Do PR companies and press offices only hinder good journalism? | DEBATE

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Do PR companies and press offices only hinder good journalism? | DEBATE

by The Student

It’s an age old problem: you ring up a press office or PR company for a quote or some figures and they take two weeks to get back to you with a pithy quote that contributes nothing to your piece. But is it really their fault? Do they deserve as much stick as journalists give them? The Student and Jazmin Cabrera, an account executive at Conker Communications fight it out till the death (figuratively).

THE STUDENT

‘We can provide you with this information but not today I’m afraid’

‘Sorry for the delay, we’ve had to get our resources team to dig out the information’

‘Sorry I haven’t been able to get hold of the information for today’

‘My team is pulling together the information but this may not complete till tomorrow’

The above are all actual excuses that I received from council and university press offices whilst working on the News desk at the Sunday Times last week. Asked to find out local government spending on road maintenance and the breakdown of students who go to a university near their home town, I was confronted with a long list of snivelling apologies and flat out refusals.

It amazed me how often I was told ‘we don’t hold that information in that format’ which, in PR speak, means the stats you’re looking for are on different spreadsheets, take a bit of time to extract and therefore aren’t worth the work. And throughout the whole charade, I feel like I’m being fobbed off and that the PR person who took my call isn’t at all bothered about my deadline. We’re just playing a game of email chess, which I guess is why the reporter gave the job to me in the first place.

And that’s not even taking into account the scepticism. I’m trying to write a well-informed piece about the cuts to council spending or whatever and these people treat you like you’re looking in their knicker drawer. ‘Can I ask what the information is for?’, one asks one council comms employee whilst another is just keen to know all councils are being contacted and that the piece won’t be a major exclusive solely focusing on them. Every question is an obstacle and it feels like I’m doing some dirty deed, when public spending figures, in this case at least, should be freely available and not something I should have to jump through hoops for.

I should make clear that this isn’t a journo rant per se – I worked in my university press office for a year as an undergrad, enjoyed it, got a lot out of it. And some press offices were very good in getting back to me (even without me calling up to remind them I was still waiting for my figures). But the majority, by nature, push out what they want and, in the very nature of doing so, even if they don’t actively conceal it, relegate other possibly newsworthy stories to the trash. And that’s not something that is conducive to good journalism.

NO – JAZMIN CABRERA, PR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Bill Gates once said that if he were down to his last dollar, he would spend it on PR. Strong words from one of the richest men in the world and great PR for PR itself.

Some people would have you believe that the job of the PR is to spend their days lying and exaggerating to journalists, yet reality lies far from this- a day in the world of PR consists of flagging-up newsworthy items to journalists. When a deadline is looming and there is space to fill, you can guarantee that the journalist’s PR contacts will be their first stop.

Of course, the client is vital to a PR’s business so any press release will paint them in a positive light – it’s down to the journalist to question the information, research the subject and request further details if they believe claims need substantiating.

PR looks after an image and a reputation, but it is simply a matter of promoting and polishing abrand rather than concealing the truth. The PR industry is a popular scapegoat for journalists butgood PRs work alongside the media, providing much needed ideas and perhaps a ready-written article. In turn they get a client mention – PR supports journalism and vice versa. There’s nothing underhand to it (at least not at Conker Communications!)

PR is simply an act of opinion expression - if the journalist doesn’t believe the information given, they should drill-down and question it. It really is that simple.

Jazmin is a 23-year-old PR Account Executive at Conker Communications in Manchester. Since graduating from the University of Sheffield (BA Journalism and Hispanic Studies), she has worked in PR both in the UK and in New York. She enjoys fashion PR and the commercial side of the other accounts she handles, from hi-tech process engineering clients through to lettings agents, plumbing suppliers and pawnbroker.

Manchester-based PR company Conker Communications boasts of a diverse range of clients- from hi-tech industrial systems to letting agents and from fashion websites to plumbing suppliers. Conker see themselves and the role of a PR company as a tool for journalists to use rather than a hindrance.

http://www.conkercommunications.com/Manchester-based PR company Conker Communications boasts of a diverse range of clients- from hi-tech industrial systems to letting agents and from fashion websites to plumbing suppliers. They pride themselves on knowing exactly what their clients want, the hard-hitting campaigns they create and, importantly, their great relationship with journalists. Conker see themselves and the role of a PR company as a tool for journalists to use rather than a hindrance.

