In the ongoing war between PR and the press lie the everyday battles that set media relations efforts back a notch.
Take, for example, the case of Associated Press radio news reporter Margie Szaroleta, who last Tuesday wanted to interview artists who received Grammy nominations that day. She contacted 20 press agents to see if she could get interviews with the nominees.
"In the end I got three interviews," Szaroleta told PR NEWS, adding that most of the PR professionals she called didn't even return her calls. "My gut feeling is that most PR people pester you and pester you if they have a story they want you to do, but it's not reciprocated.... If it's some kind of special event that's happening, they call me and call me but if a lead singer for a major band gets arrested for drug possession, they don't know a thing about it." What Szaroleta said she has learned about PR professionals is that "the mark of a good PR person is when they help you get the news you need, too." In fact, she added that of the approximately 70 PR representatives she deals with on a weekly basis, she considers about 10 of them to be credible and responsive; another 10 to be "not worth my time"; and the other 50 in "the gray area because I don't know what they're going to do [call her back, answer her questions, act as a liaison] if I contact them."
Similarly, Bradenton (Fla.) Herald environmental reporter Pam Radtke Russell also doesn't attach a lot of value to what most PR practitioners do - what she sees as pitching "fluff that isn't newsworthy." Radtke Russell should know: she once was a PR practitioner.
Radtke Russell said she became frustrated in her role as advertising/PR coordinator for West Central Coldwell Bankers Real Estate, which serves Orlando, Tampa and Bradenton/Sarasota, Fla., because she was asked to pitch topics that didn't have any news value. "Coming from a journalism background, I felt it compromised my credibility as a person," she said.
"Journalists don't always need stories pitched to them " they need sources," added Radtke Russell. "I want a PR person who can give me the facts about a topic or specific company or someone who can give me a press kit that I can keep as a resource for a story I might do in the future. I want to be the one who decides whether an issue has merit and I want to deal with someone who will fulfill their promises, knows how the journalistic process works and who will return calls."
Thomas Harris, founding partner of Thomas L. Harris & Co., a PR consulting firm in Highland, Ill., said many PR practitioners need to go more out of their way for the press.
"Some [PR execs] are inaccessible and they don't make the executives above them accessible to the press," he said. "They're also good at stonewalling and many don't want to be on the firing line (during a crisis), but that's the most critical function of the PR practice - being the spokesperson for your company or organization and being available and straightforward."
The necessity for competent crisis communicators couldn't be more magnified than it is today: the case of Texaco highers-up making racist slurs is a fitting example. Texaco has been widely criticized for the way it handled the crisis, which affected how it was ultimately portrayed in the media.
"Media relations is the bedrock of public relations," said Harris. "And nothing is ever going to change that - there will never be a day when everyone gets all their news from Web site press releases or information placed online."
In fact, no matter how much PR practitioners and experts say that PR is changing as more and more professionals turn to the World Wide Web as a way to reach their key audiences - investors, consumers and the press - nothing will replace longtime traditional PR tactics like knowing who the media players are in your industry and touching base with them every so often. Many times, it's the broadcasters, reporters and editors who are the gatekeepers of much of the information people come across on a daily basis as well as the analysts, watchdogs and public jurors.
"Even Microsoft [MSFT], as powerful as it is, will have all the articles written about them - both pro and con placed on its Web site because that so-called endorsement (or analysis) by the media has more impact than what they say themselves," Harris said.
In fact, for the past four years, media relations has ranked in the top two (out of around 20 categories), in an annual survey Harris publishes on the type of work agencies are given by their clients. In the most recent survey, based on responses from 6,800 PR executives, media relations tied for the No. 1 spot, with strategic counsel claiming the second 67-percent ranking.
"Media relations is the bulk of what we do.... More and more policy makers today respond to what's in the media," said Ron DeFore, one of the four principals for Strat@comm, a strategic counseling firm in Washington, D.C.
DeFore worked with companies whose marketplace standings had to be managed during the throes of controversy - for example, clients affiliated with the fertilizer industry. The tie-in of fertilizer with the explosive used in the Oklahoma City bombing signaled the potential for these companies' reputations to be damaged.
That's when using the media as a vehicle for disseminating industry information is crucial. For instance, that's the time when PR executives need to set up press conferences with industry leaders; arrange one-on-one briefings with beat reporters; or consider tactics such as public service announcements.
DeFore also noted that it is naive to think that the media won't play a part in most PR programs and initiatives. With that in mind, Strat@comm is heading an educational PR campaign for Chrysler Corp. which has teamed up with the American Automobile Association, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives and the American Academy of Pediatrics to educate the public about airbags. (Since the early '90, more than 30 children have died due to the force of airbags because the toddlers were sitting up front and weren't wearing seatbelts.)
Within the month, 40 million brochures will be sent to grammar schools nationwide as part of the "ABCs of Airbag Safety. The Back is Where it's At" endeavor to educate parents about having their children sit in back. And as part of the nationwide program, Strat@comm will roll out an extensive media campaign that will include inviting journalists into schools to witness the impact of the program. Like Harris, DeFore is one of the PR executives who feels there's plenty of room for improvement when it comes to how novice, and even longtime, PR professionals approach the press. He recommends that PR representatives need to:
- Become more knowledgeable about the history of coverage by the media outlets they approach by reviewing what stories, issues and topics have been explored;
- Remember that generic press releases and the send-it-to-everyone mentality doesn't necessarily equal good PR, so it's wise to tailor releases to specific industry press; and
- Be aware that they shouldn't just call journalists to follow up on whether they received a release or press kit. Effective PR means establishing an ongoing relationship with a journalist by letting them know you can assist them should a need arise - it's not desperately pitching a story topic or new product.
DeFore also believes that one of the main reasons media relations has remained a thorn in the side of the PR industry is because of the abundance of negative feelings about the PR industry.
"There is that widely held perception that most journalists don't want to deal with PR people," DeFore said. "And it's primarily because they had dealings with people who didn't do their jobs the right way."
(AP Radio, Margie Szaroleta, 202/736-9516; Bradenton Herald, Pam Radtke Russell, 941/748-0411; Thomas L. Harris, 847/266-1025; Strat@comm, Ron DeFore, 202/289-2001)