Effective Public Relations: An Inconvenient Truth


by Katie111 - Date: 2010-03-20 - Word Count: 389 Share This!

There has been considerable debate in media land this week around a campaign by a press release distribution company to rid the PR industry of bad practice.

The campaign website is called, 'An Inconvenient PR Truth,' and the gist is that spam press releases, a little bit like global warming is going to destroy us all. On the website, one commentator even compares spam to Chlamydia, stating that PR spam is just as infectious and will leave you sterile, and that everyone has unwittingly passed on the infection at some point, which is a worry.

On the website, there are a number of badges that one can print out to wear and a, 'Bill of Rights,' for journalists. Most of these 'rights,' really just point out what public relations agencies worth their salt should abide by anyway, for example, 'A Recipient has the right to receive press releases about 'types' of stories that they are likely to be interested in and not announcements of any kind just because of an industry categorisation.'

However, there are one or two that I can't agree with. For example, 'Telephone Chasing: After receiving a press release the Recipient should not expect a follow up call from the sender. Acts of such kind only waste time and have no bearing on whether a press release is used for a news story.' Speak to any professional in any sales based role (at the end of the day, publicity agents are trying to sell a story to the journalist), and they will tell you that telephone contact is many times more effective than email contact. This and the fact that journalists often do not read press releases means that a quick (30 seconds or less) phone call is imperative in most circumstances.

Overall, this, 'Bill of Rights,' seems to be stating the obvious. This stunt tarnishes an entire media relations industry through the actions of a few bad public relations consultancies, when the vast majority stick to the simple rules. These being: research your journalist and outlet to check the story is relevant, aim to build personal relationships with journalists, and ensure the email sent is short and to the point. Hardly rocket science. The campaign just seems a little aggressive and confrontational and does not encourage what is after all a symbiotic relationship between PRs and journalists.

Related Tags: public relations agencies, publicity agents

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