7 comments

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richardwilson84

Having worked in PR for four years I have to admit that it can stem further than simply being 'on another spreadsheet'. If you drop all stereotypes for a second that PR is all lunch dates and afternoon drinks, and instead is propping up an organisations communication direction you will start to recognise the level of work that lies on the shoulders of a PR.

Also, as Jamie below notes, it is certainly a two-way relationship. I have in the past deliberately dragged my heels to respond, why? Simply because said journalist had shot me down and not given me a moment of their time when I wanted them, suddenly they want something off me and I am expected to jump through hoops.

Admittedly there are times where I will jump through hoops as a journalist coming to you offers a great opportunity to build a relationship and gives you that 'foot in the door' with them (to a degree).

I also think your request of students who go to university near their home would be rather time consuming so an immediate kick back would be extremely optimistic. That said, I do feel your annoyance when you just want to write an article and are left waiting on the response of lawyers, PRs, whoever to supply the details.

Jamie

It feels like the Student and the PR person are answering rather different questions here. Can PR be a pain in the arse when you're on deadline? Yes, of course. Can they flag up interesting and newsworthy-in-their-own-right stories? Yes, of course.

As someone who could (probably) never consider going into PR, I think there's a danger this all becomes too binary - journalist good, PR bad. It's far more nuanced than that, however. Sometimes journalists will be pretty hard on PRs, and sometimes those PRs will make it difficult for the journalist. On balance I'm with the Student, but it really isn't so black and white.

Chris Wheal

Here's a PR response I have just had in after five days of chasing for a positive, uncontentious, set of tips for builders using the company's products:

Hi Chris

Apologies for the delayed response - I have been out of the office for most of this week. I did however forward your original email to Jo Doxey at the time we last spoke and also forwarded your other email of a few days ago to Jo from my mobile phone. I asked Jo to get back to me or you asap. I know she is out of the office today and this has been an exceptionally busy week for the British Gypsum comms team (they were out of the office for most of it). I'm sorry we have been unable to get back to you sooner and unfortunately, I am unable to provide any information as I have not been given the approval to do so from Jo. Would it be possible to draft something for a future issue instead?

Best regards
Sharon

sharon kerby
managing director
tonic public relations limited

www.tonicpublicrelations.co.uk

Jazmin

It seems a shame that both the student and some of you commenting have had such shoddy responses from PR companies. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that we would NEVER intentionally keep a journalist waiting for a reply. Any PR worth their salt wants to nurture their relationship with journalists as they're not only helping the journalist out, but the journalist is helping them out by featuring their client.

Peter Demain

Having spoken to a guy who formerly worked in music-orientated PR yesterday who described much of what they put out as 'trashy stuff', plus reading papers which are now barely filtered or unfiltered PR - I agree with the Student.

On the grand scheme of things, PR's massive infiltration has resulted in a net decline in quality. The causal arguments put forth by Grauniad hack Nick Davies are convincing, and it isn't hard to spot bad parts of a newspaper day to day after reading them.

I'd be intrigued to know whether any of the five hacks have taken a trip down to one of the big London libes for a look at the old newspapers? Going back even 30 or 40 years there's examples of how starkly different things were when there were thousands of freelancers at work, able to make a living and contribute to papers with evident results.

Offices filling newspapers with things from the Press Association wire as well as to personnel of PR firms are well-documented as a morph of the 1980s post-buyout press. Fortunately the online sphere gives unfettered, honest journalism a comeback - but the real question is...how do such spirited people get paid?

Pete, editor at Dirty Garnet

I have endless problems with PR and sometimes blog about it. There are enough new examples of bad PR every day to provide a new post each morning and afternoon, but it would get dull.

Here's a few though:
http://www.chriswheal.com/prs-need-help/
http://www.chriswheal.com/hmr-c's/
http://www.chriswheal.com/embargo-farrago/

Neil Hopkins

It's a shame to hear about the bad experiences.

I run a busy Communications office, and it's my ethos - and that of my team - to respond quickly and fully to all enquiries.

Why? To further the cause of our organisation? To keep the journalist happy?

Sort of.

But it's more about great customer service. The journalist, member of the public, internal colleague is a customer who I may need a favour from at some point in the future. And if I give them great customer service, then our next interaction might be that bit smoother...

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