"Will it be in print as well?"

I helped start an online (daily) & print (6 issues a year) trade magazine from scratch about seven years ago. Things are going well, thank you for asking. We even launched a second magazine through the company.
Most times I work directly with the companies I interview, but every so often I work through a PR agency. Without fail, I get asked the question: "Will it be in print as well?" ... all the time when a story I run goes online.
Our online reach is much greater than the print. So I am confused why this is important to them.
Why would they care? Does the PR person get paid twice as much for getting the story online PLUS in print?
For the most part, we don't print online copy. In fact, we do the opposite and run the print copy online about 3-4 weeks after the print issue comes out.

 

PR and agency people I deal with ask that all the time. They want a tangible item to put in front of a boss, or send via mail with a note. They say forwarding a link isn't the same, even if the online views are far greater than print circ and views.

 

Speaking of links (and maybe I'm just a cranky old guy) .. but I feel like PR people always ask for links of stories without bothering to just go to the website and get it themselves. I'm not their gopher. I don't need to send you a link when the story goes live. I don't work for you. You want to see the story? Check the website.
My standard response to "can you send us a link when it goes live?" is: "I will tag the company I interviewed in social media posts."

 

For the office wall, the boss would much prefer a framed copy of a print story to a framed copy of a printout.

 

Perhaps I could be slimy about it and send our media kit rate sheet? LOL
(I won't, I'm totally kidding)

 

I just remembered this:

A couple of years ago I was talking with a woman who handles PR and marketing for a large group. She has been involved in the tourism-marketing-destination industry for more than 35 years in multiple states. She deals with everyone from state officials, legislators and wealthy folks to us flea-bitten dirty media scofflaws.

I asked her which she would rather have: a magazine story with nice photos and a circulation of 100K or so, or online content with a larger photo gallery and more widespread coverage via newsletters, social media and the longevity of the internets. She could say "this magazine has 100K circulation but this online story has had 750K views so far" to her bosses and others.

She didn't hesitate: "The magazine. It has more impact when I can show it to people."

She deals with older people who grew up with print. They see a story and gallery on a link and say it's nice, but it's still not "real" to them. That story's relativity and importance - to them - disappears into the noise of the web when its published. Print is tangible. It's the old "stick it on the refrigerator" mentality. So they want to see it in print and are disappointed if it's not, even if they get a big online spread.

 

Mentality over metrics. Such an interesting dichotomy.

 

Without the PR angle, we have this discussion all day, every day. Our reach is huge online, but for a subset of readers/editors/powers that be, the print presence is more meaningful.

 

If "what did we do last year" wasn't so dominant, mentality over metrics could be the newspaper industry's mission statement.

 

I actually asked this question to someone at Men's Journal Magazine when they included my second book as one of the best 20 new books of 2021. If it was going to be in print, I wanted a copy of the magazine. But it's an online-only list. I'm number 16.
https://www.mensjournal.com/gear/20-best-new-books-of-2021-to-add-to-your-reading-list-mens-journal/

 

AWESOME!!!