PR Trend: Reports on Reporters
PR directors throughout Chicago recently received a letter that began like this: “Is the image and reputation of your organization worth protecting for $185?
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“Accuracy; Verifying information, quotes; Knowledge of subject/industry (industry covered _____); Interviewing skills; Balanced reporting; Writing ability; Integrity (honoring release dates, unexpected questions, etc.); Personality (outgoing? sense of humor? reserved? etc.).”
One of those PR types sent Werle’s letter along to us and then discussed it anonymously. “It just gives me the creeps,” the flack said. “But maybe this is just formalizing what PR people already do. We all keep mental notes on reporters, and when we get together we may trade comments. But it’s different when someone I know and trust tells me ‘Joe Schmoe invents quotes, so watch out.’ But the idea of subscribing to a data base! I don’t know who’s putting the information in there. I just think the possibilities of smearing somebody are kind of tremendous. And the questions–it’s kind of like a dating service! ‘Outgoing personality’? ‘Sense of humor’?”
What’s a number ten personality? we asked Werle. “A person who’s easygoing and relaxed, has a sense of humor, and is willing to accept information,” he said. “If the CEO, for example, says ‘I want to give you some background information,’ and a reporter says ‘I don’t have time for that. Let’s stick to the subject matter . . . ‘”
And in New Jersey there’s a service called Fax Profiles that, for about $50 per, will share the 1,500 bios of major journalists in its files. This fax service, less than a year old, was spun off from a biweekly newsletter.
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