2004 Journalist/PR Relationship study

In Q4 2003, Rainier PR commissioned a far-reaching study to investigate the relevance and role of PR agencies from the perspective of the UK media. Rainier PR's Paul Allen discovered a fragile rapport between PR professionals and journalists. According to the research PR agencies polarised between good and plain awful.

The PR industry has a mixed reputation at best. Blonde bimbos, applied incidentally to both men and women, media manipulators and downright lazy professionals are amongst the kinder comments thrown at the industry.

Industry Carnage
The last two years has been a time of carnage for PR. Client budgets have been slashed and PR programmes taken in house or near-abandoned, resulting in a shake-out across the profession. Some corporate PR agencies have halved in size and many smaller firms disappeared. There are now fewer graduate openings than ever before.

So what's left? Rainier PR has investigated the relationship between UK PR professionals and the journalists they target in a bid to influence copy and ultimately secure positive press coverage for their clients.

The Rainier PR 2004 Journalist/PR Relationship Study reports on key media relations disciplines, such as pitching, press releases and photography, as well as journalists' likes and dislikes, general relations with public relations staff, and how PR professionals can sharpen their skills.

Over the course of two months Rainier PR talked confidentially to more than 80 journalists from the UK broadcast, business, national, trade and regional media. Some of the most disturbing comments are presented here.

Basic Errors
According to our research, many PR agencies have little or no grasp of how journalists work and receive information, and make basic mistakes in their dealings with journalists. Most PR professionals should in theory know not to call a journalist after sending them a press release to 'check if they got it', but in practice many are still doing this.

35.8 per cent of journalists questioned claim that PR professionals do not understand either their client or the journalists' needs. This is cause for concern for everyone in the industry, from the journalist being bombarded with inadequate information, to the clients paying inflated budgets for a team either too junior or lacking in knowledge to understand the essentials of its business.

However, it is not all bad news and some PR professionals are getting it right. It is apparent that two tiers of agency are emerging - a minority that understand journalists' requirements and ways of working, and the majority that don't.

Rainier PR's findings make interesting reading for all parties. They are broken down into six categories - pitching, press releases, photography/materials, press trips, the relationship, the future for the PR agency/journalist relationship, and lunches and freebies.

Pitching
Pitching is arguably the most important aspect of day-to-day media relations. If your initial pitch comes up short, it is extremely unlikely that any coverage will be generated. Yet this crucial task is often given to the most junior member of an agency PR team, either too inexperienced or lacking in confidence to get the message across. So what do journalists look for in a pitch?

"The single biggest problem I face from PR agencies is that they are only ever concerned with their product/client and almost always fail to pitch this in an interesting newsworthy way in the context of the market. So it's left to the journalist to read a release or listen to a pitch and work out if this is a significant event or not - often uncovering that it is, through information and context not provided by the PR agency."

"Pitches often come late in the day or too soon - but to be fair it is impossible to catch a hack at the right time. Short pitches are the best but don't try to pre-empt us by suggesting the right slot - that's what we're here for. Basically, timing is everything and 'selling without selling' is key to success. If you can master those two things you'll be the best PR agency in the business."

"I regularly receive 15 to 20 PR pitches by phone a day. What many PR people don't seem to understand is that while it is their job to contact me, it is not my job to respond to stuff I'm not interested in. I often feel like hours of my time are wasted every day dealing with unnecessary PR enquiries."

"I realise it is part of their job, but it's quite irritating to receive several phone calls from PR folk asking if I've got the press release and whether I will be using it."

The answer to successful pitching lies in timing and relevance. Bombarding with calls is most definitely not the way to do things, and meeting these simple requirements is half the battle.

Next, there is a need for a little more creativity. 44.4 per cent of journalists felt that PR pitches were 'dull but worthy - basic pitches but with little spark'. PR should be a creative industry, so why aren't people demonstrating this?

Press Releases
A client will always get far more excited about their 'news' than it actually warrants, and sometimes corporate policy dictates that releases are issued with overly lengthy sentences, and overly verbose and floral adjectives.

However, as consultants it is vital that we push back where possible. The most common gripe amongst UK journalists is that the key information in a press release is either buried half-way down, or not there at all. Increasing time demands mean that few journalists have the time, or inclination, to wade through pages of copy to dig out a story

"Far too many agencies ignore the basics; what is the intended readership of the publication or station, what type of stories is it interested in and what technologies does it cover. I estimate that at least 80 per cent of releases are irrelevant for one of the three reasons outlined above. But my number one complaint is the regularity with which press releases contain a contact name that is out of the office the day a press release is sent out (and sometimes the day after). Why? I really fail to see why this is so difficult."

"Press release PIC/PRICE/SPEC is all we need for a news story - not blather about 'how great' it is."

"Whilst half the press releases we receive contain all the information we need, technical details are often missing."

PR professionals need to know their media and target press releases accordingly. Content should be concise and 'upfront', and devoid of 'biggest, bestest, fastest' hyperbole. 33 per cent of journalists said that a press release was most likely to persuade them to write a story.

Photography/Materials
A long-held belief in PR is that journalists always appreciate a good photo to accompany a story, a fact borne out by journalist comments. What is also true is that fewer and fewer PR professionals are practising what they preach.

"A really good - and if possible exclusive - picture will 99 per cent sell the story even if it only makes a picture caption story!"

"Picture quality is very variable: especially digital images. I could go on".

