Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Ouch
My colleague, Mike Cargill, sent me this, and it speaks for itself. I feel sorry for the "moron publicist." I've been there myself -- in fact, recently. I pressed too hard with a reporter on a matter I felt was important and sent the reporter over the edge. The reporter didn't care if the matter was important. He DIDN'T want to hear about it. Reporters can be dumb, as we know, but as "concept salespersons," we have to leave the door open to come back. I took a risk, and I lost. I'm not proud of it, but the principle was -- and is -- something that should not be overlooked.
That said, the Gawker entry is devastating precisely because Gawker reprinted the entire e-mail thread. On the other hand, I once called a reporter 15 times and left messages because I knew he would want to know the news I had. The reporter finally answered and yes, he did want to know the news. So, in the end, you never quite know what will keep a reporter happy or tick one off.
Unfortunately, with blogs reporters can get even when they don't like us. We need to remember that.
That said, the Gawker entry is devastating precisely because Gawker reprinted the entire e-mail thread. On the other hand, I once called a reporter 15 times and left messages because I knew he would want to know the news I had. The reporter finally answered and yes, he did want to know the news. So, in the end, you never quite know what will keep a reporter happy or tick one off.
Unfortunately, with blogs reporters can get even when they don't like us. We need to remember that.
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