This article was a reallly interesting piece and gave me the impression that the "spin doctor" tatoo that all PR practitioners seem to wear on their head is still a prevalent attitude.
This sentence (or part thereof) from the bottom of page 85 really stuck out to me as the message I got from this piece - "...practitioners must always be accurate, act ethically, become better writers, and satisfy news media’s local angle requirements."
According to this article, PR practitioners are still viewed in part as spin doctors, as pushing their point to suit their perogative, presenting the most favourable points in any news releases - doing whatever they have to do to get publicity. This got me thinking that maybe on a whole, PR practitioners will never completely lose this reputation. After all, at the end of the day, isn't that their job?? Understandably, ethics etc still need to be taken into complete consideration, but angling a news release (truthfully) to produce a satisfying outcome for the client - well, I would say job well done!
Maybe journalists and PR practitioners will always have a love-hate relationship, but I think the key is (like we discussed in class last week) to get to know the journalists that you'll be dealing with. Find out how they like to be contacted, stay in contact - not just when you want something - but don't bombard them, provide them with what they want for their story, always go over and above, and act ethically!
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2 comments:
Hi Laurie,
I too found this article really interesting and was suprised at the disparity of attitudes towards pr practitioners found among the journalists. What one wanted seemed to be the opposite of what another wanted, so as you said, it is very important to get to know the individual preferences and tendencies of journo's before contacting them with any story angles etc.
Hi Laurie.
you raised some really good points about the stigma surrounding PR Practitioners as spin doctors. I can see why this idea exists, and in some ways i actually agree with it. But I know I probably shouldn't....
I think you have hit the nail on the head with the idea that journalists and PR practitioners will always share a love hate relationship. It seems the way of the universe. However, I strongly agree that the best situation for all parties involved, particularly PR practitioners, is to establish a strong and healthy relationship with individuals you will be working with on a regular basis.
Nicole.
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