Cohesive Communications

Posts Tagged ‘journalists’

‘Hack to Flack’ Plumbs the Depths

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 Posted by Dev

For better or worse, I am not a fan of PR Week, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I’ve met PR Week journalists and found them to be amiable and professional; I’ve read the magazine and found it well written and constructed. I suppose my problem lies in the fact that – like any trade magazine – it is heavily influenced by the PRs who lobby it for press coverage. Mmmm, PR people pitching a PR magazine about the latest news and views emanating from their PR agencies… The rank cynicism of that makes my head spin. I have better things to spend my time reading.

However, I did pick up an interesting little story this week about PR Week’s Deputy Feature Editor spending a while ‘on the dark side’ by occupying the role of a PR executive at a global agency office based in London, and reporting in her daily blog about the experience. In return, the agency (Bite Communications) gets to plug one of its staffers into the PR Week editorial team.

This really is PR turned up so loud it might make your nose bleed. To summarise:

- PR Week readers (i.e. PR people)…

…get to find out what a journalist thinks about doing the job that they do every day
… plus they also get to read PR Week editorial (about PR) written by a PR person, rather than a journalist

- PR Week publishers…

…get the opportunity to reiterate how ‘in tune’ they are with their readers, firstly by ensuring that one of their journalists soberly reflects on how surprisingly demanding and unforgiving the PR profession is, and secondly while also allowing a PR industry insider to apparently ‘run riot’ on the editorial desk for an issue

- The PR agency

…not only achieve positive and exclusive press exposure simply by merit of being the agency in question (credit where it is due; it was probably their idea), but they also – presumably – take the opportunity to profoundly sanitise the working environment for the incoming PR-pro-for-a-week-journo, and in so doing:
- Promote the idea of the agency being a good choice of partner for prospective purchasers of PR services
- Promote concepts of friendliness, inclusivity and success within the agency for the benefit of prospective new talent from elsewhere in the industry
- Educate the journalist about the different projects, initiatives and upcoming agency news that they’ve got going on
- Develop an even better relationship with the journalist, for exploitation at a later date.

It’s beautiful, in that twisted sort of way; like the way watching a tiny songbird quietly freezing to death can be beautiful (alright then, not really). Either I’m a helpless cynic, or the parties involved in this tryst have been missing opportunities on both sides.

Tags: comms strategy, journalists, PR, PR Week
Posted in PR | 2 Comments »

PR Pillocks and Cash for Column Inches

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 Posted by Dev

All sorts of people become journalists. Often, but by no means always, they conform to various stereotypes; the scruff, the student, the hack… But if they are to last more than five minutes in their jobs, every single one – without exception – signs up to two over-riding principles. No.1: they are driven by about what their readers want to read about. No.2: they are nobody’s poodle.

Today, the other 99% of the UK PR industry is clapping its hands with joy at the idiocy of some joke PR agency that thought it would be a good idea to ‘incentivise’ journalists to write about their clients. The deal goes something like this: “Give our client some press coverage Mr Journalist, and you might win an iPad!”

Consider for a moment, why this might prove to be a teensy-weensy bit counterproductive. Said PR agency is not fighting to get the very last seat on the lifeboat of a sinking ship with this stunt, it is presumably trying (or at least it should be) to shape public opinion toward its client’s wares by shaping the opinion and the news/editorial priorities of trade IT journalists.

Here’s the PR/journalist ‘cash for column inches’ transaction played out in another format:

PR: “Hi, here’s an iPad.”

Journo: “Wow, thanks.”

PR: “Write a story then, there’s a good chap.”

Journo: “Er, no.”

On some occasions, with some journalists, you might get a different outcome. Just remember that press coverage you have to pay for, probably isn’t worth buying in the first place. It certainly isn’t worth reading.

Tags: Cohesive, journalists, PR
Posted in PR | 2 Comments »

Start in the lobby; don’t end up there

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 Posted by Dev

In any professional sphere, you come across a lot of ‘poacher-turned-gamekeeper’ types. Certainly there are lots of journalists who have crossed over to become PR people. Fewer examples exist of PRs who have gone the other way.

