YOU TELL US?
WE’LL TELL YOU
Reporters complain about PRs, but how should they behave towards them? Press officer DEBBIE SMITH has some reciprocal advice.
DO REPORTERS never tire of slagging off press officers? It seems every edition of the Journalist has another member offering us “helpful tips” on how to do our jobs.
There are enough people out there trying to tear our union apart without us doing it from the inside. May I remind these colleagues that many press officers in this union were trained as and have been working journalists.
The latest grumble (Chris Wheal, Gripe last issue) is about the lack of press officers working 24/7 at the beck and call of reporters. Putting aside NUJ guidelines on working hours I would like to tell him about mine. I work 9 to 5 in the office but my phone is on all day, every day. I have taken calls at 11pm on a Sunday; 6.30am on a Saturday and left many a dinner with friends to deal with queries. We are all trying to do our jobs.
However, given that reporters haven’t generally been press officers I thought I would compile some helpful tips for reporters dealing with PROs.
Try being polite first. It’s amazing how much more helpful people will be if you speak to them like a human beings
Do your own research. We will provide additional quotes or explain the fine detail if you’re stuck but please don’t call at 11pm on Friday to ask for information that is easily available
Don’t lie about your deadlines just because you want to get a story out of the way early. We understand 24-hour news and instant online updates but we don’t always want to feel like our story is the least relevant to you
If you use a press release almost word for word and put your own name on it, it might be nice if you called and thanked the PR after for their time and efforts
If you never speak to a particular press officer or cover any of their news releases, don’t be surprised when you are not the first reporter that they call with an exclusive. Remember in this business contacts are key.
It’s annoying being told the obvious isn’t it?