Uttercast: Relationship vs. Value in PR

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Last night I took part in a chat among journalists, bloggers & PR flacks, called "journchat." For summaries of these Monday talks, use Twitter Search for"journchat" or go to http://journchat.info/. There was too much to follow, but one discussion I took part in was one about PR relationships with journalists.

I have ranted about "rolodex PR" before so I’ll boil it down to 2 of my missives:

"Most PRs who sell themselves based on their relationships with journalists are lying." The lie to me is that they imply guaranteed coverage. Don’t fall for that when hiring a PR firm. I’ll take a good pitcher without relationships if I must choose.

"Want a relationship? I have info that’ll help you write a good story. There’s my &*%$# relationship." Do reporters really want to be our buddies? No, they want us to be good sources.

Am I out of line here? I don’t think so.

Mobile post sent by DougH using Utterli. Replies. mp3

Bonus: As part of the discussion, i linked to Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb, noting that my knowing him doesn’t mean he’ll write about my client. I think I caught him by surprise (but yes, he did get the joke).

(btw: Marshall doesn’t drink coffee)

Doug Haslam » Blog Archive » Social Media Top 5: It’s Not About You, Mr. Journalist, and Blogging is Not a Business Requirement says:

January 31, 2009 at 10:00 am

[...] is wicked cool: I have mentioned Journchat here, but thought it worth adding to a SM Top 5. Monday nights, a group of PR people and journalists on [...]

25 Big Questions for the Future of Journalism and PR » Media Emerging says:

April 3, 2009 at 10:43 am

[...] argue a good pitch trumps a relationship with a reporter. Does the same argument apply w/bloggers, who are more [...]