PR professionals outnumber journalists more than 4:1, meaning inboxes for reporters, editors, and producers are more crowded than ever. In this deck, journalists share their top pet peeves, grievances, and annoyances from the world of PR--the S&!t they hate more than anything. Reading it will help you avoid repeating the mistakes of others and hopefully give you a few good laughs in the process.

1. S#!T
PR PEOPLE DO
THAT JOURNALISTS
HATE
PART 2

2. It’s back by popular
demand.
(Or unpopular demand, depending who you are.)

3. SO LISTEN UP
because this s#!t is seriously annoying.

4. We wanted to see
what drove journalists
NUTS about PR.

5. So, like any good PR person,
we did our research.
!
This is a sampling of
the s#!t we found.

7. Click for profiles in
this presentation!
)
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Sometimes, the third time isn’t the charm.

10. Pro Tip: Don’t make journalists do the legwork.

12. Whoops…

14. <- Accurate.

17. But people love these things!!!

20. Moment of silence for the demise of good judgment…

22. Same here, Steve. Same here.

23. Twitter is cool.
But so is going straight to the source.
!

24. Twitter is cool.
But so is going straight to the source.
!
Here are some gripes reporters shared with us directly.

25. "Spell my name correctly!
It's not Linda, or Lynda,
or Lyndia, or Libby, or Lisa
...it's LYDIA.”
!
!
!
Lydia Dishman, Fast Company
@LydiaBreakfast

26. "After I write an article on a
particular topic, I inevitably
get several pitches from PR
people to do a story on the
selfsame topic.
!
Why would I want to cover
the same thing twice in rapid
succession?”
!
Ilan Mochari, Senior Writer @ Inc.
Author of Zinsky the Obscure
@IlanMochari

27. “One thing that often happens when executives are too
managed, or too "press trained,” is that you spend 10 minutes
talking to them and you realize that they have been programmed
not to say anything interesting. I get off the phone as quickly as
possible and look for another source.”
Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe
@scottkirsner

28. “One thing that often happens when executives are too
managed, or too "press trained,” is that you spend 10 minutes
talking to them and you realize that they have been programmed
not to say anything interesting. I get off the phone as quickly as
possible and look for another source.”
Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe
Pro Tip: No one likes interviewing robots.
@scottkirsner

29. “Being careless and using my own
publication’s recent coverage as a proof point
of the company being pitched.”
Alex Konrad, Forbes
@alexrkonrad

30. “Being careless and using my own
publication’s recent coverage as a proof point
of the company being pitched.”
Alex Konrad, Forbes
@alexrkonrad
Pro Tip: Be incredibly aware of who you’re speaking
with, their beat, and where they work.

31. Thoughtful and genuine human
connections are what push your
story through the clutter of a
journalist’s inbox.
And yes, we mean inbox.

32. “Worse than phone calls are constant requests for
in-person meetings. First send me an idea that's
worth considering, and if we develop a relationship,
then that might be a good use of our time.”
Lauren Brown, Quartz
@laurenalixb

33. Now that we’ve outlined the pet peeves of
some of the world’s top journalists,
what can you actually do with this information?

34. TREAT REPORTERS’ INBOXES WITH CARE
PR people outnumber journalists 4.6:1, so the
answer is not sending boatloads of boring
emails.
(Stat source: http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/apr/14/marketingandpr-usa)

35. LISTEN TO REPORTERS
q
Reporters aren't shy about sharing opinions on
Twitter: Tune in and alter your approach based on
their personality, style, and work habits.

36. DON’T COPY & PASTE PITCHES
It's extremely tempting to send identical pitches to
multiple outlets, but you will misspell a name or
reference the wrong outlet.
It’s not worth the awkward apology email, so craft
an individual email for each outlet and reporter
whenever possible.

37. DON’T ASK IF YOU CAN SEND MORE
INFORMATION
You've already emailed, so include the relevant
information you're hoping to discuss and link out to
anything else they might need to make a decision
on your potential story.
M

38. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Do your homework on a reporter's current outlet,
beat, and recent coverage. Don't rely on
databases to do your work for you — go the
extra mile.

39. HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR
After the first edition of this deck, lots of PR
people complained that reporters can be difficult,
too. They sure can, but if we all have a sense of
humor, the whole process is a lot more fun.
Take your work seriously, but don't take yourself
too seriously — everyone will thank you for it.

40. Check out the original S%#T here