Comments on: It’s not lazy journalism, but it is ROI journalism – and that’s got PR implications

By: Wjat time is it?

Wjat time is it? — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:20:17 +0000

I was putting together a regional daily Sunday and copped this one – BankWest put our region as the second worst performed employment corridor in the country but the detailed report wasn’t where it was promised to be.
Story was put aside to wait for access to greater local detail today – When we finally got access there was no more detailed info by region \and the metro’s have already run with it – next!
There simply isn’t time to waste chasing this stuff and when the moment has passed the PR opportunity is missed.
Mind you – there is an increasing amount of time wasted assessing the merits and methodology of ‘surveys’and ‘research’commissioned for publicity sake. They sound got and make a great headline but are often based on very little.

By: observer

observer — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:47:25 +0000

……and if anyone doesn’t like it, they need to be willing to pay for their news!

By: mumbrella

mumbrella — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:22:47 +0000

Hi Rae,

I agree with that point. But on the other extreme, I often get press releases where the most basic background infromation on the company in question is missing.

Sure, I can go and find it, if the story’s good enough. But equally, if there’s another story to chase, I might go after that one instead.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: Rae

Rae — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:42:58 +0000

Journos expecting PRs to write the entire stories and do all the research are working themselves out of a job.

By: New Age Journalism « digital media technology & my life

New Age Journalism « digital media technology & my life — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:34:14 +0000

[...] Tim talks about new types of journalism emerging as a result of new media technologies. “It’s not lazy journalism, but it is ROI journalism – and that’s got PR implications” is an honest account of the new journalistic styles emerging due to the increased pressures [...]

By: Holly

Holly — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:12:44 +0000

Hi Tim,
I agree with most of your observations, but would offer an anecdote on the intern option as a cautionary tale (which is neither a general sledge of all cadets or the Gen Y’s yapping at everyone’s heels!)
While working on another paper I was contacted on deadline (pet peeve of time-poor “churnalists”) by an intern working the phones for a then leading Sydney PR agency.
After pitching a story for a round I had long moved on from, I recommended the caller read the paper then get back to me with where they thought the story would fit and we could take it from there.
The response? “I don’t actually read your paper, so why don’t you tell me in 25 words or less what it is that you all do…”
What I did was end the call and call her boss who promptly took her off the phones.
Not really the best advert for your agency or fostering media relations, I would have thought.
Few “take home tips”: read/watch/listen to your media target before picking up the phone to pitch; never call in those bewitching hours of deadline (call the editorial desk to be sure when that is); and finally, lose the “25 words or less” speil from your show reel!
Churnalists will love you for it!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:37:49 +0000

Hi Tim – Very insightful write-up, I agree entirely.
Like anything, you need to be able to make a buck out of whatever business you’re in – magazines and websites need to make money, and that means creating the content that advertisers want to be seen in.
In many cases, especially in online, it’s about finding a balance. Sure, press releases are all too often pure puffery, but sometimes they’re also newsworthy. While many of us on the editorial side like to deride PRs as useless spin doctors, journos and PR practitioners really do have a symbiotic relationship – it’s amazing what a boon a good PR person can be for a journo – and on the flipside, it’s amazing what a thorn-in-the-side a bad PR can be for a journo.
I’m enjoying the newsletter – congrats on the venture, might get in touch again soon as I’m now back in Oz from Dubai, albeit momentarily.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:55:13 +0000

Great post – I agree. A press release should contain all the factual information needed including quotes, and there are some instances when this is all the information that is needed (but of course, often not). I guess the upside of all of this is that PRs are becoming better writers – and that can’t be a bad thing!

Although more and more I’m noticing (especially in trade magazines) the PR/writer element creeping in. Which seems a bit controversial to me.

By: mumbrella

mumbrella — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:29:10 +0000

Hi Asher,

Thanks for your comment. I’d probably exclude Fairfax and News Ltd’s larger brands from this list. Happily they’ve still (just about!) got enough resource to make those extra calls.

But i’d argue that a well researched press release, with all the facts, stands a better chance of making it in any title than one that does not. Journalists are pragmatic, and with a marginal story, that might be what makes the difference.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: mumbrella

mumbrella — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:24:59 +0000

Hi Marina,

I totally agree. The best stories, the ones that drive the most traffic and generate the most debate, are usually the ones that are exclusives. The piece on ‘supplied persons’ that is currently generating our biggest debate is a good example of that.

And if something isn’t good enough it shouldn’t go in. And that’s one of the points I’m making. Sometimes, that means that a story that could have made it with more work on the PR’s part, doesn’t go in because it’s not good enough and there’s no time to do it properly.

Being online, at least I have that luxury. If you’re the editor of a B2B magazine with a tiny editorial team, you have a certain number of pages to fill regardless, so you may not.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: Asher Moses

Asher Moses — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:24:58 +0000

You’re forgetting Tim that while media companies have fewer resources, unlike in the past, today you don’t necessarily even need to beat down doors to chase down stories. Most people you would need to contact are only a phone call or an email away. There is plenty of time to chase down hunches while working on other things.

This is a good article but much of it centres on press releases and, really, how many good, unique stories do you get from press releases?

The web, blogs, twitter, aggregation sites – and the mobile phone – allow us to find so many stories that are for more interesting than anything out of a press release.

Not everyone is practising ROI churnalism. Although I admit there is less time to work on each individual story than before.

By: Marina Go

Marina Go — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:03:51 +0000

Correction: that should be ‘stories’ not ‘stores’.

By: Marina Go

Marina Go — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:01:51 +0000

Tim,
Isn’t the answer to go for quality over quantity? If you want to see great editing and writing in action, drop by Zoe Foster’s primped.com.au. We run the site on tight resources and the team can’t cover everything. So they use their prerogative as beauty experts to choose the stories and ideas that will best serve, inform and entertain their audience. And yes in the process some stores don’t see the light of day, but that’s the difference between a well-edited product and one that throws everything that comes through the door in the mix .
This best-practice journalism has the knock-on effect of encouraging PR companies to deliver their best ideas to Primped first.

By: Corrina

Corrina — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:08:45 +0000

A thought provoking topic. The issue that journalists have with the word ‘lazy’ is that they are in fact ‘very busy’ meeting multiple deadlines for print and online editions with less and less manpower (aren’t we all?) But I think when the news head gets checked in at the door in exchange for time management skills, this is when journalism – the age old art of story telling, asking questions and finding unique angles for your audience – suffers. I’m all for making it as easy as possible for a journalist to pick up my clients’ message – heck, it’s in my best interest (who hasn’t written entire features for journalists at times?) – but it’s frustrating when meatier news-worthy issues, which may even require an interview, get overlooked due to the inability of time-poor journalists to delve deeper. Perhaps it’s not lazy journalists, but at times it certainly reeks of lazy journalism.

By: Jen Bishop, editor, Dynamic Business

Jen Bishop, editor, Dynamic Business — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:00:41 +0000

Good points, well made.