Wired Mag PR Frustrations: My Rebuttal

A blog entry that Wired Magazine Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson posted on October 29 was brought to my attention today. He was ranting about "lazy" PR reps that send him floods of mass e-mails rather than researching for which writer each pitch would work best and sending it directly to them. What made his post grab so much media attention, however, was the fact that he proceeded to copy each and every PR rep's e-mail address that had sent him a "spam" message in the past month to his blog for all to see! Hundreds of them! After hearing about this, I felt compelled to respond with my own rant.

First, I sympathize with PR reps who might not know each and every writer by name, specialty, or face. It takes time to build a relationship and understand someone's interests. But sometimes, it does take a few "blind" e-mails to get to that point. There's a reason big journalist databases exist: because to research each and every writer of each and every magazine is an arduous, not to mention time-consuming, task. Sure, that is part of their job, and I'm not defending allegedly "lazy" tactics. But just because Bob Smith hasn't written an article on PCs in the past year doesn't mean he doesn't specialize in that area. Should a PR rep then just assume that PC-related pitches don't apply to him? Or are they required to research someone's entire career? Or perhaps call them up to chat about their interests? Frankly, I'd be pissed if my phone kept ringing with PR people asking about my areas of interest, and what information they should send to me. Just send it, God damnit, and I'll tell you if I don't want it! Or, even better: once we do finally meet in person, discuss things then, so we can create a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship.

I also don't want them to "research" what I've written about, then decide what pitches apply to me and which ones don't. In fact, this has happened in the past, resulting in our company missing a major product launch because the PR company didn't think the event was "our beat". My response? "Let US decide that, not you."

I receive e-mails all the time from resource databases asking for updated contact information and what areas of consumer electronics interest me. I know this information is sent to PR agencies who can then discern what pitches they should send. That's fine. It's ludicrous to expect a PR rep to decide which pitches should go to whom without first developing a relationship that doesn’t begin by being annoying and overly-persistent. A simple e-mail to say "hey, this is who I am and I'm here if you're interested" is fine with me.

I am not sure if Mr. Anderson is so angry because the reps kept sending information after he asked them not to (he didn’t say this is what happened), or if it's just because the information was sent directly to him instead of one of the writers being the first point of contact. He says in the first paragraph: I am an actual person, not a team assigned to read press releases and distribute them to the right editors and writers. Ouch. True enough: but you are a journalist that should be staying on top of all areas of the business. If you'd rather a message be sent directly to someone else, why not just tell the rep that, and case closed? If they don't oblige going forward, then I'd be pretty annoyed, too! But frankly, if I were a PR rep, I'd be copying the editor-in-chief directly as well!

When it comes to his points about personally addressed notes, I do agree that these are much more PR-appropriate, and will certainly resonate better with the journalist than a form "to whom it may concern" e-mail sent to half of Canada's media personnel. But they aren’t always possible. I'd love to send a newsletter each week that's tailored to the specific interests of each and every one of our readers. After all, it is our job to produce content that's applicable to our audience, right? But I simply don't have the time, so in one blast, everyone gets the same newsletter, and can pick and choose which items they want to read, and which to discard. They don't take it personally. And neither do I.

When it comes down to it, PR reps are the people that are there to help YOU, so it shouldn't be so hard to do the same in return. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a time when, in a hurry and on deadline, every journalist has contacted the first PR rep from a firm that came to mind instead of looking through notes to find out who specifically was actually on the account. I doubt the person's response was: "screw off, a-hole. Don't you know which one of us you're supposed to call?"

I do empathize with Mr. Anderson. I, too, get hundreds of press releases and pitches daily; and some, yes, I will chuck straight to the deleted items because it's not personal, I don't know the sender, or it simply isn't relevant. Sometimes, however, I'll find something of interest, contact that person, and a relationship that's valuable on both ends unravels. Sometimes, I'll hit the "forward" button, and send it to a writer who specializes in that area.

Call them flacks or call us hacks, we're all working together toward the same goal: to inform readers of the latest and greatest that's out there. If the PR person doesn't bother building a relationship after he knows more about you, that's another story. If he doesn't personally call to invite you to an event, or send a note to you, and just you, at that point, he isn't doing his job. But when it comes to those with whom we haven't yet crossed paths, we can't expect to be singled out in a sea of hundreds and hundreds of magazines, TV shows, Websites, and newspapers. Bottom line: cut the flacks some slack.

That said, I will not be linking to Mr. Anderson's blog entry from this post. As for me, rest assured that I will never post an industry member’s e-mail address in anger or frustration. Now, if I get one more e-mail about VIAGRA or $10,000,000 in a Nigerian bank, that's another story...

Can PR Agencies Help?

The topic of agencies came up in the office today; and not too long ago, we sat down with a university student who was doing a project and wanted to pick our brains about public relations agencies: when do we find them useful? Are they helpful, or more trouble than they're worth? As with anything, I really think it depends.

In my position, I deal with several PR reps on a daily basis, and for the most part, it's great. The way we work (and this probably holds true for most magazines) is that we always need everything yesterday. It might be a high-resolution image to accompany an article in the magazine. It might be a quick spec clarification for an article about to be submitted. Whatever it is, we always need it now. Anyway, I thought I'd give my top-five list of things a PR agency can do to make my life (and likely every magazine editor/writer/reporter's) life easier:

1) RESPOND QUICKLY. I am an impatient person by nature, and when I need something ASAP, I absolutely hate waiting. This doesn't mean sit by your PC with your fingers outstretched in front of the keyboard just waiting, and waiting, and waiting, to mash those keys vigorously. But answering in a timely matter is always appreciated, and never forgotten. If you don't have what I'm looking for right away and need to look into it, a quick note to this effect lets me know "hey, I'm on it."

2) HAVE RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. Of course there will always be a question you don't have an answer to, but the more answers you have, the better. Pricing? Everyone wants pricing. Know It. Product Images that are suitable for print? As long as the manufacturer has them, so should you. Basic Specs? This should be something easily researched. Nuff said.

3) BE FRIENDLY. The PR reps I most often turn to when I need something are the ones that go that extra mile to be nice and build a rapport. Phoniness can be detected a mile away.

4) STUDY THE PRODUCT. You don't need to know everything about what you're repp'ing, but being at least remotely familiar with what it is and what it does, helps. That thing-a-ma-jig that does somethin' or other won't really help!

5) PERSONALIZE E-MAILS. Larger companies who work with big PR firms typically send information through newswire services, and therefore, I don't expect to see "Dear Christine" as the intro: I know I'm part of a blind-copied message sent to every Canadian news service under the sun, and I'm OK with it (OK, it hurts a little, but I forgive ya!) But if you're a small and unknown company, do something to grab my attention, or your e-mail will likely end up in my deleted items box before Outlook can even seen it comin'. "Dear <<>>", "Dear Sir or Mr.", or any mispelling of my name tells me that you don't care, nor pay any attention to what you're sending. Just like with relationships, it's the little things that count!

I've been asked by PR reps that I see often what I think of PR people in general, and whether or not I like dealing with them. The answer is "yes". I've rarely come across a PR rep that I loathed contacting, but it has happened. The way I see it, if it's easier for me to go directly to the manufacturer/distributor/retailer for answers to my questions, there's something wrong. I've been fortunate in this industry, so keep up the good work. For those in the industry that I actually deal with, please, if I ever sound terse in my e-mail or phone call, don't take it personally. We're always on some sort of deadline here, and scrambling to give our readers the best possible product we can!