PR: Creating half of your news

By Stephanie Chelf

When an Australian report came out saying more than half of all news stories during the course of one week were generated by public relations professionals, Teak Media wasn’t surprised. We generate stories on behalf of our clients all the time. It’s our job.

“It’s not to say there isn’t a role for public relations,” said Sophie Black, editor of online publication Crikey, which co-headed the study. “But I think most readers would be very surprised to realize that a lot of the news they read has been generated by PR in some way.”

Since the study came out there has been some criticism in the blog world about the news business and the “spinsters” of PR.

Being a former reporter (like most of the Teak team), I like to think I see both sides. When I was in a newsroom, I looked at press releases all the time. They weren’t the basis for every story, but media savvy companies, non-profits, and other organizations knew how to get my attention. Sometimes stories came through a standard press release and sometimes they came in the form of a phone call from a well-meaning reader with a news tip.

Reporters can’t be everywhere all the time. And especially now with newspaper budgets shrinking and staff layoffs on a seemingly daily basis, there are gaps in what a reporter can dig up.

Does taking a press release and running with it devalue the end result?

No. Press releases, and the PR agents who develop them, provide a service  for journalists. A well-written press release announces important news, lays out the facts, and gives sources and quotes. If a reporter wants to use a press release in print that’s fine by us! But most cases, it’s just the starting point.

The press release gets the story moving and that’s a good thing. It gives the media access to information they wouldn’t otherwise have and it launches a dialogue between the reporter and the source.

And the fact of the matter is, natural disasters withstanding, most news is created by someone.

Stories about the healthcare bill? Creators of the legislation likely worked with a PR team to write a press release summarizing the bill’s most important points and its potential impact. Communications professionals create messaging for politicians both for and against the bill. And supporters and detractors alike are certainly being advised on how to field reporters’ questions.

A good reporter will take all of this information and do his or her best to shape it into a bipartisan article. Just because a PR pro has helped a story make it to the pages of a newspaper doesn’t mean the resulting news is of lower value to the public.

A good reporter sees a story within the press release and does the legwork to make it his own.

And we’re happy to be able to help.