Comments on: Do Journalists Need PR Professionals Anymore?

By: Food for thought « Adventures in Public Relations

Food for thought « Adventures in Public Relations — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:39:20 +0000

[...] http://blog.journalistics.com/2009/do-journalists-need-pr-professionals-anymore/ (This Web site is RT from @PublicityGuru – if you’re not already following him on Twitter, I recommend doing so.) [...]

By: Anthony Piatt

Anthony Piatt — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:18:17 +0000

A comment, perhaps a question, regarding PR versus Publicity… I see them as interchangeable, however, PR does seem to have a more corporate connotation and perhaps denotes ’spin’ more with the word/idea of ‘relations’ to the ‘public’- it sounds protective. As music publicists we have the advantage of highlighting the positive and (short of Britney types) music publicity doesn’t involve being a ‘flak’ or running diversion. Any press is good press when dealing with a bluegrass or world music band. Heck, like the Stones, I might even enjoy a little bad boy press for a Todd Snider type, etc.

Plus, we provide CD’s to most everyone we pitch. Invite them to shows. Set interviews. Our website is built for journalists with easy to download, press-ready images (no searching for a road manager to email a pic from Starbuck’s).

Coming from a journalist background, I found it hard to find some of the things we now provide. As for ’spam PR’, etc. we wouldn’t waste the postage to send the CD and press release and find emails without a product sample unhelpful (with the exception of show invites). But, we concentrate on print media and reviews. Spam, thankfully, wouldn’t help our publicists.

PS- Where would journalists find out about our clients without us? The glossy mags we work with have room for our up and coming and unknown world, reggae, folk, Americana artists, but, we are often there first (and only) exposure to the CD and artist.

Thanks for the dialog!
(And I answer ‘Yes’ to Journalists needing PR pros!)

By: Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert

Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:17:17 +0000

Great post. I follow these rules in pitching to the media and don’t get the cold shoulder that other PR pros do when they don’t target or try to help someone other than themselves. Bloggers too, I consider to be part of the media landscape, so I treat them with the same respect.

By: Ronnie Manning

Ronnie Manning — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:58:29 +0000

Great article.. solid advice on relationship building, which is key in our industry.

By: Jeremy Porter

Jeremy Porter — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:05:42 +0000

It does. I feel awesome now.

By: Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR

Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:51:33 +0000

Relationship between journalist and PR professional will always be around. Like with every relationship, there will some miscommunication, but at the end of the day both need each other equally. All relationships evolve and change. Both fields are going through “growing” pains with Web 2.0 and how that impacts journalism and public relations.

Thanks for sharing the great tips.

By: Davina K. Brewer

Davina K. Brewer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:00:46 +0000

Good tips for any PR pro building a relationship with a journalist or blogger, though it’s troubling that something so obvious as “read what they write” has to be included. Best advice: Be helpful. Give them smart sources, timely information, real leads, legitimate news and then just get out of the way and let them do their jobs. Thanks for sharing.

By: Ken Kadet

Ken Kadet — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:57:11 +0000

Glad it makes you feel better, then!

By: Jeremy Porter

Jeremy Porter — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:49:13 +0000

The question might be a moot point for you Ken, but some of our readers clearly wanted to give this topic a suggestion. I wonder if comments like this fall into the same category (make PR people feel better about themselves)?

That said, I do think it’s good advice that executives get more involved in the process.

By: Ken Kadet

Ken Kadet — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:24:23 +0000

Seems like someone feels the need to write about this at least once or twice a year. The question of whether journalists need PR people is sort of moot, except to make PR people feel better about themselves.

I say this as a long-time PR agency guy, now independent. We shouldn’t kid ourselves: with or without PR people, journalists are going to write stories. The people who need to be reminded of this aren’t journalists but corporate executives who see the PR budget as an easy target. It’s the corporations that need PR people to know the conversations out there and where they’re happening and how to impact them on behalf of the corporation. Executives need to remember that a) without focusing on this, they can’t manage this bewildering array of media — online, offline and social — themselves; and b) that silence and disengagement from the this world doesn’t help them any.

Public relations needs to be the eyes, ears and voice (or to guide the voice) of the organization. A big part of that PR role often turns out to be building good relationships with journalists by helping journalists them do their jobs, and these tips are great. It’s just important to remember that the actual job is to bring value to the organization.