And yes — some journalists responded, too.
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you know that I love to ask questions of my audience and share the responses here. I think it’s a fascinating opportunity to crowdsource from a broad cross-section of the PR industry on various topics. I can usually predict the kinds of responses I’ll get. But my most recent question surprised me.
I asked a fairly provocative question: What’s your biggest pet peeve about working with journalists? And, for bonus points, what’s a strategy you have for mitigating this frustration?
Some people suggested I was setting a trap (never!). Others playfully suggested that journalists are perfect and have no flaws (as a journalist, can confirm). Others said I should cut hardworking journalists some slack (I agree!). And some shared their pet peeves.
Then, to my surprise, some journalists responded. And conversations ensued.
It’s a small step, but a rare opportunity for PR professionals and journalists to respond to one another honestly and openly, to detail the challenges of their role and explain why they do the (sometimes frustrating) things they do.
Find a sampling of the questions below, edited for style and brevity.
Vast majority of my interactions with journalists are positive and professional. One thing that can be hard is when a journalist responds favorably to an exclusive offer on a time constraint matter (like say an acquisition), then either goes silent or decides after the fact not to cover it.
Jeremy Tunis is a fractional communications consultant.
Jeremy Tunis I’ll own this to a degree. I work off in-person events and embargoes. Each week I ask for stuff under embargo and probably have 4x the number of possible stories than slots. I do say that interest doesn’t mean publication, but it’s not always remembered. Also, I could do more to go back and say why I didn’t cover something sent over.
Ian Murphy is an editor at Enterprise Times.
Just tell me you hate the pitch, chances are I do too. But I need that evidence to take back to leadership and clients who are eagerly awaiting coverage. I haven’t pitched in about a decade, but I remember my very last one was for a new type of shredded cheese (of which you can guess, there was limited news value). But – I had to smile. I had to dial. If just one journo responded with “ZZZZZZZ” I could have made another pitch to my team to move on to another story.
So yea, just say “This isn’t news, sorry.” Then we can both go about our news gathering better.
Akeem Anderson, senior vice president, head of digital at H/Advisors Abernathy.
That’s consulting, though. It’s nice when we provide feedback but we’re not obligated to and why should we consult for free as our jobs are disappearing and we’re busy holding onto them for dear life.
Keyaira N. Boone, contributing editor at ESSENCE.
Hadn’t thought of it that way. I usually ignore the releases that look like spray-and-pray, where no effort was put in to figuring out if it was a publication was a fit or not. I do sometimes respond if someone follows up on something that’s at least in the ballpark. Hadn’t thought the PR person might be rolling their eyes too.
Andrew Tellijohn is editor and publisher at Upsize Minnesota.
Following through and understanding what happens when their responses set things in motion. I’ve had more than one journalist (tier one, at that) respond to a pitch and say they want an interview with my client’s CEO, then totally ghost me when I get back to them with suggested dates and times.
Here’s the problem: when a journalist responds with interest, it’s a full-court press to make sure we respond quickly and professionally. A lot of things start happening at once. We’re engaging the primary client contact to alert them of the opportunity; they’re engaging with the CEO (and often an admin or two) and the leadership team; we all start working to move things around in calendars, get started on creating briefing documents, etc., etc. Everyone gets excited about the opportunity. That’s when we go back to get things confirmed with the journalist, only to hear nothing back.
Unwinding the excitement and undoing what seemed like a lock of an opportunity is a sucky job. And it’s totally unnecessary. It puts PR pros in a terrible spot. Heck, just respond and let us know you’ve moved on, lost interest, or were reassigned. We understand. But no answer at all is totally unacceptable and unprofessional.
Scott Merritt is founder of Strategic Global Media.
Journalism is changing so fast and workloads increasing so much that complaining about anything feels gratuitous. I personally don’t like a non-bylined article, and while a lot of these are basically rehashing other content, I feel each article/outlet should accept responsibility for what they report. Part of that is a path for feedback. I think this is more a reflection on journalISM than journalISTs though… and if algorithms would favour original content over digislurry, it would help.
Victoria Morgan is a communications consultant.
For national reporters: not every pitch needs to be converted to a trend story, particularly if a company is doing something truly unique. I come prepared with data points and third-party interviews.
Also – give some media love to the non-publicly traded companies more often!
Paul Kluding is crisis communications lead at HealthEquity.
