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Love Journalists,

Information technology'due south me, PR. I wanted to write to you today as someone who has read countless articles on how I am supposed to grab the attention of journalists like you; compel you, intrigue y'all, pitch yous, persuade you, befriend you, sympathize you lot ... and a mode of other items.

What these articles neglect to mention is how I tin can work with you-- especially when information technology'south mutually beneficial. Y'all encounter, you lot write great stories, and I take clients that have not bad stories. Nosotros're similar peanut butter and jelly, really.

While in that location may be countless articles on how PR professionals can all-time piece of work with journalists, there are very few on how journalists tin piece of work well with PR. I think there are some great benefits to a mutually supportive relationship, especially in today'south apace changing media climate where nosotros have a lot of sway with audiences directly.

Here are a few ideas for how journalists can aid and support their PR counterparts.

1) Allow us know when you run an commodity based off a pitch. No bells or whistles needed; only a ping.

I'g going to start with the bare-boned caption: We help increase your audience. You already know that the publication you work for is most likely making almost of their profit through advertisements. This means that the more than targeted audition members who read and interact with your posts/articles/stories, the more than earnings your publisher sees -- and the more you evidence your position and evangelize your well-written content.

I want to help with this, and as a communications professional, I have a lot of tools to do so. When nosotros observe out that you penned an article that involves our clients, it's like Christmas morning. We want to call all of our friends and show 'em what nosotros got.

At the very least, we want to spread that article via social media, newsletters, posts, comments, and blogs. And then right after, nosotros want to tell our clients to spread it even further. Then at the very least, allow us know! We'll endeavour and make it as good for y'all as it was for us.

2) Don't leave us hanging.

I empathise you get pitched a lot, and too often, I understand information technology's untargeted. I likewise recognize that yous may non take the time to respond. I'yard actually completely okay with that and respect information technology. But if yous reach out and respond and I respond back, I'd at to the lowest degree capeesh you either following up with the conversation or clearly catastrophe it.

It'southward not just about skillful manners -- clear boundaries mean fewer annoyances for me. Non to mention it'southward the style to solidify a great relationship. The next fourth dimension I'g working with a company with incredibly exciting news, or when you think I might have a slap-up exclusive, I'll remember our relationship. I promise!

We accept a lot of sources nosotros tin can take our materials to -- simply like yous have a lot of pitches you can choose from -- merely sometimes, we come across one that's truly special, and a little mutual respect goes a long mode. So a quick "thanks, that was great!" or "no thanks, merely I appreciate the info" might be the easiest writing you lot do all day.

three) Be clear about your intentions.

Await, nosotros've both got jobs to do, and we're both accountable to other people. While I'm sure you've had some experiences with PR folks who have been less-than-totally-honest about their intentions, many PR folks accept been led astray past journalists equally well.

We can build from this distrust. If we're working with a client yous've already developed negative opinions about, let us know! But doing something like request interview questions and then spinning responses into negatives is just as bad as a PR person spinning a story to intentionally give a dishonest view.

In the terminate, both of us take failed, and all information technology creates is a pretty funky media climate. It's piece of cake to spin a story, and information technology's just as like shooting fish in a barrel to spin an interviewee's response. Merely usually neither actually digs into the truth.

4) Practise your homework, besides.

We typically try our best to deliver you as much information equally possible by doing our homework. If we're delivering a stat, a quote, or exploring a new angle for our clients, you lot can bet that we're going to hand it to y'all in a tight, well-researched package. Nosotros're expecting y'all to do the aforementioned when yous enquiry that story.

At the stop of the twenty-four hours, we don't have to always like each other (although cordiality is preferred), but nosotros have to respect each other. We're dependent on each other. Working together is better than working autonomously.

We're enlightened that journalism is going through an manufacture shakeup, but did you know that the PR manufacture is going through something like? Public relations is making an aggressive shift toward content relations, bringing disjointed marketing communications together once more. We're striving to weave corporate stories together across multiple mediums, amalgam one compelling, unified story.

If both journalists and PR professionals recognize these positive changes in ane another, maybe information technology will bring about a mutual shift in how we see each other and how we piece of work with each other in the futurity.

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Originally published Sep 26, 2014 12:00:00 PM, updated February 01 2017