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What's gone wrong with PR pitches to journalists?

13/11/2014

3 Comments

 
Pitching a story to a journalist is supposed to be at the heart of the PR person's craft. Or rather it used to be until part of the PR world decided that 'media-facing' activity was a poor substitute for wooing clients with talk of brand strategy, social media engagement and content management.

All too often expanding into these new activities has drawn experienced staff away from direct dealings with the press. And as many senior executives have delegated responsibility for contacting  journalists to the junior members of their team the art of the pitch has given way to indiscriminate emails and inept phone calls.

Today the quality of pitches is plumbing new depths. And the frustration of a few poorly-led and ill-trained account executives is manifesting itself in pushy and sometimes downright rude messages. If I was a client of these agencies I would not be happy to see how my retainer was being spent. Poking journalists in the eye only ensures that the client in question gets very firmly ignored. And that can be forever.

So just what should a savvy PR person do if their pitch is to avoid annoyance and deletion? There are two simple rules to obey when pitching a story to any journalist. They concern tone and frequency.

Tone

You are inviting someone to spend their valuable time taking an interest in your proposition. Phrase your message as a polite request. Terms that imply any degree of obligation on the part of the journalist are simply insulting.

So don't suggest that it has been a while since the journalist last mentioned a client (in other words "we think it's time you wrote about them again"). Or try hinting that the client's enormous importance should put them at the front of the queue (which reads as "how could you not write about them?"). 

The only people qualified to decide what goes into a story are its author and his/her editor. There is no quota system guaranteeing mentions of a particular business or product. If material isn't judged right for the story it doesn't go in. Expressing incredulity that the journalist is not prepared to interview a client is deeply counter-productive and can damage an agency's future credibility.

Frequency

It should be obvious that journalists receive a lot of unsolicited emails and calls. You will not increase the chances of a journalist taking a pitch seriously if you keep repeating it. They probably know your client is out there by now and do not require weekly or monthly reminders of this fact.

Confine your contacts to occasions when you really do have a strong story to tell. And send one email. That's it.

Returning again and again requesting a response to the original message is irritating and exhibits a lack of respect for other peoples' time. There is no mileage in phoning or emailing to inquire whether previous messages have been read. With the current economic pressures on the press no one writing for a national publication is going to be remotely impressed by this kind of tactic. 

Try to remember just how short of time most journalists are. If you want your pitches to establish a productive relationship with a journalist or title this is a good place to start. Yes, individual pitches often vanish into the ether. But in the long-term you will find journalists are a lot more receptive to communications from people who show a bit of consideration when pitching.

And keep it polite. If you can't do that then you're not really doing public relations at all, are you?



3 Comments
Jennifer Janson link
14/11/2014 04:47:53 am

Thanks for a great post, Michael. I agree with all of what you say and would add that staff who handle media relations contribute substantially to the reputation of a business, precisely through the way in which they talk to journalists. Companies should ensure whoever is doing the pitching (be it agency or in-house people) understands completely what the company's desired reputation is, and behaves accordingly. All too often those 'junior' team members at agencies don't get enough direct access to the client and are simply directed to 'get coverage' whatever the cost.

I also think it helps to encourage anyone new to media relations to think about the journalist as their client too. Understanding what the journalist needs, and then giving them stories or contacts that are relevant (even if that contact is not a current client) goes a long way to building long-lasting relationships.

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Hack turned flack
14/11/2014 05:49:20 am

This reads more like another disgruntled journalist who's throwing a tantrum because he's no longer king of the mountain and that PRs aren't grovelling at his feet in quite the manner best pleasing to him.

The points are actually valid, but his tone (ironically) is completely off. What's insulting is his own self-importance and apparent lack of understanding that the PR / journalist relationship is a symbiotic one.

The derisory tone is only matched by his complete and fundamental lack of understanding of the PR industry. But of course, this doesn't stop him from telling PRs how they should be doing their job.

Agencies now address a much wider audience than ever before (that's the 'brand strategy, social media engagement and content management' he so disdainfully shrugs off). Journalists remain an important part of that, but media relations is now just one part of a bigger role - one might even say 'public relations'.

Like a real journalist, I recommend doing some actual research before declaring what rules PRs should obey. Go work in an agency for a month and then perhaps you can make objective call.

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Gina Sharp link
28/1/2015 08:44:42 am

I think this is fair comment actually. It's the stuff I used to tell my account execs when they were pitching and you're quite right when you say that the vets in the agency often spend most of their time on other thing, leaving junior staff unprepared to speak to the press. But they don't train them how to do it.

I used to bring in journos to talk to my lot when I ran MCC - to explain to them how to sell a story and what was news and what patently wasn't. Trouble is, we have to deal with clients with daft expectations, who want you to write a press release when they lick a stamp. Whilst you resist much of the time, you often get accused of being 'negative' by your client - so it's also fair to say that journos don't really understand the sh*t we have to take before we even get the pitch to them!

These days at WLM, we only use journalists to write our copy so it's a lot easier to pitch it. No one sells to the press like the press themselves. Poachers turned gamekeepers, they understand how it goes.

I've dealt with some journalist over my 25 years of running an agency who've been extremely rude to me in the past. Not because I was a PR airhead, but because the power had gone to their heads a little and they were feeling that way out. We all know the offenders. Luckily there aren't many of them. And these days there are other ways to reach your client's target audience. So courtesy works both ways.

Having seen some frankly diabolical pitches that come in from PRs these days to our journo mates I fully sympathise so I think you're making a valid point here Michael. You were always extremely reasonable and polite so there is no excuse for them to behave that way... :)

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    Michael Dempsey writes for the BBC website and assorted national publications. He is passionate about the value of clarity in business  communications. Opinions are his own. 

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