It’s an age-old question: What do reporters want from PR folks? In preparing for this blog, I thought about supplying you with some best practices, but instead I decided to ask a few of my former colleagues from my newspaper days what it is they don’t like. Not only did their answers prove to be quite insightful, but at times flat out funny. Take a look for yourself.
“The worst PR guy that I work with is the Newman to my Seinfeld. He never sends press releases. He pitches ideas, but leaves out important information. Then if I ask him to send a release on it, he sends me a link to their website that doesn’t have any information on it. One time I was writing an article and needed key information and contacts. He sent that to me after the story had already run. Another time, I was conducting a phone interview with someone he was in the same office with. After listening to our interview, he sent out a second email to every media contact with information he overheard from our interview. This lead to several TV outlets running the information before it ran in our paper. On another occasion, one of my coworkers scheduled an onsite interview/tour of their facility. When he arrived, no interviews were set up with key people and the guy didn’t know any of the answers to his questions so it was a wasted trip.”
As you could see, this reporter could go on and on.
Another reporter writes:
“Things that don’t work for me include PR reps who think we’re going to respond to every email we get. Journalists have limited time and unless an email is addressed to me, I usually don’t respond to them once I act on them. Most journalists probably don’t even go that far to respond to PR reps’ emails. We get tons of emails, so responding to all or even most of them is too much to ask, especially when some are spam-like press releases on subjects/issues we don’t cover. Mass emails from companies (these are usually national companies with press releases on subjects such as health/gardening/etc. tips for readers) are also not good. These PR reps simply do not understand what our publication covers.”
So next time you are pitching a reporter remember this blog and always ask yourself the following:
• Is what I’m pitching newsworthy?
• Is it timely?
• Is this pitch relevant to the reporter’s beat?
• Will it be of interest to this publication’s audience?
• Do I have the right information to share?
• Am I acting like Newman?
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman is a strategic communications leader specializing in media relations and reputation management. With a proven track record of securing high-profile placements in top-tier outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today, he excels at crafting compelling narratives that resonate across print, broadcast and digital platforms.
Mike Touhill is vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, where he helps lead traditional, social and digital media programs for B2B and B2C clients in packaging, telecommunications and technology, among other industries. As a communication leader, he develops and executes public relations strategy, provides proactive and reactive counsel to C-level executives and secures earned media coverage for client initiatives and product.
Andrew Agan is a vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, overseeing the agency’s internship program and leading media relations, content strategy and social media initiatives. He provides counsel and executes campaigns for clients across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, hospitality, technology, automotive and many others. Andrew excels at crafting compelling stories and building media relationships, resulting in clients being featured in notable outlets such as CNBC, Associated Press, Business Insider, Fox Business, HBO, Inc. Magazine, Sirius XM, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among others.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.