Working day to day with the media is a humbling task. Reporters are very busy, overworked, always stressed, and notoriously impatient.  As PR professionals, we work hard to convince reporters to write stories about our clients’ issues or products– and it’s a tough job.

It will become even tougher with the recent announcement that the Dallas Morning News will now have journalists reporting to sales executives.

This will further blur the lines between advertising and media relations. As it stands now, I often get calls from clients excited about news opportunities. But oftentimes these “opportunities” are just representatives from cold-calling to offer editorial space for a fee, which is all fine and dandy, but it’s called advertising.

At my PR firm, we believe in good old-fashioned media relations.  We build relationships with the media, pitch journalists and place stories. It’s certainly not easy, but now with situations like the Dallas Morning News, it’s going to get harder.  That being said, we will keep pushing, and keep succeeding with the continued hope that this will help clients realize the vast undervalue of PR and PR agencies in general.

“The toughest thing about being successful is that you have to keep being successful,” said Irving Berlin.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I have a major client who buys significant advertising space in a slew of magazines and newspapers.  He insists on telling the reporters we deal with on a daily basis about the ads he purchases in their publications.  He refuses to accept (from them and us) that the newsroom is independent from the advertising department, and insists on increased coverage based on his buys.  With all of the layoffs in the media business recently, and tremendous advertising cutbacks, will there be a further blurring of “church” and “state”?

I write this in the midst of reading The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia by David E. Hoffman, an amazing book about the rise of oligarchic wealth in the former Soviet Union.  (We represent a number of oligarchs and have a joint venture with a Russian/Ukrainian company).  In many countries throughout the world, the concept of a “free” media isn’t held as highly.  I remember trying to explain to a billionaire oligarch that hiring us meant paying us a monthly retainer, but that we couldn’t guarantee him positive media coverage.  He simply couldn’t fathom it, as he kept saying, “I don’t care what it costs….”  He couldn’t understand the concept of not being able to buy positive media coverage.

In the midst of this recession, will the scarcity of advertising dollars lead to an increasingly blurred line between ads and PR?  At what point does protecting shareholders take precedence over “independent journalism”?

Simply food for thought during fascinating financial times.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR