3. Giving Journalists the Basis of a Story

A common misconception held by many in the public relations industry and elsewhere is that PR provides the press with stories.

This is baloney.

PR provides the press with the basis for stories. That basis can be a news announcement, a briefing or a new product launch, for example. (For that matter, a product or company’s failure to live up to its PR hype can also form the basis of a story.) The fact is, though, that no self-respecting editor is going to value a sheet of information that he or she knows for a fact has been sent to dozens or even hundreds of rival publications.

At best, the press release can serve as a trigger for a reporter to uncover something a bit more exclusive. This has important implications for how press releases and other press materials should be drafted. One agency head, a former boss of mine, best summed up the approach by saying that the art of PR consisted in trying to trick journalists into believing they had stumbled across a story. With that in mind, let’s move on to what is involved.