Why Publicists and Media Sources Should View Themselves as Reporters' Assistants

Elizabeth Galewski is a senior publicist and account strategist at Otter PR

by Elizabeth Galewski, senior publicist and account strategist at Otter PR
Special Contributor to Communication Intelligence magazine

I grew up in the fast-paced world of journalism. My mother was a reporter for The Hub, a community newspaper in Wisconsin. She took me along to interviews even as a very small child. I would play quietly in the next room while she talked to people. One of her main tricks was playing dumb. She would ask question after question, pretending not to understand, until the person she was interviewing would give up in exasperation and say things they weren’t supposed to tell others.

From that, I learned to never, ever underestimate members of the media.

I do rely on the lessons I learned from my mother every day. In my experience, viewing publicists as reporters’ assistants has proven a winning strategy for success.

The Reporters’ Assistant

When it comes to securing earned coverage, the people who decide whether or not to give your clients opportunities are reporters and editors. Publicists cannot demand that outlets cover their clients; reporters and editors make these calls.

Effective publicists hone their awareness of what reporters and editors want and need. They then try their utmost to give that to them. Since reporters’ job entails reporting newsworthy events and important information to the public, publicists should tie their clients to those things.

Educate, Don’t Hype

I have heard rumblings from the media that suggest some publicists promote their clients with little regard to what reporters actually want, need, or will use. Truly excellent publicists are those who understand that their role is to educate, not to hype.

While this approach is not novel, it can take some time to master if a publicist is used to writing pitches with clients in mind, rather than reporters. Pitches that mirror marketing materials risk constituting self-promotional fluff, not the audience-centered substance reporters are seeking. The client may love these pitches, but they are unlikely to result in actual earned media coverage.

Publicists should not only write pitches to appeal to reporters, but also tailor them to the type of reporter they are pitching. Considering their beat, what stories would they probably like to work on right now? How can the client add value, shedding new light on current debates and recent events within this sphere?

Also, consider that the news moves. As stories evolve, the media conversation changes, and a pitch that may have landed well yesterday could be old news today. To be effective, pitches must position the client right on the cutting edge of a given topic.

Ask yourself: how time sensitive is this angle? What article did these reporters just publish on the same topic? Given the answers to those questions, what do they probably need right now? How can I help advance the conversation? How could my client’s take push the news into its next phase?

Bring the Hustle

Once the pitch has gone out, publicists should act as reporters assistants by offering them quick, competent service. The journalist needs something fast? I get it to them fast. They want an interview the same day, or even in the next hour? I will text my client immediately to try to set it up. They want further contacts to interview, sources who might not be my clients? I activate my network and ask around.

Reporters will turn to you for help if you hustle on their behalf. Doing this legwork makes their job easier. When reporters will learn that they can rely on you for timely, reliable, useful information, they will be more likely to return to you again for future stories.

Stay Professional

Even when publicists set out with the best intentions, reporters may not be receptive to their pitches. If a media contact or outlet requests that they be removed from a media list, this request must be honored as soon as possible.

However, the publicist may want to ask what beats the reporter predominantly covers. If they respond, that could open the door to a future working relationship. If a reporter responds with a hostile email, do not take it personally.

Reporters often work under challenging circumstances. They can be stressed and must meet tight deadlines. It’s also hard to judge tone accurately over email. I therefore recommend answering any questions they have posed sincerely and to the best of your ability.

Finding Win-Win Solutions

Newsrooms have been decimated over the last couple of decades, while the number of public relations personnel has burgeoned. Yet the health of our body politic relies on the dissemination of verifiable facts to the public from trustworthy sources of information.

It’s not reporters’ job to promote your clients. It’s their job to inform the people.

Clients view themselves as the publicists’ boss. This makes sense, since they pay for the services we provide. But in a very real way, publicists have another boss as well — the public, which we communicate with via the press.

Effective publicists mediate that middle ground, answering to both clients and reporters, finding the win-win angles that clients would love to see in print and reporters actually want to cover.

Elizabeth Galewski is an account strategist at Otter PR. She earned a master’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed her doctoral coursework in Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Galewski has worked in communications in the Clinton White House, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, she spent 12 years teaching rhetoric at the college level and was voted Teacher of the Year in 2016. Her clients have been featured in Newsweek, BBC, Entrepreneur, Yahoo! Finance, Metro Weekly, Westlaw Today, Reuters Legal, Law360, and Bloomberg Law.