Tweet

Dealing with journalists

Written by: Sarah O'Brien

Article Overview: PR is all about creating and enforcing a strategic angle, but what happens once it lands in a journalist’s inbox?

Dealing with journalists

Unlike advertising, your media release, your strategic PR angle and your business’ reputation rest in the mercy of a journalist’s mind and the angle they decide to take with your story. So how do you know how they will react and is it safe for your business?

Truth be known, you will never truly know what angle a journalist will take until you send it through. Even if they’ve told you how they intend to use your name and information, they are humans and they too can change their mind and are subject to guidance from a higher level in their organisation.

Journalists are professionals who like to make sure their readers are engaged and interested and if that means controversy, a different angle or quoting your competitor then they will do it. Your best bet is to know a bit about the journalist and make sure your angle suits the publication and that it will stand up to process of good journalistic research.

Clients often ask if they will have the opportunity to review an article before it is printed in the newspaper or magazine in question. Esther Schindler of the Internet Press Guild (IPG) says that businesses that are proactive in PR shouldn’t expect to read the finished article any sooner than the general public. Why? For two very good reasons-

1. A journalist is being paid to give their opinion of the product to their readers and while it’s understood that contributors would like to know journalist responses, it’s rare this would happen before it sees print. Journalists are writing for the readers, and not for your approval or disapproval.
2. Second, if a journalist said anything with which you disagreed, the lead time from article submission to paper is often measured in months, and you would have the opportunity to complain to the publication (and to the world in general) before the readers even knew about the review. So much for objectivity!

Tips
• Use a PR company with a solid reputation in your industry for having strong media contacts. This will allow for informal communication with the journalist about story ideas.
• Read other articles by the targeted journalist and check out the companies they have written about. Does the article express a truthful, balanced opinion and perception of the company?
• Don’t pitch loose or high spin angles. Trick journalists and they will trick you back, but they have the power to do it publicly.
• Expect your story to be researched. Think from a journalist perspective, who would you ring for more information? Where would you look for further quotes to validate the story? Who would you ask for a conflicting view?
• Don’t hold back appropriate information, which the public have access to anyway. Prices, statistics, products specifications, if you want a balanced article you have to give the journalist the right information
• Lastly, give the journalist space to find their own spin on your angle and trust that you have done enough research to know they have good journalistic skills.

Related Articles
  Pitching to Journalists
  Can you do PR without talking to Journalists?
  NEWS RELEASE QUIZ

  PR and the Overworked Journalist
  The Power of PR Make Yourself Newsworthy

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: Getting Press Coverage - Some awesome tips here. I've had pretty good success just emailing journalists and newspapers. They may not respond to most of what you send, but eventually something catches their eye. Another trick is to predict what a lot of journalistsbloggers will be researching, and get a press release out that will be featured in Google news covering this topic and promoting something on your site.
Re: Getting Press Coverage - Thanks for those extra tips again Evan. Also don't forget the 'purple cow' theory. Create something truly awesome and unique and people will pay attention, including journalists. I have some off the wall stuff planned for 2010.
Bad Franchises - . I would scream it from the rooftops but I am not prepared to be sued. This is the reason that there is so little information in the public domain. So like all the others all I can say is that the whole industry needs investigation. If anyone has any contacts in the media, journalists or tv media, there is a huge story to tell if anyone has the guts to do it. I am sure under cover with anonymity many would come forward with their stories.
Young Entrepreneur in International trading - I just turned 21 last week, and I currently own a international trading company doing trades between China, Taiwan, Thailand, and west coast of US and starting out in Canada soon. Dealing with gift items and general merchandise. We are also trying to sell some of the stuff we import as retail and wholesale products on the internet and to retail venders as we do have a lot of extra pallets that gets left over from our buyers.
Depressed Entrepreneurs - Thank you for your feedback. It seems to be the weather, isolation and some unfavourable projects getting my clients down. I personally find myself feeling quite grey with the weather. So much so that I spend as little time in my Vancouver office as I need to - it so slow and depressing there for me. In any case, thank you. Perhaps this is an issue we should be more proactive about in our entrepreneur resources. Dealing with the emotional issues of entrepreneurship. Thanks Kevin for the articles. The one was the exact one I was looking for. Must of been having a blonde moment in my searches


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Online Business Ideas: A Look At Various Options

Are You My Mentor

Here's a great ROI

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.