take to type the words "no
thank you" and hit the send button on an e-mail?
Having said this, trade publications are still far better to
deal with than local consumer press. Trade journalists know their
industries. This enables them to understand what's new and
different.
Locally, the lack of professionalism can be dismaying. Big
newspapers have mostly sold out to big newspaper chains, leading to
bland coverage, and local papers are mostly concerned with dogs
pooping at the beach. All too often, whatever politicians say is
treated as gospel. No one wants to rock the boat. Good PR people
can get along with boat rockers if they go about it honestly and
professionally. It beats dealing with the brain-dead.
Mary Jo Foley, Editor - Ziff Davis Media's Microsoft
Watch Newsletter
First choice: e-mail ([email protected]). Second
choice: [email protected] . Third
choice: 212.503.4692
(Microsoft Watch is a paid circulation newsletter delivered
twice weekly, from Ziff Davis Media).
In recent months, thanks in large part to the dot-com bubble
burst, PR requests for coverage of the technology arena have become
a lot more sparse and sane. To paraphrase the beleaguered Martha,
that's a good thing. PR reps are pushing the business-justification
angle -- rather than the coolness factor -- on almost every story
pitch. And while that is a lot more boring to a "geekgirl" like me,
at least the pitches are a little more grounded in reality.
Another positive change: Vendors are now relying on e-mail,
rather than nagging phone calls, to make their pitches. But some PR
folk seem to penalize journalists who are unwilling to take the
next step and part with their instant-messaging (IM) handles. While
I am more than happy to do an occasional e-mail Q&A, I guess
I'm too old school to agree to interviews over IM. What's more, I
don't like the idea of PR people trying to chat me up over IM, even
when there's no news.
While PR folks have embraced IM, very few seem to have been able
to come up with a coherent plan for working with Weblogs and the
journalists who pen them. When I say I need something ASAP these
days, I mean in minutes, not a day later, as I can post a story to
the Web almost instantaneously. The concepts of trying to "hold"
news and dole out "exclusives" designed to break a week or a month
later in a favored pub are becoming less and less possible. And
that, too, is a good thing for all readers, not just the tech-
savvy.
John Masterton, Editor - min's b2b (sister to PR
NEWS)
212.621.4877, [email protected]
I am happy to work in whatever system the PR contact prefers, as
long as it delivers results for me. But if I'm told that I need to
work through PR to reach the company president, but PR doesn't
return phone calls in a timely fashion, that system isn't
delivering results and I'll move to something else that may work.
(Just as I take care to praise good PR work to executives who
matter I have no qualms about letting company management know when
PR isn't getting the job done.)
Pet peeve #1: press releases written for the boss rather than my
reader. Pet peeve #2: offering to do something, and failing to
follow through. I never forget, and the offender never quite has
the same credibility with me again.
There's plenty of bad PR, but there is also some good. Time
Warner and its related units have taken their welts in recent
years, but in my years covering media I've found the PR people at
individual Time Inc. magazine titles among the best anywhere. By
and large, its people are responsive, solid on follow-through, and
very resourceful in crafting story approaches that may work for my
readers. They know I'll give them a fair hearing; they also know
that when I say no I mean it, and they respect that. What they do
isn't all that complicated, but it's very effective PR.
Jennifer L. Smith, Senior Editor, Entertainment,Teen
People
212.522.8273; [email protected]
As a Senior Entertainment Editor at Teen People, I field dozens
of phone calls each week from publicists pitching their celebrity
clients and entertainment products (DVDs, books, parties, film
festivals). I usually respond best when a person leaves a short
detailed message about their idea and their phone number.
The one thing you never want to do is leave a five- or 10-minute
message pitching your client in minute detail. We'd rather hear it
from you directly when we call you back so that we can ask the
appropriate questions. With so many names on a magazine masthead,
it can be hard to figure out the right person to pitch to, but I
always appreciate callers who ask up front if they've found the
right person instead of launching right into a big pitch. We want
to help you find the right audience for your product, so if I'm not
the right person to speak with, then I'll point you to the person
who is.
And remember, just because I may say no to a movie or book the
first time I hear of it, that doesn't mean you shouldn't pitch me
again down the line when it gets released on DVD or gets reprinted
--maybe there is another way to cover it. Just keep trying.