April Edition

Dear Reporter, Get over yourself.
- Best, PR Pro

The PR business catches flak all the time – I think instead of annoyances to reporters we are trendspotters, buzz creators, and especially in Connors case, pretty tech savvy and smart people. Being nicknamed the darksiders of the media world is fine and expected. But we work hard and after having listened to all of the "tips" on the best ways, times and circumstances to approach a reporter with a pitch, it has come to the point where I need to rant.

I have been to more luncheons than I can count hoping to gain some insight or be able to report back an enlightening bullet point on the best ways to pitch reporters, and it hasn't happened yet. I have no problem being rejected or told that a person is on deadline or hearing that they aren't working on that topic right now. What I do have a problem with is lack of respect.

Most reporters are pretty great, the snooty commenter and all around "get off of my phone" journalists are few. But I do think it is time that journalists stop putting up a fight and accept the fact that we have to coexist in the media world.

Tips for Journalists when talking to PR people:

  • If you're busy or on deadline say so, I'll get out of your hair. But don't listen to my pitch and then reprimand me for taking your time. In most situations I ask if you've got a minute, if I don't spark your interest in that minute, it's a bad match for the both of us.
  • Ask me a question; I'll give you an answer. Recently I was mowed down by a reporter's questions – if you are asking me about my client let me complete my sentence, being a crotchety reporter just makes you even more of a target for me to hassle, because now it's a challenge.
  • It's not funny. Though you may enjoy badgering us in front of your interns or assistants we take our job just as seriously as you do. Though we may be pitching clients' products and services, if you are writing about that topic, we are bringing you new information. Low and behold, your round ups and statistics will start to include more companies than the ones you've found on the first 2 pages of Google. (Please see Mike Levin for a lesson in SEO)
  • You never know what you might need from me. I can help clear schedules, get you interviews, and even on some occasions get you the exclusive. Your persistence and interest is respected, shouldn't that go both ways?

To sum this up, most reporters I speak to are pretty great and will talk and listen if it suits their beat. I even gain respect for those that make it difficult for me to get a placement, this way I know your stories aren't complete advertorials. For the others, think about what you might need from us one day and then if you still want to slam the phone in our ear then go ahead – we'll move to the next publication that just might write something Pulitzer worthy.

- Tori Pugliese

Ask Matt Mack

Greg from San Francisco writes, "Where did the term "the wire" come from?"

The wire was quite literally a rubber cord, strung up like a laundry line that stretched the 3,471 mile distance over the Atlantic from New York to London. Pulled continuously by two men on either side, it ensured that the most up-to-date news never arrived more than six months old.

Designed in 1877 by the pamphleteer Thomas Paine, the wire was a direct response to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, which Paine, the sad recipient of a comically pinched voice, feared would put his lucrative propaganda business to ruin. Initially the use of Paine's Great Protracted Wire was restricted to his ill-punctuated ramblings against soap, though a few gallant souls braved the perils of storm and sea monster to shimmy across, gaining notoriety as the first illegal immigrants in the New World.

Upon Paine's passing in 1894, the wire was authorized for public use, but operating costs limited its applications almost exclusively to idle chatter between government officials and steel magnates. This continued until the 1940s when a population boom decreased labor costs, producing a wealth of new wire pullers, or "newsies", who worked 12 hour shifts for low wages.

Nowadays the wire is an indispensable PR tool, able to post news instantaneously for public perusal. Scholars attribute its increased effectiveness to the mechanization of the wire in 1978 and the tragic disappearance of sea monsters.

Websites We Like

Stella-Monica: Hi5 is similar to MySpace, but it is geared more for an interactive international audience. Hi5 has greater control of who sees my stuff and helps me track a lot of my childhood buddies – some of my friends are from Sudan, Ethiopia, France, England, Ivory Coast, the Congo, India, Tunisia, the U.S. and Canada.

Julie: The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies website is an excellent media list-building tool for publicists looking to reach the 18 – 34 demographic that traditionally doesn’t read daily newspapers. The website has a searchable database of reputable alternative newsweeklies around the country and into Canada that can be reviewed by circulation, location, or name.