The press release is not dead, but is evolving. But one version of the press release is alive and doing ok even as it has not evolved.
That is the earnings release for public companies. Part of the reason earning releases have not evolved is due to legal and financial constraints. Investors expect these releases to contain specific information. The SEC expects the releases to meet certain standards.
Fortune columnist Stanley Bing, who in real life heads up CBS' communications department, offers up a template to make it easier for flacks to write earnings release each quarter. Bing also offers a template for hacks to write articles on corporate earnings each quarter.
Following Bing's templates, outlined in The Mad Libs Report, would save time, minimize stress for PR pros and journalists alike.
Showing posts with label Flacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flacks. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
New Front Opens in Battle Between Flacks & Hacks: Bing vs. Jarvis
In Jeff Jarvis is a twit, Stanley Bing takes Jarvis to task for suggesting:
And I also think journalists do need PR pros -- and PR pros, of course, need journalists.
But there's long been a tension and a war of words (on Twitter, that's a war of 140 characters) between flacks and hacks.
Technology hasn't changed the battlefield.
It's only made it easier for everyone to watch and participate.
Read Bing's rant. It's a good defense of PR. Of course, when he's not a columnist, he's the head of corp comm for CBS. So read the comments, too, to get more of Jarvis' perspective (he responds on Bing's blog).
But the most important point is Bing's final sentence: "nobody benefits when the hacks attack the flacks." I would add, flacks don't benefit when they attack hacks.
What we really need to do is respect each other.
- The press release is dead.
- Journalists do not need PR pros.
And I also think journalists do need PR pros -- and PR pros, of course, need journalists.
But there's long been a tension and a war of words (on Twitter, that's a war of 140 characters) between flacks and hacks.
Technology hasn't changed the battlefield.
It's only made it easier for everyone to watch and participate.
Read Bing's rant. It's a good defense of PR. Of course, when he's not a columnist, he's the head of corp comm for CBS. So read the comments, too, to get more of Jarvis' perspective (he responds on Bing's blog).
But the most important point is Bing's final sentence: "nobody benefits when the hacks attack the flacks." I would add, flacks don't benefit when they attack hacks.
What we really need to do is respect each other.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Even as Technology Impacts PR, There's Still Tension Between Journalist Hacks and PR Flacks
Been seeing a higher-than-expected number of posts, Tweets, etc. from journalists annoyed with publicists and responses from flacks about the hacks' complaints.
This tension has been going on since I entered the PR biz two decades ago. And I know that it was going on long before that.
What's changed is that through Web 2.0 media, both sides can vent their feelings much more readily. Wired's Chris Anderson posted a list of flacks, including agencies, he has banned: "Sorry PR people: you're blocked." CNET's Rafe Needleman also has a list of blacklisted flacks and, in some cases, entire agencies -- but does not post the list.
Rafe also has compiled a list of lessons that tech flacks should review, esp. before pitching him. Pro PR Tips has some basic, and some not-so-basic, advice. The main value is to remind publicists the importance of remembering there's a human being on the other side of the email.
On the flacks side, Steve Kayser, a writer in Cincinnati, wrote a thorough rebuttal of journalists' complaints: In Defense of PR Pros.
While there is no doubt lots of lazy flacks out there, it is also true that there are lazy hacks, too. I suspect there would be more complaints from publicists if they weren't afraid of being blacklisted.
The shame of it is that journalists and publicists do need each other -- even if the former doesn't always see that. Without in-house or agency publicists, companies would be less accessible not more. Companies would be less prepared to help in large and small ways. For example, not every executive is able to deliver interesting, succinct answers that are suitable for quoting -- but media training helps them. Many companies wouldn't have photos available -- how do I know? Over my 20 years in the biz, many companies didn't think about photos until we asked them.
I could go on, but I've got work to do...developing an interesting pitch for a client.
This tension has been going on since I entered the PR biz two decades ago. And I know that it was going on long before that.
What's changed is that through Web 2.0 media, both sides can vent their feelings much more readily. Wired's Chris Anderson posted a list of flacks, including agencies, he has banned: "Sorry PR people: you're blocked." CNET's Rafe Needleman also has a list of blacklisted flacks and, in some cases, entire agencies -- but does not post the list.
Rafe also has compiled a list of lessons that tech flacks should review, esp. before pitching him. Pro PR Tips has some basic, and some not-so-basic, advice. The main value is to remind publicists the importance of remembering there's a human being on the other side of the email.
On the flacks side, Steve Kayser, a writer in Cincinnati, wrote a thorough rebuttal of journalists' complaints: In Defense of PR Pros.
While there is no doubt lots of lazy flacks out there, it is also true that there are lazy hacks, too. I suspect there would be more complaints from publicists if they weren't afraid of being blacklisted.
The shame of it is that journalists and publicists do need each other -- even if the former doesn't always see that. Without in-house or agency publicists, companies would be less accessible not more. Companies would be less prepared to help in large and small ways. For example, not every executive is able to deliver interesting, succinct answers that are suitable for quoting -- but media training helps them. Many companies wouldn't have photos available -- how do I know? Over my 20 years in the biz, many companies didn't think about photos until we asked them.
I could go on, but I've got work to do...developing an interesting pitch for a client.
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