Should a PR person ever call a journalist? In many cases, the answer is a resounding NO. Yet it’s something senior practitioners tell juniors all the time. ‘Why are you emailing, pick up the phone!’

We live in an age where relationships and trust are more important than ever. And the border between offering useful info and being a spammer is getting murkier all the time. So what can communicators do to stay helpful, relevant and not be perceived as a pest?

Last month, I attended a media breakfast presented by Canada Newswire. They had a savvy group of panelists, including CBC TV’s senior business correspondent, Amanda Lang, Simon Houpt, media writer for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star’s Edward Keenan and Steve Ladurantaye, formerly with the Globe and Mail and now with Twitter Canada.

You can watch a video of the event here.

They were funny, outspoken and candid. Here are five insights that stood out for me as a communicator:

1. Don’t call media – pretty much ever. Email your pitch. Blindly dialing a long list of journalists has been a bad idea since the invention of call display. Of course, there are exceptions if you have an existing relationship. But as a rule of thumb – avoid the phone to engage media no matter what people over 40 say.

2. Putting a person’s name in the salutation doesn’t a personal email make. You need to go a step further. That means taking the time to research what a reporter likes and getting familiar with their beat and style of writing. And please don’t make dumb mistakes like misspelling their name or getting the outlet wrong.

3. Newswires work. Legacy media people still follow newswires. In fact, if they’ve seen your story on the wire and then get an email, they might even be more likely to look at your pitch. Just make sure what you’re sending is newsworthy!

4. PR people put way too much value on print. As surprising as this sounds, an online story still isn’t good enough for some PR folks. Too bad. A lot of what reporters write is for online editions and if they can let go of their print snobbery, you can too! It’s time to embrace a digital first approach because search is the number one thing we do online and helps people discover your brand at the Zero Moment of Truth.

5. Journalists compete for clicks and hits. The Toronto Star has a big screen in its newsroom showing whose stories are doing well and whose aren’t. And I imagine other outlets have something like that too. The point is – journalists are now judged by how their stories perform online. Do your pitches have what it takes to help journalists engage readers and drive traffic?

Now for the arrogance
On my way out, I bumped into a senior PR person and we chatted about the session. I said, it’s good to hear journalists tell us they don’t want to be called.

He vehemently disagreed. Calling still works, he said, even if it’s that one time in 50 when someone picks up. (Sounds like pretty bad odds to me.) He also said journalists have no idea how media relations works, PR professionals do. And it’s up to us to show them.

I wanted to scream.

I was taken aback both by his arrogance and ignorance. In essence he was saying listening is wrong, shoving your message down someone’s throat is a better way to go. No wonder our industry has such a bad rep with journalists.

Sad to say, this man’s approach is one I’ve heard from way more senior PR folks than I care to count.

It’s time we stopped phoning and leaving a stream of voicemails and instead started paying attention to what our communities tell us. We need to adjust our perspective and think about what we can do to help them, instead of simply assuming they’re there to help us.

What do you think? Call me with your ideas or comments – then again, I’d rather you get in touch by email or text.

A version of this post was first published in Marketing Magazine.

About Martin Waxman

Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.

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