I was a journalist for more than a decade and never once ran a story I’d picked up in a press release. I had good editors who saw the value in on-the-ground reporting. And I learned that building relationships with sources was the best way forward.
It’s been almost a decade since I left journalism to work with causes. And I’ve learned that journalists still don’t read press releases.
What they like are emails sent to them from a person they trust. And I’ve become a sort of dating coach for people in building these relationships.
“Send them an email when you’ve got something to say,” I’ll say. “Then have confidence and patience, and don’t follow up too fast.”
It can be hard for leaders of organizations to go unacknowledged. But it’s good for them. Because no matter how fantastic their work may be, a journalist has to weigh it against other work. And make a decision. In that regard, being a media relations coach is a lot like being a dating coach. First impressions count. A sense of poise and confidence. A sense that one doesn’t need acknowledgment. That one believes in one’s own value and worth.
And yet.
When that email goes unanswered, it can be tough. You start making up stories in your mind about why it might be. I remember my first media relations call, how surprised I was that they didn’t call me back within half an hour. That’s how it had been as a reporter. And then I realized: “Oh, God. I’m not as important as I thought I was.”
Waiting ten days to send a quick “circling back on this” email can be tough. Especially when your thing seems so important. Waiting another ten days to send another can be even harder. I once sent five such emails in a row to a reporter from the Sunday Times. And then he came for coffee. 60 days later.
“I appreciated that you kept persisting,” he said. “And at the same time, you weren’t an idiot about it.”
Matt Davis. Persistent. Not an idiot.(TM)
A strap-line is born.
I’ve known media relations people send gifts to journalists. It looks desperate. Or take them out for elaborate lunches. It looks corrupt. Then there are those who’ve cried on the phone and begged for a story. To their credit I did see that work, once. But where’s the self respect?
I once had a public relations person threaten to sue my paper on behalf of an investment manager. He’d compared the Chancellor of the Exchequer to “a financial terrorist”. Our interview had taken place after he’d had a boozy lunch. And I had taken very thorough notes.
My editor blinked first and pulled the story. But I never trusted the P.R. again, and if I’m honest, I lost respect for my editor, too. I guess the short-term win was worth burning the relationship, but I never forgot it. And I always try to remember, when I’m giving dating advice on journalists: Act as if marriage and kids is the goal. You don’t want the journalist to feel used.
