Read the Papers!!!

PR people have various habits that annoy journalists – one that persists is not knowing enough about the publication or programme they are trying to sell a story to. As well as offending the reporter, this means the pitch can be hopelessly mis-targeted. Sometimes it gets silly – the editor of ‘Stuff’ magazine used to receive calls from people asking ‘is there anyone there who deals with gadgets?’ – when in fact the whole magazine was about gadgets. In our experience, the bosses of even well-regarded PR firms – many dealing in the financial and corporate sectors – often do not realise that such faux-pas are committed in their name by junior staff members on a very regular basis. So, follow your ‘key target media’ as assiduously as possible, either by buying the odd copy or taking out an online subscription. Not only will you be kept up to date, but will be aware of who is interested in what, and able to target any comments appropriately