Friday, February 19, 2010
Getting Even
How is this for media relations? You badger a reporter until he gets angry and sends an abusive e-mail to his editor that accidentally comes to you. You then put out a press release quoting the e-mail, and you get the reporter fired. Nice, huh? That is what apparently happened here. With media rapport like that, one could be out of PR in no time.
Certainly the reporter should have controlled himself, and he was a fool to write an expletive in an e-mail, but there is rarely a reason to hound a reporter to the point of anger. In media relations, one has to learn to take no for an answer and to preserve access to reporters for the next time. I hope the PR person involved in this incident learns how to deal with the journalists better in the future. On the other hand, issuing a press release as he did indicates there is not much learning underway.
Certainly the reporter should have controlled himself, and he was a fool to write an expletive in an e-mail, but there is rarely a reason to hound a reporter to the point of anger. In media relations, one has to learn to take no for an answer and to preserve access to reporters for the next time. I hope the PR person involved in this incident learns how to deal with the journalists better in the future. On the other hand, issuing a press release as he did indicates there is not much learning underway.
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