Journalists and PR’s
Are journalists the best people to speak to other journalists? Do you need to have served time in a darkened newsroom to be able to properly communicate with the media?
I would argue that it can help to understand the requirements of reporters, and how to serve them better, if you have seen the industry through the same bleary and bloodshot eyes at some stage.
The need to get to the heart of the story, the desire for relevant detail, the quest for context, statistics, quotes that back up your top line and getting a message across in simple, easily-understood language without lapsing into jargon, are all aspects a reporter is looking for. And all at a time to suit his/her deadline.
Surely a battle-scarred hack is the best person to ensure other hacks get what they want? Maybe, but certainly not exclusively.
Demobbed members of Her Majesty’s Press do not necessarily make good PR executives. A good writer can give a weary press release the burst of energy it requires to get it noticed. But if they can’t write very well in the first place, it’s unlikely that they will become a Pulitzer Prize winner penning commercial copy and could fall foul of the King Midas in reverse syndrome.
A good reporter may recognise a story, but will the best story best serve the needs of the client? Could the natural instinct to pursue the hard-hitting intro hit the firm you’re supposed to be representing more than the reader?
PRs without a journalistic background can write as well as, and in some cases better than, the reporters who alter their prose, and the best ones get their client’s message over in a way that suits the journalist’s requirements. Just don’t expect the journalist to admit it.
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