Business editor answers 12 crucial PR questions

Reaching knowledgeable experts we’d never have found if not for their reps? Love it.

Finding inspiration for new and unique story angles through the pitches we receive? Love it.

Sifting through hundreds of new and follow-up emails a week from PR reps (all of whom expect a timely response), searching for one gem we can actually use? Really kind of hate it.

Media relations are a two-way street, and there are things that both sides can do to make the other’s lives easier. However, much of our frustration on the journalist’s end comes from bad PR practices—and it’s not always the reps’ fault.

Not everyone in PR has worked in journalism and vice versa, so there are bound to be fundamental misunderstandings about what the other side’s job entails.

Although reporters’ experiences vary, there are a few widely held opinions about working with public relations professionals. I asked my Twitter followers in the PR industry for questions they’d like to ask journalists.

Here are the best ones, along with my answers:

Pitching tactics