Selling the story an important part of marketing

Often the success of a marketing campaign fails because the public relations support effort is not successful in bringing a corporate change or new product the public attention needed. Sometimes, the difference comes in whether or not company PR people know how to work effectively with the media. We raised the issue of how journalists really feel about PR people with a couple of professional journalists.

After a lengthy career as a reporter and editor with first the Miami Herald and later the Washington Post, John Pancake currently lives in Kyiv, where his wife is an official of a well-known international NGO. Pancake still writes occasional pieces for the Post and other publications. Regarding the question of how journalists view PR people, Pancake said,

"I think reporters in general have a low opinion of PR people. However, PR people can earn reporters' trust but it takes a long time and must be approached in the right way.

"There are a couple of things that reporters consider very important. First, to gain a reporter's trust, a PR person must deal with the reporter without shading the truth and never lying. In addition, one of the most important things a PR person can do is return a reporter's phone call expeditiously. Most reporters work on short deadlines and they appreciate a PR person who understands that and returns calls as quickly a possible.

"One thing essential for a PR person to learn is that a reporter will understand if a PR person is unable to comment because of company policy or some other legitimate reason. What a reporter will not tolerate is being lied to, and shading the truth can be almost as bad.

"A great talent that a PR person should develop is the ability to pitch a story to a reporter quickly and precisely. Being able to get on the phone, tell the reporter what the story is about and do it in a few words is a valuable talent for any PR person.

"It will always be tough for a PR person to win reporters' trust, but it is not impossible."

John Pancake has to his credit the most coveted American journalistic award, the Pulitzer Prize. Pancake won the award in 1992 as the editor in charge of the Herald's coverage of Hurricane Andrew. Later, when Pancake was arts editor for the Washington Post, three of his writers won Pulitzers.

Among the new generation of professional reporters in Ukraine, Olesya Oleshko, is recognized as one of the best. Her background includes graduate journalistic education in the United States and political writing for the Ukrainian Observer and a number of local publications. Her take on the same question was as follows:

Sometimes interaction with PR people makes me think that their job is to provide reporters with trash, and at the same time, to make all sorts of barriers for journalists if they want to get the information they need. Of course, it differs from person to person and it has some peculiarities in different areas. However, from my personal experience, the political PR people are the most controversial ones. Often I could not get comments/interviews from some top Ukrainian politicians due to unwillingness of their press/PR people to help, or maybe due to their incompetence, or both. At the same time, the same people later seek opportunities to place a paid story/interview in the publication they just denied. I can understand their reasons. By paying for a story or interview, they can control the content, which is their top priority task, especially during the election campaign. On the other hand, they severely damage the media image of their "bosses" as journalists start perceiving them through this prism of incompetence and sometimes hostility of their PR people. Of course, I do not say it applies to all the politicians, but speaking from my personal prospective, when I want a comment or an interview from a politician I always try to contact him/her personally or with the mediation of people I know.

PR people working in business, NGO or arts areas are much more helpful. Unlike their political counterparts, the PR people in these areas do not treat media as their personal enemy. On the contrary, they have figured out that media can provide them or their organization with publicity that is vital, so these people usually do their best.

The relations between journalists and public relations persons will always require the care of as porcupines mating, but the true professionals will find a way for each to do his or her job without compromise.