10 things journalists do that annoy PR pros

For PR pros who keep up with industry news, it isn’t rare to see lists compiled by journalists highlighting things they hate about dealing with PR folks.

Some of these journalists make excellent points. As in everything in life, there are practitioners who are marvelous at their jobs and others who just aren’t.

However, it goes both ways. Maybe it’s time to turn the tables and let journalists know 10 things they do that PR professionals don’t like. Fair is fair.

After more than 25 years in communications I have pretty much seen and heard it all in the media relations field. I even wrote a book titled “Confessions of a Corporate Sycophant.” I began my career as a newspaper journalist and then shifted over to “the dark side” of PR/communications a few years later. I’ve seen both sides. With that in mind, here are a few things PR folks hate when dealing with journalists:

1. Don’t call me 15 minutes before your deadline and demand to speak to the CEO about a story you likely have been working on for weeks. It can be a real challenge to pull the CEO out of a meeting with shareholders to meet your needs.