Saturday, September 23, 2006
One reporter's view on emails from PR folks -- send RSS instead.
I spoke on a panel at Ragan Communications' Strategic Media Conference on Friday about Journalists who blog (I think I was a stand-in for Charles Madigan of the Trib.) We discussed whether PR folks should try sending email pitches.
I think I actually agree in principle with Amy Gahran who engages in a near-rant against email PR. She doesn't say she "no" to PR, but rightly proposes PR RSS feeds, so the journalist gets control over the "when" and "where" of checking out PR releases.
I said that PR folks shouldn't just send out broadcast PR emails, but if they knew a journalist, then they could email out targeted news releases that fit the reporter's beat.
Looks like there's a good amount of discussion generated here, so read on if this is something that comes up in your business.Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits
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3 comments:
I do NOT think most PR folks know how to set up a feed. In fact, I talked to the head of a PR firm that does lots of high-profile political work around Chicago, and she thought I was talking about the kind of feeds that come out of a mult box.
What was interesting was that she knew about podcasts, and understoond the feed concept associated with that, but wasn't aware of RSS feeds.
I am glad you got me thinking about this. Do you think most reporters know about feeds or how to ask for them?
barbara i
As a professor of marketing and e-business management I'm THRILLED to see that this conversation is going on. I have students who are both marketing and PR majors who will be taking an online course we are offering in Online Visibility. I'll be using this thread and linking to your blog Ms. Gahran to show students that RSS isn't just for reaching out to possible customers but can be a GREAT way to reach out to journalists. Thanks so much for the resource.
I'm a music journalist who enjoys being sent artist and label PR via e-mail. To plan stories, I want/need to know about release dates, tours, etc.... I'm often too busy to check feeds "in my spare time" and would rather get the info shoved right under my nose, as soon as it's ready. In fact, I was recently annoyed by a site that ONLY offered RSS and not an e-mail sub. So please, allow users a choice!
Let me also proclaim that any label site that's NOT offering up-to-date hi-res promo photos plus bios and other PR info (plain text files or easily copiable, NOT Flash text!) -- and there are plenty who are not -- are totally missing the boat! I'd think this goes for any corporate sites' photos and PR info... when we need this stuff, we need it NOW.
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