Majority of my interactions are usually great. The off-putting ones are when they create some abstract figure around funding, company size, etc. – if it’s a great story why does it matter if it’s a $50M company or $500M? It sometimes feels like they are catering to larger advertisers/sponsors.
Kevin C. Dinino, head of communications at KCD PR.
Journalists are the best!
If no one at the publication has a clue about the estimated run date I highlight how the brand would like to share on their corporate and executive social channels so even a rough estimate is incredibly helpful. And, of course, I’m well aware that breaking news will punt the story, and I’ll set expectations with the company/client’s execs accordingly.
Amanda Coffee is a communications consultant.
Journalists who show up unprepared. I totally get the pressure and pace of assignment desk directives, but it’s difficult to engage effectively when a topic is nuanced and the journalist has no basic understanding of the subject. I prioritize transparency and accessibility, but when a journalist doesn’t know what questions to ask or how to use what is being given to frame the story for impact, the end product often ends up being surface-level and shortchanges the audience.
Jennifer DeShazo is chief of staff & strategic communications for Martin County School District.
Asking for a quote in a two-hour deadline for a senior executive when it isn’t a crisis! But love them for trying.
Ashley Kestner is a former program manager with the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center.
We are working on tight deadlines too. Chances are we’ve reached out to several senior level folks looking for one who might be available in a pinch so we can file before our editor gets mad. Hope that helps!
Becky Bracken is senior editor at Dark Reading.
It can be frustrating when journalists have the story written in their heads before doing a single interview. What if the angle they pitched to their editor doesn’t reflect reality on the ground? It’s not great journalism.
Rachel Barnhart is a former director of media relations at UpTogether.
My biggest pet peeve is asking for written responses to questions instead of doing an interview. I understand reporters may make this ask because they are crunched on time, but the quotes used in the story don’t end up sounding authentic in the final piece.
Andi Sommers is senior PR manager at Dittoe Public Relations.
It’s not a pet peeve as much as a deep appreciation for the journalists who do this.
I am a PR shop of one and often in the field. Which for the National Forest Foundation can literally mean in a field and without email. I am diligent about keeping my auto responder updated when I only have texting available.
It is an absolute JOY when reporters send those quick text follow ups, and I hustle extra hard on those requests to get fast answers/quotes — even if it’s from the middle of a forest. It shows such a level of respect for me and for the nature of NFF’s work.
And you can bet I think about those folks first for exclusives and juicy bites.
Catherine Cody is public relations and field marketing manager at the National Forest Foundation.
Manners. I don’t expect to be best friends, but I expect the same courtesy I’m showing you. I promise we’re all equally busy.
Rob Slaughter is a media relations specialist at Ripley PR.
When journalists take out their stress and frustrations on a pitch.
I’ve had journalists take on a junior staffer’s pitch, coming back at them with really nasty comments and the equivalent of shouting their dismissal. If you can’t use the story, fine. And, for those who want to coach, that is useful too. Tell us what makes sense for you or what you’d like to see more of. But abusing PR pros because you didn’t like their pitch and taking a bold position as the knower-of-all in an email to a person you’ve never met isn’t instructive, it’s abusive and uncalled for.
We also know journalists are busy and are weeding through many emails, stopping to berate a PR for a pitch that didn’t work for you belies how busy you are. And, we have an interdependent relationship, we are gentle with you and try to offer value; journalists need our experts and our product launches and our access, a little more honey, less vinegar goes a long way for both of us.
Julie Ferris-Tillman, Ph.D is vice president and B2B tech practice lead at Interdependence Public Relations.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when I invest time trying to build a relationship with a reporter I haven’t worked with before…carefully tailoring pitches to their specific coverage areas…only to be ignored. Then, when I offer an exclusive to a responsive reporter, the original contact suddenly emerges to complain that they “only cover that topic when it’s an exclusive.” I happily provide exclusives to reporters who actually engage.
For reporters I’m still committed to building relationships with, I’ll reply to my last unanswered email with a new subject line related to the latest news or story. It’s my way of saying “I’m still here and still interested in working together” while showing there’s a communication gap.
Jaycie Cooper is a communications consultant.
Pet peeve: Agreeing to attend a client event and speak to the CEO/ CTO/ COO etc.
Then fail to turn up. Give any notice and ghost any comms.
Mitigating strategy: When they confirm – tell them that you’ll arrange for an Uber to take them to/from the venue.
It guarantees attendance or weeds out the flakes.
David Beesley, managing director at ITPR.
The post The top frustrations PR pros have with journalists — and what they do about it appeared first on PR Daily.
