After a decade in the newsroom, I made a big change one month ago, from writing stories to telling them.
It was known as the 'dark side' when I was a journalist, and there was plenty of cynicism associated with PR.
Sometimes unfairly, and other times, with perfectly good reason. Believe me, every journalist has had a dreaded ‘Dear XXXX’ email in their inbox. And likewise, I’ve had plenty of conversations with friends, who are PRs, about journalists being overly rude or curt in their responses.
But in truth, it doesn’t need to be like that.
There is a lot of crossover, and it’s a symbiotic relationship.
What I didn’t like wasn’t PR itself, but bad PR.
So, what have I learned in the past month?
Well firstly, I find PR more collaborative than journalism.
In the newsroom each reporter is responsible for their beat; and it’s their job to not just find stories, but angles in stories to differentiate them from competitors. While the newsroom is a team and journalists do work together, it’s a game of individuals.
At Campaign PR there is no real hierarchy. For any one client, one colleague will lead the pitch, another will compile a list of reporters for pitching, and a third will write an op-ed or comment piece.
It’s collaborative with both clients and journalists. We all have an interest in the process working out, and this reinforces the point that PR and journalism need each other, even if there is tension at times.
A reporter wants a good story, the client wants coverage, but they often don’t understand each other. And the client may not know about the diversity of the media as well as those who’ve been working in it for years. This is where we come in, as trusted advisers, and an effective extension of their teams - there to help navigate through choppy waters, and capitalise on any opportunities.
So lesson two is that our job is to bridge the gap between expertise and the press, and to make sure the coverage is the best it can be for the client, but that the reporter is able to do their job, too, ask questions and be as probing as they need to be.
The third lesson is about patience.
During my time as a journalist I covered many important stories, campaigns and causes. Some of this was reactive, and some of it one could argue was manufactured. But there was a reason behind it of course.
On the one hand, we wanted to put strong stories in front of our readers, to inform and educate, as well as entertain.
There is a traffic-driving and readership element also.
But ultimately journalism is about truth and shining a light on a story that you want everyone to read about.
But this did mean that most of the words we produced were for near-instant gratification, with live analysis on screens showing the impact of what you’ve done.
With this new challenge, the goal is very different
We aren’t looking at email shot click through rates.
Impact is measured in the breadth and depth of coverage, but there’s a long and short term game too.
We are working with really interesting startups, some of whom haven’t had a lot of coverage previously, but whose technology could genuinely change their industry from transforming elderly care to helping consumers better-manage their finances.
Sometimes, the companies are right at the start of their journey, so coverage needs to be tempered with expectations.
A small startup might not be able to get into the Wall Street Journal or Sunday Times with a funding announcement.
And that’s OK.
It’s about building up awareness and taking smaller wins that accumulate into bigger wins in the longer term, when they’re ready - one campaign at a time.
The fourth lesson is being deliberate.
We are a small team, often working with startups, and looking for coverage in industry or trade publications.
When we speak to a client, we glean all the necessary background, numbers, data, quotes, and important personnel information, to build a picture.
We then map out reporters who might be interested in both a narrow and wider story; we break it down in innumerable ways, whether by location or beat, angle or size of publication, while tailoring messaging accordingly and ensuring our clients are equipped with the strategic messaging they need to cut through.
And this is great, because it appeals to my inner journalist. One thing I learnt from a decade in a newsroom, is that reporters remember PRs. If you inundate editors with releases not relevant to them, it will cause damage in the longer term when you do actually have a good story for them.
Blasting releases to thousands of people does not work. Being targeted and precise helps a PR person understand the industry, beat and journalists they are looking for coverage with, and builds a much healthier dynamic in the longer-term. One based on trust.
The fifth and final lesson from my first month, is.. PR isn’t a monolith.
I never really thought about it before, probably because I simply associated it with regular press releases and writing news stories.
But it’s so much more than that.
Of course PRs do send regular pitches, but there’s more routes to coverage than I realised.
The key is knowing what tools are at one’s disposal, and when to use them.
I’ll always keep a newsroom hat metaphorically nearby as I’m crafting pitches and writing emails to reporters.
But I’m very conscious that while my experience may inform what I’m doing, it’s a completely different industry, and both PR and journalism are changing rapidly.
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