Sometimes, probably on our worst days, being a publicist can feel like being a glorified telemarketer. And, on those days, it seems that journalists feel the same way about us. In fact, many of them have posted diatribes on their personal sites about us and how to properly pitch them. In fact, I have seen whole sites devoted to just that topic.
However, there are many of us publicists out there that do the job right. (Hopefully more of us than the bad ones, but I guess I’ll never know.) The good ones make sure to create targeted lists of journalists and outlets that will care about our story, read/view/listen to journalists’ work before pitching and create short, well-written pitches to hit the mark. We are actually an asset to journalists, if only they would see beyond the words “public relations.” To get the most of out of us, journalists could actually use a few tips of their own for dealing with PR people. Continue reading