Journalism vet asks PR pros: Why fight?

In the piece, “The Other Side of Media Rants: Five Things That Drive PR Pros Crazy about Journalists,” Nancy Bistritz opines that reporters don’t have much of a clue about how the public relations world really works. She offers these points to make her case: Reporters fail to fact-check (I quadruple-checked the spelling of her name); they demand immediate interviews; they aren’t prepared, which leads to dumb assumptions; and finally, reporters tend to be insensitive at best and outright louts at worst when it comes to understanding the job of the PR professional.

As a former print and broadcast journalist (who now wants to transition to PR), I don’t have any argument with the assertions Bistritz makes. But I believe that problems occur because neither side has sufficient respect for the job done by the other. Therefore, unnecessary conflict arises over the simple issue of control and the natural resentments born out of that perception by both sides.