How to Maintain Relationships with Journalists as a Practicing PR Professional - Heying
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March 13, 2018

How to Maintain Relationships with Journalists as a Practicing PR Professional

Help them with their stories.

Your job as a PR professional is to make journalists’ jobs easier, not harder. Foster your relationships with journalists by supplying them with the information they need to formulate their stories accurately. Journalists will remember that you gave them information in the past and will find you more reliable to work with in the future.

Work with them, not against them.

While they have different goals in mind, journalists and PR professionals bring their best work to the table when they are working together. You both have different agendas to fill but your work and information can benefit one another. Ask how you could be of use to each other to improve your chances of both being successful.

Treat them with courtesy and respect.

Journalists receive hundreds of pitches a week, so they have many different story options to choose from to cover. Refrain from giving a negative attitude if they are too busy to respond right away. Have empathy for their work and how busy they are. They can’t say no to every single pitch, so if they choose to cover your story or even respond to your inquiry, show gratitude and be thankful for their time.

Don’t act like they work for you.

Some PR professionals just expect that journalists help them out with their own work. Many journalists have different niches that they tend to write about, and not every pitch is going to be a match for them. It is your job as a PR professional to find the right journalist to send your potential story ideas to. It is not their job to fix your errors; make sure you are proofreading and factchecking your work prior to sending it.