The UK Guardian’s tech editor Charles Arthur deals with endless enquiries and media releases from PR - but in an effort to make PR’s get to the point, he’s decided to only accept pitches via Twitter which forces PR's to a) play catch-up and b) be Twitter-savvy.
This changes the rules of interaction between PR's and media.
Firstly, making PR's change their method of contact is his choice His coverage, his rules. Fine.
Secondly, making the PR and journalism interaction take place out in the open is a significant game-changer.
So tweeting a pitch to Charles - and remember you can’t direct mail unless Charles follows you, everyone knows that you’ve pitched to him and knows what you are offering.
So if Charles rejects it, you can’t then go to someone else and say ‘I’m offering you an exclusive’ which then gives you the nightmare of going to reporters one at a time or all at once. This kind of transparency is new to PR.
On the plus-side, it’s a lot harder for a person to ignore a tweet than an email - and takes less time to reply to as well.
There’s also the possibility that this might increase PR tweetspam because if PR ‘A’ sees that PR ‘B’ has sent Charles a tweet about a product and A has something similar, then they are also going to get in touch with him. It could become a fascinating bun-fight.
If Charles does stick to his guns, does it mean he runs the risk of missing a good tale by email? What implications are there for PRs who don’t/won’t use Twitter? Will other reporters follow suit? Will PR's return the favour by saying ‘reach us only via Twitter?’ (Doubtful)
The game has most certainly changed.
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