There are lots of potential reasons why a PR professional cannot always get hold of a decent picture to accompany a story, but the fact remains that yet again PR staff are failing to meet the most basic of journalist requirements.

Bribery and Corruption
The days when journalists and PR professionals would be out to lunch together every Friday are long gone, but within agencies a lot of value is still placed on lunching with journalists and securing attendance at press trips. But how much value do journalists place on these? What do they really get from a press trip? The Rainier PR study suggests that journalists hope that they are here to stay.

"I value trips and lunches in order to get time to meet sector experts."

"Trips and lunches influence because unless you meet people practicing a technology how can you really form an opinion on it?"

"I think it is always inevitable that people who tend to spend time and effort and cost portraying news to the press will always tend to receive coverage. The real benefits are from getting to know the company and appropriate contacts on a personal level as well as being given the opportunity to discuss your own particular ideas and development of articles, news, etc."

"It is almost certain that trips and luncheon launches are certain to have an influence, however much we like to think we are impartial."

"A refusal to go on a press trip/lunch, for example, can be taken as a snub. However, accepting a trip/lunch is often taken as a promise to give coverage. And the more exotic the trip, the greater the expected coverage. So not giving perceived adequate coverage can also be taken badly by companies following the trip. Catch 22."

It is therefore no surprise to find that 60 per cent of journalists questioned said they would be influenced by a lunch meeting, and 82 per cent by an exotic press trip.

Relationship
Despite the inconsistencies in approach, badly timed phone calls and poorly-written press releases, the Rainier PR study revealed that journalists still place great value in the strength of their relationships with PR professionals. 46.9 per cent of journalists said the source was the most likely to persuade them to write a story, higher than press releases or a pitch. But what do journalists think of PR agencies in general, and what are their particular areas of annoyance?

"There are also a number of PR agencies which fail to profile the media and consistently pitch blatantly inappropriate material at the wrong publications. Also agencies fall into one of two categories; those which reply with requests for images and details by e-mail, in a short order. Then there are those which take several days but wont even acknowledge the request - forcing the journalist to make a note of the fact that they are slow/uncooperative and must telephone for a timely response. I cannot emphasise enough how often this results in the journalist just choosing to cover another story instead."

"Too many London agency staff still seem to despise journalists. People who don't like journalists are never going to successfully sell to them."

"What I dislike most is PR agencies who try to keep me at arm's length from the client, only allowing me to talk to them in arranged telephone briefings and not giving me direct contact details. As a technical journalist I want specifications, not "stories", and invariably the first question I have to ask is "can you send me a datasheet on this", which is something I'd really like before an interview as otherwise I'm not prepared with the right questions. Generally technical PR is best dealt with by a technically qualified person but most seem to be arts graduates who know nothing about the technology and would be better working in the consumer sector."

"It's usually down to the quality of one or two individual staff. On the whole the bigger the agency, the worse the service they provide."

"I will often run a news story because I have a good relationship with PR contact."

The good will is there on the side of the journalist, as indicated by the last quote. But many PR agencies seem to lack the senior resource, knowledge and experience to foster these key relationships. They are too frequently unresponsive and unhelpful, and these issues must be addressed in 2004.

Moving Forward
Clearly there are some basic lessons that need to be learned. What would journalists like to see change moving forward?

1. Honesty
   "Blatantly lying ('It's in the post') when nothing has been sent. Would much prefer to hear 'no, you can't have it'. If only PR would be straight with us."
   
   
2. Better technical knowledge
   "Most annoying? The sense that the press release has been written by someone who has little knowledge of/interest in the product/event."
   
   
3. Lazy PR
   "Far too many PR agencies fail to check their databases to see if they are still sending releases to relevant journalists. A hard sell always puts Editors off because it is generally a clear indication of an awkward client that has been taken on and is desperate for coverage for a mediocre or poorly targeted product."
   
   
4. Treat publications equally
   "Too many PR agencies are biased towards supposedly larger publishing companies with bigger circulations. Few bother to check current ABCs or research titles to find out whether the market has changed and if previous market leaders have been ousted."
   
   
5. Train your staff better
   "PRs, especially younger ones, generally have poor understanding of bigger picture/strategic dimension. Not every story is a product write-up.

   "I think the problem is a lack of training of junior staff. Yes they cost less, but if they don't know how to sell a story in they are not earning their money. The basics have been forgotten - they never even bother to read a publication before calling."

   "In my experience the only PR people worth their salt are the ex-journalists, working alone or in very small agencies, who know the difference between a story and promotional copy."

6. Be consistent
   "Some agencies are excellent, with good product knowledge, knowledge of the magazines and their requirements. BUT....on the whole the PR industry is dire.

"The quality varies so much, both from individual agencies and from individual people. The worst thing is when you call or e-mail someone and they'll say they'll get onto it for you, and then they don't. Or when they e-mail you an interesting release but then can't give you any product to review. Or when you get heavily targeted business blurb of no relevance whatsoever to a consumer title. Good PRs are worth their weight in gold!"

There is much work to be done and improvement to be made on the part of the agencies that are persistently making basic mistakes. Journalists place great faith in a source of information, as proven by the respect that some journalists show for a group of PR agencies.

About Rainier PR
Rainier PR is a leading business-to-business technology PR agency. Based in London, it employs 10 people and had 2002 revenues of approximately £1.1 million. In 2002, the company was wholly acquired its management team. Rainier PR is a top 40 UK technology PR consultancy as well as a top 100 UK PR consultancy (PR Week magazine). For more see www.rainierpr.co.uk.