There’s an old proverb that says you need to live something to truly understand it. This idea holds particularly true in the field of public relations (PR), where the day-to-day work and nuances of the business can be discussed at length with fellow professionals but can easily go over the heads of any non-PR folks unfortunate enough to get stuck in the middle of the conversation. But as a PR professional, it can sometimes be difficult to understand how things look on the other side, particularly with the people we aim to work with every day. I’ve heard it plenty of times before: my story idea had everything the reporter could’ve wanted…why is he/she passing on this great opportunity?
To answer this question and get a sense of what it is like to be on the other side of the PR world – specifically, the media side – I contacted an old colleague who had actually made that switch within the last couple of years. Cari R., now an assistant editor at a prestigious publication not to be revealed due to restrictions from their PR department, was a rising star in the communications world before she made the leap to the other side. Today she reports on the latest happenings in science and health and was also kind enough to chat with me recently about some of the key things she now understands about being in the media after making the switch from PR professional to journalist.
What’s one of the main things you realize now about the journalistic process that maybe you didn’t when you were working in public relations?
For me, it’s the speed of how quickly things need to be done. Now don’t get me wrong – public relations can be extremely fast-paced and testing in the sense that there are a million things to do and everything needs to happen ‘’ASAP,” but with reporting, news is only as good as its timeliness (to some people, anyway). I had to adapt to that fact when I first started working as a reporter and I’m still working on it today.
With that said, however, my reporting niche doesn’t have a ton of breaking news items that need to be posted online within an hour of them happening. Generally, I have a good amount of time to put an article together and refine it – something I value greatly. I really do enjoy the process of speaking to different experts or researching a topic in-depth to really help build-out and tell a better story.
Now that you’re a journalist, what is your biggest pet-peeve when working with PR professionals?
That’s an easy one and most reporters probably say the same thing: don’t send pitch ideas on topics I don’t report about, and for goodness sake, don’t email me or call a million times about your pitch. If I haven’t responded after a follow up email or two, call it quits. Remember, reporters have to monitor all of the email we receive to avoid missing out on an important story, but we can’t respond to everyone because of the sheer volume of emails we get. Understand that your email will be read and if I’m interested in your idea, you will receive a response.
What have you taken from the world of public relations to your journalism career?
Well, I think my experiences in PR were great training to become a journalist. Taking complex topics and simplifying them for a large audience, putting together a clear story arc with a beginning, middle and end; and, of course, meeting deadlines were all important in PR and translate to my work now. I also love that I have an understanding of the PR side of things because I can provide perspective to my colleagues on certain things that they may find odd but can easily be explained through the lens of a communications person.
Be honest…do you miss public relations?
Ha! Yes, of course I miss PR! I absolutely love what I do now, but there’s nothing like jumping on the phone and getting a story placed, you know? I also can’t wait until they list me on Cision – it will be a monumental day!
A special thanks to Cari for taking the time to speak with me for this blog post. Next time I pitch you a story, I promise it will be right up your alley and I’ll only email twice.