A reporter who says he doesn't get enough emails from PR people?
Believe it or not, he exists.
Steve Annear, staff writer for BostInno, says he likes receiving pitches from
PR professionals because they provide him with options when
deciding what to cover and can open doors for relationships with
expert sources.
Steve shared this insight when he, along with colleague Business
Editor Walter Frick, stopped by the SM& office to chat about
the kinds of stories they enjoy writing and to discuss how we, as
PR professionals, can help them gather content.
BostInno is
an online news site that covers innovation, technology, city,
business and education news in Boston. Created as a blog focused on
Boston startups, BostInno has grown into a go-to news source for
social media-savvy millennials living in Boston.
During our hour-long conversation, the reporters provided some
guidance for PR pros interacting with media. In addition to the
general "don't call us" and "only follow up once" advice PR people
are used to hearing from reporters, Steve and Walter expressed
their desire for PR professionals reminded clients that today's
journalists aren't always experts in the field they may be
interviewing someone about.
Walter and Steve also suggested that it would be great if PR
agencies and our clients made it a point to share their stories via
social media. As an outlet that uses Twitter and Facebook to both
promote and gather content, the BostInno writers appreciate when
people use social media to spread their stories. Think about it:
doing this is a win-win for us PR pros. By spreading news about our
clients, we're helping publicize and raise awareness for them,
while also helping the reporters we rely on to reach a greater
audience.
By Carol Kerbaugh, Account Coordinator at Solomon McCown &
Company
