Picking a Journalist’s Brain

Why won’t that reporter return my phone call? Why is he not answering my pitches on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? Why isn’t she interested in my story?

If you’re in the business of pitching the media, odds are at some point or another you’ve asked yourself at least one (and probably more) of those very questions. As PR people, we’re constantly trying to understand the inner workings of a journalist’s thought process.

Well, we decided to go straight to the source. Say hello to “5 Questions With …” — a new, semi-regular feature on our blog where we’ll ask journalists to shed some light on pitching, reporting and journalism.

5 Questions with Mark Joyella

To kick things off, let us introduce you to Mark Joyella, Twitter’s @standupkid. Mark is an Emmy-winning reporter and writer, and the editor of StandupKid’s Local TV News, a blog dedicated to tracking the evolution underway in local television. Mark began his career at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colorado, and moved on to stations in Savannah, Birmingham, Miami, and New York City, where Mark reported and anchored at FOX owned-and-operated station WNYW. In NYC, Mark also earned bylines in the city’s legendary New York Post.

1. If you could give PR people one piece of advice, what would it be?

Learn how reporters actually do their jobs, and be willing to forget what you may have always thought. And be flexible. Reporters today, especially television reporters, are doing far more in a typical day than they used to, and they’re juggling stories and switching gears constantly through the day. That makes reaching them–and pitching them–a tricky proposition. A reporter may be at their desk in the morning searching for a story, they may have a great talk with you on the phone, and you may tell your boss or client that you’ve got a TV story in the works…and then an inmate punches a lawyer in a courtroom. Reporter has a new story.

It’s not personal. Stories change fast and all the time, and often, the reporter has no control whatsoever. Newspaper reporters may write up the story, tell you to check it out in the paper tomorrow, and then it’s not there. They may not even know why editors pulled it… It’s frustrating.

But believe me, getting angry at a reporter for “promising” and not “delivering” is a wasted effort. All kinds of things can happen. Get in touch with them and find out what happened. But don’t go into it angry–and don’t assume the reporter had anything to do with it, or that the reporter was playing with you during that early-in-the-day phone call.

Reporters love to tell stories, but they don’t always get to stay on the stories they start, and they don’t always get to do the stories they want to. And things change constantly. Be flexible and understanding, and you’ve got a great shot of getting back on their agenda as soon as they can.

2. What do you think non-journalists would be surprised to learn about journalists?

We’re really not out to get people. We do that, sometimes, sure. But the way to deal with reporters is not from a place of “they’re dangerous, we’ve got to keep control of them at all times!” Now sometimes, you do need to be very careful. If 60 Minutes calls, think very carefully about who’s doing the talking and what you’re going to say. But if a reporter calls who’s working on a day-of-air story and thinks you might have someone who could be a part of the story, don’t automatically assume this is a “gotcha” scenario. It could work really well for both of you.

But again, think like a reporter. They may be on a crazy tight deadline. They can’t (usually) wait until tomorrow. They’d rather talk to a real person than a spokesperson. They don’t want to be asked “what’s your angle?” Or “what questions are you going to ask?” Better: “oh, what’s your story and what are you looking for?” And if you’ve got an idea the reporter hasn’t thought of (say it’s a story about mall security and the reporter calls asking to talk to one of your clients. Maybe you have another client that has had great success with a new way of screening mall security guards. Pitch THAT. (But be ready to move fast once you’ve got the reporter’s attention. Their next question will be: “can we come over right now?”

And don’t wait for them to call. You can watch the news in the morning and have a good idea of a few of the stories reporters will probably be doing that day. If there’s a confirmed case of swine flu, reporters are looking for stories. If you have a doctor who’s done groundbreaking research, don’t spend the afternoon writing up a news release and planning an availability tomorrow. The story is happening TODAY. Call a reporter and say, hey, “I’ve got a guy…” (And be specific: “I’ve got a guy who’s done research into swine flu and he can say that…”)

3. What do you think about the integration of social media and journalism? Good, bad, indifferent?

I can’t get enough of it. It’s happening, and it won’t stop, so there’s no point even talking about not doing it. I’m on Twitter all day long, and use it to get a sense of what people are talking about (story ideas), to reach out to people for help with stories I’m doing, and to tell people about my stories. It’s invaluable.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen stories cross my radar on Twitter first, then on traditional news sources. People tweet “I think I just felt an Earthquake” minutes before the Associated Press or CNN report a quake. It’s fascinating–and it’s fast. (Did I mention we journalists like fast?)

It also helps me find experts and interview subjects fast. I tell networks that I’m looking for a wheat farmer, or a botanist, or a person who’s in foreclosure, and I hear back from people within minutes, even seconds. That’s critical when I’m on a tight deadline. And when I’m in the field, my office phone is about as useful as a piece of cinder block. I’m on my cell and my laptop. It’s a great way to reach me.

4. How do you think people will get their news in 10 years – and what role will newspapers play in this?

Good question. I don’t really know. Newspapers will be a part of this, as will television. But the papers, like the New York Times, will probably not be focused on that printed version, and the television news will not be as focused on TV stations. The internet will be involved in all of it. The days of come home and watch a half hour of what the TV folk think is news at 6 o’clock is going to end. And that opens up massive new opportunities for pitching stories and getting information to people. Stories can be told across many platforms, from print to broadcast, to the web. News is going where people are, and for the most part, they aren’t sitting in front of the TV at 6 or 11 like they used to, and they aren’t sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper like they used to.

5. What’s the worst pitch you’ve ever received from a PR person?

The worst pitch I ever got was written by a PR person who clearly didn’t know me or what I do for a living. The person sent me a cover letter–at my TV station–with an opening line that promised a story of great interest to my “readers.” I immediately felt like I was holding a mass mailing that wasn’t even customized enough to have a print vs. broadcast version, let alone a letter really addressed to me. I didn’t read the rest.

Be specific, and choose specific reporters for specific reasons. Nobody likes to get a pitch every reporter in town is getting. Give something to one reporter and that reporter will be very very interested in the story nobody else has. (If it’s a story!)

We’d like to thank Mark for taking time to answer our questions. Now, we want to hear from you. What do you think about this feature? What questions should we ask journalists?

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Tags: 5 Questions, Journalism, PR, Social Media

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