Why journalists and PRs need to stop point-scoring and take a leaf out of Oasis’ book
I’ve never understood why a journalist or PR would take to social media to publicly slam each other.
It never ends well. Bridges burned in a bid to get one over and a few likes.
The danger of turning professional tensions into public theatre
So my heart sank when I saw a post from a journalist on LinkedIn, which read: “PRs: can you *please* stop taking screenshots of journo requests made on closed request sites and sharing them on LinkedIn just to make a statement about the media industry?
“In the past week I’ve seen two examples of this, where a PR has said: ‘Look, this journo said *this* in their request and that means XYZ about the state of media today…’ - and hasn’t blacked out the journalist’s name or publication.”
The post sparked an interesting debate as one PR accused the freelance journalist of ‘double standards’ with reporters ‘happy to screenshot PR pitches, tear them apart on Linked In or X, and milk for cheap likes’.
“You can’t have it both ways”, wrote a PR, while another said: “Such a shame because these requests are super helpful - for both sides.”
Choosing collaboration over confrontation
Having spent 15 years as a reporter and news editor before crossing into PR two years ago, these closed request sites are vital.
They offer PRs an opportunity to make their voice heard and get their client’s name out there, while journalists get a made-to-measure quote or case study.
In other words, they simplify what we all spend our days trying to accomplish. And while you can’t beat face-to-face engagement, they offer a platform to connect the two professions and build relationships and trust.
But screenshots designed to publicly shame creates walls between the sides and has left a string of journalists thinking about pulling the plug on these callouts.
And let’s be honest. Without journalists, PR is operating with one hand tied behind its back, despite the multiple stakeholders involved in the modern comms landscape - and without PRs, journalists would struggle to fill their pages or hit their page view target.
As newspapers shut down daily, AI threatens creative industries and we’re all working harder than ever to do more with less. Why would we want to break, rather than build, these vital relationships?
One key theme ran through the thread is trust. Once that crucial element has eroded then the relationship is ruined.
We’re always going to be on different sides of the story. But the truth is, as millions belted out during Oasis’ reunion tour, “we need each other” - so we must believe and respect the value that each other brings.