PR vs. Journalism: a hate-hate relationship?

Over my (worryingly) many years in PR, I’ve seen several articles and blogs from journalists and media experts talking about the relationship the press has with PRs – and in particular on what the latter do wrong and how they should go out of their way to make journalists’ lives easier. Fair enough – there are some PRs out there that really do give the industry a bad name.

What you don’t tend to see, despite the symbiotic relationship between the two, is articles from PRs about the annoyances of journalists – and believe me, there are some. A case in point: on behalf of a client I recently pitched an idea for a feature to a well-known trade magazine. The journo liked the idea and commissioned a freelancer to write it. I was told to expect a call.

Unfortunately, nothing came. A few weeks passed, and when I chased I was told the freelancer had written the piece already. However, I was told, if my client drafted some comments for a pull-out box they’d try to include them.

We pulled together detailed quotes (that same day!) and sent them over. Again we heard nothing. Then a few weeks later the feature came out and my client had no comment at all – not in the main text or the pullout. I called my initial contact at the magazine and was told, simply, “Sorry, but the freelancer wrote it the way she wrote it.” No apology or offer of a comment column to replace it.

Grrrr.

Image from SimplyZesty

We PRs are in a tough place when it comes to our friends in the media. If we slag them off, we’ll never get coverage – we’re biting the hand that feeds us – and if it’s a major trade title (as in this case) we can hardly storm off in a huff and say we’ll never work with them again.

However, let’s be honest, with so many pages to fill both on- and offline, they need us too. And surely accepting a feature idea and then not using the experts who first suggested it sets a very poor precedent. From my example above, I’m going to have to deal with that same journalist again simply because the title is a key one for more than one client, but at the back of my mind each time will be a flashing red warning light.

That’s hardly conducive to the right sort of journalist-PR relationship in the future, now is it?