How journos rank PR reps

A study of journalists reveals what we think about PR reps: what irks
us, what we think they should do differently and how often we use their
story ideas.

The Bulldog Reporter and Cision 2010 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices surveyed 1,729 journalists, nearly 85% with titles of reporter/writer, correspondent/columnist, editor/editorial staff, news director, blogger or freelance journalist.

The survey asked journalists questions about the effectiveness of tactics used by PR and corporate communications reps, including the relevance of materials (not that relevant), the working conditions of journalists (increasingly hectic) and the frequency of PR-generated story ideas becoming actual stories (fairly frequent). The survey writers note that “More than half of responding journalists complain that emails from
communications professionals don’t highlight why readers would care
about the subject.”

The survey also notes:

“More than half report that only 20% or less of the email communications they receive from communicators relates directly to their beats. Only 3% report it is on target 80% of the time or more often. If this is true, it bespeaks a tremendous waste of time and energy, on both the editorial and corporate communications sides of the equation. It also helps explain occasional journalist frustration with communications professionals.”

The results included:

Working conditions

54% said that the editorial staff size at their media outlet had decreased over the past 12 months.

74% said their workload had a “marked increase” over the past 12 months.

46% said they are expected to produce a greater number of stories within the same work week.

24% said they were expected to work longer hours and cover more beats.

18% said they now make greater use of press releases or other PR material (i.e. sources).

Social media

52% report a “substantial usage” of social media to promote or publicize their work (76.6% Facebook, 71.7% Twitter).

Concerns with PR professionals

45% report that the communications professionals they work with don’t understand which subjects they cover.

27% say communications professionals don’t understand the subjects they are pitching.

More than 30% report they cannot find information they need on corporate websites,including the name of a PR rep.

60% believe PR materials they receive are not relevant to their work

60% believe material is written like advertising, not journalism.  

“More than half of responding journalists complain that emails from communications professionals don’t highlight why readers would care about the subject.”

Sources of story ideas

More than 65% said 20% or fewer of the stories they file are “assisted or facilitated by corporate communications or PR professionals, including the use of press releases”

18% of journalists say that 60% or more of their stories are aided by communications professionals.

27% use PR ideas once every month or more

30% report more frequent use of PR story ideas