Comments on The Bad Pitch Blog: Fast Five Q&A with Adweek’s Digital Editor, Brian ...

lol Check out @FakeBmorrissey on Twitter

2008-07-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

lol Check out @FakeBmorrissey on Twitter

"The second bucket is 'gatekeeper.' I don’t like P...

2008-07-15T17:46:00.000-04:00

"The second bucket is 'gatekeeper.' I don’t like PR people trying to insert themselves between me and interviewees. It wastes my time and annoys me."

Of course it annoys you, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Seriously, he seems like a big boy. Does he not recognize that PR is a business? We have to protect the interests of our clients.

A bit of the blame also goes to the companies that...

2008-07-15T17:17:00.000-04:00

A bit of the blame also goes to the companies that hire the PR agencies in regards to "PR spam" - it's often these big clients that want to see a big list of hundreds of media outlets that they wish to see their companies in. Even when explaining quality over quantity, they will always ask about the magazine they WEREN'T in...

As a PR professional, I am paid to send you that pitch and give you that follow up phone call and gauge your interest directly. If time allows, I can look up a few of the hundred reporters that I'm pitching and get personal, but that's if time allows.

I think there's misunderstandings on both sides of the table.

Reporters DO need PR pitches and help - how else t...

2008-07-15T13:18:00.000-04:00

Reporters DO need PR pitches and help - how else to describe the number of reporters contributing to the growth of the HARO list?

blah, blah, blah. Reporters don't like PR people. ...

2008-07-09T20:51:00.000-04:00

blah, blah, blah. Reporters don't like PR people. Wow, I never knew that before.

PR Pros-stop apologizing for your profession of choice.

Reporters-If you don't like PR people, stop taking their calls, responding to their emails, using them to find sources, or use their story ideas.

As the owner of a media directory, I think the ind...

2008-07-09T15:13:00.000-04:00

As the owner of a media directory, I think the industry has to accept some blame for "PR spam." Often the descriptions in the directories are woefully inadequate. "Travel magazine" doesn't tell a PR pro much; does it cover domestic or international travel, luxury cruising or backpacking on $5 a day; is it published for families or singles? Without that information, publicists have a hard time targeting their releases properly.

I'm sorry to see he thinks of PR people as a "nece...

2008-07-09T10:47:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to see he thinks of PR people as a "necessary evil." Jennifer Mattern recently wrote (I'm paraphrasing here) that practically everyone knows how to communicate, they just don't know how to do it well.

In my agency experience (and, for what it's worth my political experience), I saw quite a bit of this. There are a lot of people out there who know what they want to say, but it comes out all wrong. Sure, this would make for entertaining copy for the reporter, but most companies don't want their CEO lambasted in the press because "he knew what he wanted to say, it just came out wrong."

So, they employ people who do know how to communicate. Better for the company, its employees, shareholders, etc. Sorry if that inconveniences the reporter.

That said, PR pros need to be as professional as Andrew Graham. If there were more like him (and fewer that use the shotgun approach to press releases to get "hits"), PR wouldn't have the sorry reputation it has developed.

Jen

It doesn't matter whether we're Mike Wallace or a ...

2008-07-09T04:57:00.000-04:00

It doesn't matter whether we're Mike Wallace or a junior hack straight out of college. You have something you want us to write about and we miss trust you.

I used to think that the hack/flack relationship was symbiotic. I've come to realise, however, that there is a fine line between symbiotic and parasitic.

If you want to read more cranky self-important reporters check out bad-pr.blogspot.

I've still never understood what motivates journal...

2008-07-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

I've still never understood what motivates journalists to talk about the PR industry in these Q&A's.

This smacks of the cranky, self-important reporters who ranted about their disdain for PR people in the late /90s.

Memo to Brian: you don't work at 60 Minutes. You're not Mike Wallace. You work at AdWeek, the magazine that covers (drumroll please) the marketing industry and all of its glory. If you don't want to be pitched by marketers, change jobs.

I've worked with Brian on a few stories and he is ...

2008-07-08T16:31:00.000-04:00

I've worked with Brian on a few stories and he is an excellent reporter. He does his homework and has never left me hanging. When he's not interested, he quickly says "no". When he, or any reporter for that matter, is interested, it's our job as PR people to hustle and make it happen.

Interesting. I wish I knew what the consensus defi...

2008-07-08T15:18:00.000-04:00

Interesting. I wish I knew what the consensus definition of a "PR person" is among journalists. Is it simply anyone who's contacting them on behalf of another party? Is the director of communications at a Fortune 500 company a "necessary evil" or a useful source?

One would hope most communications folks on the agency side have better things to do than waste their own time. I'm on the agency side and insist on building my own media lists (which never exceed a dozen reporters) because I know it's the most time-consuming process of any good pitch.

Thank you Brian for your honesty and help. Sadly, ...

2008-07-08T14:56:00.000-04:00

Thank you Brian for your honesty and help.

Sadly, the person who anonymously posted seems a bit bitter and that's sad. As an agency, I bust my butt to make my clients' lives easier and extend the same notion to the journos I have worked with in the past and those I hope to work with in the future.

At the same time, I force stories through a journalistic lens and have a couple of my journo friends blast holes in my stories. If they don't support the burden of relevance I will not pitch it no matter how much my client wants me to.

As PR people, we need to help our clients tell better stories and help journalists in the best possible ways we can. If we can't, we should just write ad copy...

Too many journalists don't understand the role of ...

2008-07-08T14:28:00.000-04:00

Too many journalists don't understand the role of PR professionals--and view us as a "necessary evil." Good PR people help make their jobs easier. We track down the best sources of the precise information they need to meet their tight deadlines. We find out exactly what they want and try to cater to their precise needs. Often, journalists do a poor job of communicating those needs--and slam PR people for not meeting those uncommunicated needs.