Today I would like to write on behalf of every PR professional.
My Dear Journalist friends
I would like to humbly submit that we very grateful to all of you as we can do nothing without you guys, seriously there is no pun in this statement. But let's analyze how the world would be without PR professionals:
No phone calls from PR: Your days would be so peaceful with no calls from PR professional. How beautiful it would be that you would have all time of the day to just concentrate on your story. But wait, who will feed you with the information? Do you really have to decide on a story every day? What about access to the right spokesperson? You might have to call the reception of an office 10 times to get to the right person, but then even if you get to the right person what's the possibility that you'll be able to get them on a call at right time?. And if you have to end up making so many calls for your story then how will your day be peaceful, because now your day will start with too many phone calls you have to make.
Email Interaction: Do you really think that the CEO of a company answers all your email queries? Most of them are first drafted by the agency and then sent to a CEO for approval. Do you think that a CEO busy running his business will get down to answer your questions to meet your deadlines? If so, you're living in Wonderland. Yes you can totally avoid email and telephone interaction, but then you have to type the whole the story on your own ... isn’t that a lot of work?
Exclusive Stories: One morning you'll wake up to the reality that there is no one around you to promise an exclusive. You might see many more publications covering the same story, thinking that they too have an "exclusive" piece. And if the same story has appeared in two places, will you really call a CEO to blast him for not saying he had already spoken to other publications?
Press Conference: You will suddenly realize that the press conference you have come to attend – thinking you would be attending this on behalf of your publication – already has more than one person from your organization. Tragically, this time, there would be no PR professionals to blame for the mistake of your internal communication within your organization. And with no PR professionals you'd have to make it to the venue on your own, no cabs ☺
No more PR bachchas making mistakes: Yes this is big one, now you have no PR bachchas making the mistake of reaching you for the wrong pitch. But can you how a CEO would react to a young journalist who makes the mistake of asking basic questions. PR professionals are are much more accommodating.
No more written press releases: We may all be "failed journalists" who have ended up writing shitty press releases, but because we do, you don't have to go through all the shitty details. No, now instead, the announcement will be made through emails direct from the organization. And trust me, such emails can become tedious if you have to read through 300 words only to find the actual news in last two lines.
To sum it up, I agree we are a pain for some of you but we are only here because the system needs us.
