Comments on: Journalism-PR myths and stereotypes busted

By: Tonni Martins

Tonni Martins — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:42:22 +0000

Discussing this subject into Via News Communication (www.vianews.com.br) we reached this common sense:
From Sibelle PR Agent: “I think the journalists need the publicist more than ever and they have no other way than rely on PR Agencies”.
From Edna PR Agent : “Journalists and PR Agents Help each another”
From Pedro Cadina Via News Owner and Professor at Anhembi Morumbi University,São Paulo,Brazil: “Media Industry has outsourced the news for years and PR Agents are now part of the media productive process.PR Agents and Jornalists don´t have any conflict anymore because they are part of the same industry”.

By: Jim Macnamara

Jim Macnamara — Wed, 06 May 2009 06:52:46 +0000

Thanks Valerie. Those are good points.

By: Valerie lawson

Valerie lawson — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:54:09 +0000

This is a fascinating subject. A great deal of the arts pages of metro papers are fed by PR. Almost all “previews” are the result of communication between PRs and journalists. The PRs pitch an angle and it’s up to the journo to accept or reject it and find their own way into the story, if they are interested. In my opinion (as a former arts editor) freelancers tend to to along with more pitches than staffers. As a result, there is little work done on investigative journalism in the arts. The pages are full enough already, with previews, which in turn squeeze out reviews of more than say 350 words and pieces that dig.
But it’s not a simple issue, because readers do like to know what’s new on stage, film, galleries etc, and there is some excellent writing in preview features.
It would be interesting to research the ratio of PR stories in various sections of the press, but of course media releases alone won’t help as most stories are the result of a phone or email contact between specific journos with rounds and the relevant PR consultant.

By: Rob Gerrand

Rob Gerrand — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:17:21 +0000

Well said, Jim