Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
As an aspiring PR professional, I was lucky enough to be the given the opportunity to see the industry from the other side: the media. During a six month long internship, which I held during the first half of 2010, I was working for an online magazine and, among other things, managing their blog. In doing so, I was constantly being pitched by both freelance PR professionals, as well as major, well-known PR firms. My experience was a dynamic one – I got to see, firsthand, how pitching works, and more importantly, what doesn’t work.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Since when is my name Miss Jennifer Spivak Blogger? Why are you sending me the same press release five times – after I already blogged about your client? Do you even speak with the other people at your agency? Because you just sent me the same release that your coworker did only a few days earlier. And why in the world are you sending me information and press releases on farms, shoes, and your client’s poetry, when our blog is about urban entrepreneurship?
The list goes on. From blindly sending releases with no cover letter, to misspelling my name, I got a really good sense of why the media just plain doesn’t like us. Is this really what’s going on in the industry? No wonder we have such a bad rap.
In all seriousness, I think it’s sad, because of the thousands of pitches I received, 80% of which were targeted, personal, and free of silly errors, I remember the handful that committed these unthinkable PR mistakes. So it’s no surprise then, that the media probably does the same.
As an industry, we can’t be responsible for every single PR professional. But what we can do is establish higher industry standards, and be that much more conscious of what’s really going on out there. Instead of being so quick to jump into the “You need us. No, you need us” debate with journalists, bloggers, and the like, I think it’s necessary to acknowledge that our field is in fact dotted with unprofessional professionals, and, to be blunt, plain stupidity.
So what am I calling for? Well, I don’t really know. Maybe it’s more and better certification requirements. Maybe it’s stricter policies. But whatever it is that will eliminate these sour practices, we’ve got to get on it, and fast. And if we don’t, we’d better be prepared to be stuck with this bad rap forever.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Jennifer Spivak is a PR major at The City College of New York (CCNY), and an active member of her university’s PRSSA chapter. At the young age of 21, she’s already held several PR and marketing internships with small business, and currently interns at both an online marketing agency and a boutique PR firm. She also engages in freelance social media marketing. Jennifer has plans to take the PR world by storm now, upon graduation, and every day thereafter. In the future, she hopes to establish a boutique PR firm of her own.
