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Deadly Deadlines
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Journalists
live and die by deadlines. Woe to the PR practitioner
who does not respect this fact. Here are a few tips to
help you stay on the good side of your media contacts.
-
Understand the editorial cycle. Know the deadlines
you media contacts work under and avoid approaching
them just before a deadline. Distractions caused by
phone calls and emails when under a pending deadline
will drive a journalist crazy – and place you on a
list you don’t want to be on.
-
Respect
urgency. When you receive a call from a journalist,
respect their urgency. If you don’t return calls
quickly or have your facts at hand you can be passed
over for another source. You can pretty much accept
that you won’t be getting any more calls from that
journalist.
-
Produce
collateral instantly. There is nothing worse than
having a media person respond to a story pitch, only
to tell them that you don’t have the supporting
documentation for the story.
-
Avoid
industry jargon and buzzwords. These people are
under time pressure – they don’t have the time to
decipher your meaning. Keep it simple.
-
Offer
help. If a journalist calls you for industry
information and you don’t have it, say so. Don’t
waste their time telling them that you have it and
will get it to them right away, and then try to find
it. If you tell them you don’t know the answer but
offer to try and find out for them, they have the
option of relying on you or searching for
themselves. Don’t paint them into a corner.
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