That’s a big shame, not least of all because ‘ex-PR’ journalists tend to be very good at their jobs, very principled, yet always get the most value out of the PR process. I can think of two off the top of my head; one is an extremely successful news editor; the other a prolific freelance feature writer. Their experience of working with journalists informed them it would be hard crossing over, so they went into it with their eyes wide open, and are now both very satisfied with their lot.

Aside from their writing expertise and insight into the workings of publications, one of the anticipated benefits of ex-journalists taking roles at PR agencies is their contacts. You can’t teach someone to hold good contacts; you either have them or you don’t. However, if that’s pretty much all an ex-hack is selling themselves on, then they will quickly become disillusioned with their new PR job. All too often, PR looks like an easy earner – but walk a mile in a PR’s shoes and you’ll soon find your feet aching. To blindly assume that great journalists will make great PRs is pretty sketchy judgment. Some will be; many won’t.

The current Byers-Hoon-Hewitt lobbying story is showing no signs of slowing down, and the thing that strikes you is the sheer arrogance of assuming that ‘contacts are everything’. Even if it was all pukka and above board, I’d be surprised if many MPs could make a good fist of lobbying as a profession, despite their experienced perspective from the other side of the table. While ministers, their mistake would have been to overlook the skills of ’the lobby’ and see them only as carbuncles (albeit soaked in cash) fighting for the influence of the powerful.

Good luck trying to get a job now!

Tags: general election, job vacancy, journalists, lobbying, PR
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Standing for promotion

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 Posted by Dev

Vince Cable is taking part in what could be the longest and most public job interview in history. It started about two years ago, with the Lib Dem finance guru in extraordinary demand in media circles for spouting his relatively non-partisan common sense about the parlous state of the banking system and public borrowing.

Vince, earlier

With the coming UK general election widely tipped to result in a hung parliament, Cable is using his public platform to position himself for a top coalition job; perhaps even Chancellor…

If that doesn’t work out then I reckon he could land a decent whack in the media. He could even front his own show; I can see the opening credits now: ‘Cable TV’…

PR is the ultimate weapon in promoting reputation, but as Vinny shows, this is not always exclusively for the organisation who foots the bill. Certainly the Lib Dems are getting good mileage out of their Cable (boom boom), which is just as well because the PROs who manage his press commitments and keep him front of mind among top business and politico journos will be costing a few bob. But you can’t help wondering whether it’s Vinny who’s getting most of the benefit and none of the cost…

People buy from people, and so the media feed their readerships by reflecting that fact. Personalities always win out, along with all their attendant frailties and virtues.

Speaking of job interviews, we’ll be starting ours soon for new PR execs once we’ve closed the application process. People buy from people remember, and that’s true in every step of the PR process. If in doubt – ask Vinny.

Tags: Cohesive, general election, job vacancy, journalists, PR
Posted in PR | 1 Comment »

PR Doesn’t Need PR

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 Posted by Dev

Over a week has passed since the launch of ‘An Inconvenient PR Truth’, the campaign fronted by a UK wire agency which claims to shine the spotlight on PR’s pollutant; irrelevance. Or more pointedly, the fact that the typical journalist gets unnecessarily pestered by an awful lot of irrelevant and unsolicited press releases which can often outnumber the few pieces of interesting news etc that they actually find valuable.

Al Gore eat your heart out

I generally dislike the navel gazing that festers within PR circles, but watching the response to this campaign has been very interesting. As you might expect, some journalists are at the end of their tethers after years of being spammed with press releases that don’t suit their preferences. Others seem to accept that it comes with the territory. The campaign itself is a good piece of PR for the wire agency. Their service is paid for by PRs, but serves the press community, so the message here is spot on, and the response from all quarters is unequivocal and vociferous support; journalists can air grievances and war stories, while PRs can witch-hunt the ‘other agencies’ that get up to that sort of nonsense.

Have I ever sent press releases to journalists that don’t want them? Well I dare say I probably have, but then I’ve also helped hundreds of journalists file thousands of stories over the years. Is mindless PR spam a counterproductive waste that should be mitigated? You’re damn right it is…

Now this is the bit where I’m supposed to bleat on about the utterly obvious importance of listening to and understanding journalists, and having media relationships to underpin the press release distribution and pitching process… But PR doesn’t need PR. Pick up any newspaper or magazine and you’ll find that fact staring back up at you.

Tags: campaign, journalists, PR, press release, spam
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