The Value of PR’s Media Relationships: Almost Nothing?

 

Public relations professionals often tout their close relationships with the media. They tell business owners and company executives their cozy friendships with journalists lead to or even assure valuable media placements.

Others say those assertions are ridiculous.

Jashua Kail mocks the claim as the “Best Friends Forevah” scam, intentionally misspelling the word in an article for Fridge Magazine.

An Insult to Media Relations and Journalism

Under the BFF philosophy, the PR representative’s connections, not the company or its products, earn media attention. The belief, he says, is an insult to both media relations work and professional journalism.

The reality, he says, is that personal relationships have little impact on PR placements. Reporters want to write first-rate stories to please their editors and readers, gain stature, and advance their careers. They don’t accomplish any of those goals by slavishly accepting and publishing stories pitched by PR reps who previously fed them good stories.

At best, an on-going professional relationship with a journalist will gain access to the reporter, but not story placements. Each story must stand on its newsworthiness and human interest. The story and the pitch are what matter. Journalists ignore or deflect PR practitioners who pitch empty stories – no matter what the previous relationship.

Anyone who works in media relations for even a short time naturally acquires relationships with journalists. That’s unavoidable and not worth touting. Because media relationships matter little, a PR rep who has talked to a reporter previously has little advantage over one contacting the reporter for the first time with a newsworthy story and a good pitch.

It’s All About the Client, the Star of the Show

The star of the show is the company or client, not the media relations pro, according to Kail.

Kail introduces himself as representing a particular client. That way the journalist will hopefully think of the client’s name when seeing Kail’s emails. If he leaves PR and the next PR rep or firm assumes his job, the journalist will still remember the client as a quality source and nothing will be lost in that transition.

Kail has worked with some journalists many times who don’t remember him personally unless he mentions the client. That’s the way it should be. The client always comes first. The client, not the PR pro, should own the journalist’s mindshare. Clients should make sure they do.

Love-Hate Relationship

Some characterize the PR/media relationship as a love-hate relationship. Reporters may view PR pros suspiciously but see them as a necessary evil to gain access to stories and executives. PR pros may view reporters as obstacles to placing the story. Love or hate, it’s symbiotic – each needs the other.

Although a PR pro’s relationships with reporters matter little in placing a specific story, experienced PR reps add a great deal of value with their intimate knowledge of traditional and online publications, broadcast stations and social media outlets. They know their audiences, types of stories they prefer, their reporters and the beats they cover, and how best to approach them. That knowledge and experience is more valuable than the prior relationships with journalists.

The greatest value comes from the PR pro’s ability to develop newsworthy stories and craft an effective pitch that’s individualized for different publications. In the media relations process, the newsworthiness of the story and the way it’s positioned in the pitch carry far more weight than any pre-existing relationship.

In hiring a PR person, then, the key selection criterion is skill, not relationships.

Bottom Line: Pre-existing relationships of PR practitioners with journalists hold only marginal value. Hiring PR staff or agencies based on media relationships can be counterproductive. A better approach is to view writing samples, determine their knowledge of media outlets and your industry, and probe their ability to craft a compelling pitch.

Do you think PR relationships with journalists add value?