vant."I've found that the most successful PR people are those who think and act like reporters." True! Think about it - to be successful in any industry the key is to know your customer base. For PR pro's it's journalists. We need them to write our stories, and get out client's name in the press. (for free!)
In my role as research officer at John Day's office, it is my job to get to know the local media. Especially in a relatively small community like Kalamunda - John's target audience and number one stakeholder group - the local media are the intermediaries between John and the community. So as the PR person in John's office, I organised to meet up with the local journalists from the 5 local papers, just to put a face to my name (and visa versa) so the next time they receive an email or a phone call from me with an idea for a story it's a person speaking to them, not just another pitch. I also found it useful to find out what each journalist was interested in - what kind of stories to they like writing, what do they think is relevant to their publication - that way I know what to send their way, and what not to.
I recommend you read the article. But just in case you're too busy with all of your wonderful placements, here are the key points :)
1. A nose for news will help drive client coverage.
2. Press releases and company/client copy will be more clear, compelling and accurate.
and if you follow these steps..
3. Hit rates for client or company pitches will increase.
4. Media connections will increase and reporter rapport will improve.
It makes sense!
Niki
14296851
Bentley Campus
1 comment:
Nikki,
I find this relationship really interesting and I totally agree.
I am doing a Mass Communications degree, and so I have had the mix of Journalism and PR throughout the last three years.
The competition between PR and Journalism has really surprised me over this time... especially when Journo tutors refer to PR as the "dark side" and PR tutors tell me I won't get a job in Journalism without a Business degree. I think both of these comments are quite inaccurate, and my experiences in my placement have really confirmed how false they are.
If anything, a Journalism background is an asset for a PR practitioner, not a disadvantage. As you said, knowing your audience is one of the most important requirements in PR- and as our audience is Journalists we need to understand them.
I believe there is nothing better than a Journalism background to establish this understanding, and it allows us in PR to work more efficiently and establish better relationships.
It's nice to see all of this in action in the "real world", and it sounds like you're doing some great work at your placement!!
Demi
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