The 5 things that always annoy reporters

Media relations is an incredibly important component of getting publicity, and unfortunately, it’s a component that a lot of people mishandle. Too often, over eager business people don’t know how to deal with the media, and they end up doing things that annoy reporters. And when you annoy reporters, they tend to not show much interest in covering your company.

Most of the time, the people who annoy reporters don’t do so intentionally. It’s simply a result of a lack of knowledge on how to deal with people who work in a newsroom. That’s why I’ve come up with this list of the five behaviors you need to avoid if you don’t want to become a reporter’s worst enemy.

Sending irrelevant pitches. Reporters get bombarded with press releases and pitches for story ideas all day long. It’s hard enough for them to sort through the ones that might actually be of interest to them, but when you send them press releases that have nothing to do with the beat they cover or that have no relevance to their audience, you’re wasting their time and being a pest.