Dear dimwit on the phone

This talk about PR spam reminds me of one I got at my previous job that I found particularly hilarious.

It was from some condom company who was going to give a free case of condoms to the NFL quarterbacks who were sacked the most times in a game, because they obviously needed better protection.

I was half tempted to write a column about how ridiculous the whole thing was.

 

But if you mentioned the company and/or the product in your paper, the PR flack would have done his or her job. :

I get those same national expert e-mails HanSenSE mentioned -- particularly related to sports injuries -- but a lot of the doctors are based at nearby big-city hospitals and it's entirely possible they could live in my coverage area. The PR people have never gotten back to me with that information though. Their loss...

 

I'm more than happy to help with sport related injury background and I am PR hack- less. All people have to do is ask.

 

Every once in a blue moon, you might discover someone who could serve as a good source on a topic.

Although I will admit when I was working at a business magazine, I interviewed one guy about a certain industry-wide topic. He called me up after the story was published and complained that I didn't hype his product more. I told him the story wasn't about HIS company or product, but he was welcome to purchase an ad (which he declined to do).

 

I will keep that in mind, since I trust SportsJournalists.com'ers ... in most cases

 

Dear parent at hockey game,

I understand your team is down by one, and I get that you want your son to shoot so that he might tie the game up. Can you at least wait to yell "Shoot!" until after the faceoff?

Regards,
BN

 

Got an e-mail to share with you from a prior year:

 

I can vouch for DocTalk's breadth of knowledge about sports injuries, and many other things medical. But he still ain't local... for me, anyway.

 

We have an online group e-mail address that I'm part of ... everything from cop reports to non-sports PR pitches to church notices. I'm surprised the delete key still work on my keyboard as many times a day as I hit the dang thing.

 

I think in this scenario, I'm the dimwit.

We did a story on a local woman who was named the new head of women's golf for the state. Had her come into the office to get a portrait photo with a golf club. Nothing special. Pretty standard photo.

Just as I'm finishing laying the page out, she send an emailing asking for me to send her the picture. "My hire is going to be part of a newsletter, and they've asked for a picture of me." Figuring she was a very nice person to talk to and do the story, I say sure and send it along.

About 10 minutes later, as the rest of the page is starting to come together, she emails back. HATES the photo. Sends a couple more emails begging for me not to use it. Now I never met this person, but this photo looks fine. I can't see any reason (other than being ridiculously vain) that someone would think it was that bad. It was a professional photographer shooting it, and it's a plain old portrait.

Of course I lie and say the page has already been sent (I could have told the truth and been a dick, but that's just not my style). It'll be the last time I let anyone see anything before it goes to print.

 

Everyone seems to hate their own photos, whether its on their driver's license or taken by a professional. Nothing will EVER be good enough for most of them and they just feel too self-conscious about it. Not unusual at all.

 

Dear basketball dad trying to get the coach fired,
I will run a story about your allegations of the coach's misconduct when I have all my facts in order, not before. And I will publish when I decide I'm ready to publish, not when I get your OK. It certainly isn't based on your condition that I hold off until I get to meet with your band of mutineers. The only reason why I am sitting on the story for now is because I need to meet with you to get details to go with a story. After that, I will publish when I publish. That's the way things work.