There’s a fun (if occasionally cringe-worthy) discussion on Twitter right now, sponsored by the journalism all-things site Muckrack.
The hashtag had simple parameters: What practice of public relations professionals rankle you the most? Twitter users were asked to post items with the hashtag #muckedup.
Floodgates: Opened.
It’s worth the time of any PR professional (and yes, you should all be using Twitter by now. It’s a given. Enough said.) to stroll over to the posts now jamming up Twitter feeds everywhere.
A (very brief) selection of journalist gripes about PR pros:
from Ivan Lajara @ivanlajara: Offer me a ‘local’ story from 100+miles away
from Lauren Young @LaurenYoung My PR peeve: Pitches that follow a very obvious template/feel like an email blast. Worthless.
from James Kendrick @jkendrick Pet peeve: when a PR firm follows the ignored email with two more and then a call.
from Sarah Snell Cooke @CookeonCUs In email when the red ! marks the news High importance and it’s not. All about knowing your audience.
from Stephen Pritchard @s_ritchard Schlepping all the way to PR agency office (with broadcast kit) to be told by reception there’s ‘no record’ of meeting with client
from Brandee Barker @brandee when 300 reporters email you at once during a crisis & then write “X couldn’t be reached for comment.”
Painful but too often, true. The discussion has begun to include some PR pros talking about their gripes with reporters. With any luck, this will stay productive. So far, there are lessons within for any working public relations professional.
Update:
They’re at it again, and the conversation keeps getting better. Get on Twitter right now and look for the hashtag #muckedup.