What is the appeal of jobs in media relations?

I've worked in both media relations and newspapers, although my media relations work was not in sports (was for a very visible government agency). My reputation was built in the media however, news and sports.

Hours in media relations were better (although I had to deal with the after-hours calls -- and I gave my home phone/cell phone/pager numbers to certain beat writers); pay was better on an hourly basis, because as a beat writer I was often chasing things down on my time outside the office; and I had weekends off -- what a concept!

Down side, we were always on the media's radar, so we couldn't afford a misstep. When we did, we tried to get out in front of it, especially if it was a well-intentioned but honest mistake.

I was hired because of my media experience, and I told my bosses that I had one non-negotiable rule: I would not lie to the media. If they didn't want me to answer questions on a topic, they needed to tell me up front, and not let me get blindsided. I was fine with saying, "I can't answer that now, I'll have to get back to you." And I would. Although sometimes it was to say, "I don't have any other comment now." (And that's for comments, not requests for information. There's a big difference.)

Up side, when I called reporters with a story, they knew I wasn't wasting their time. That it was worth hearing me out. That's a good working relationship. And it made it all worthwhile.

 

moddy - 95 percent of all "plugs" that colleges attempt to shove down our throats are fluff. that's why they're referred to as plugs. people in your business that approach reporters with real stories do their jobs well. simply plugging fluff is a waste of everybody's time.

 

But if Moddy wrote up a plug for a kid from Podunk, VA, the larger paper in Richmond might think it is crap, but Podunk, VA might be happier than a pig in crap to get that plug or release.

 

My guess would be that people who leave The Titanic, aka the print journalism industry for media relations generally do so because of stability. The pay may be about the same. The hours may be about the same. There generally aren't too many Lean Deans in a major competitive team's media relations department.

And so far, I've had some very helpful media relations people when I've covered sports. I generally haven't felt like talking to them has been a waste of time.

Edit to add:

That would put you as being one of my favorite flaks.

 

You know what I hated the most? (I did a little grad work in a SID office) Being sure the correct score would make the 11 p.m. news in an area that didn't always run the score.

I did this before the internet, so to this day, I have still not trusted fax machines.

 

so i guess we're not as far off agreement as once thought.

i respect people who approach me with story ideas ... not so much for the folks who attempt to hard sell fluff.

 

Believe me, sportswriting has bad hours, but SIDs have it just as bad. I've had several friends leave media relations with the schedule the No. 1 reason. If I crossed over to be an SID, it wouldn't be for better hours -- or better pay, jumping into a new trade after a decade in newspapers. It'd be the security of knowing State U. will have an SID in 10 years ...

 

As someone else who made the switch, there's a lot of internal communcations work that goes on behind the scenes, so it's not like all we do is wait for the phone to ring.

As far as holding back on information, can you really blame PR folk? Their/Our job is to project the best possible image of our company/team.

One bad, embarassing story and you're in deep doo doo. A couple of stories you're really in trouble. A series of bad publicity and you're selling plasma for rent.

 

If you do MLB media relations, you had better LOVE baseball and everything associated with it, because it is in your face every day from mid-February until at least October.

 

What he said.

But shortly:
1. Money
2. Nights off
3. Money
4. Weekends off
5. Money

Christ, I've turned into a greedy bitch.

 

jboy - but it's not my, or my people's jobs to project your place of employment in the best possible light. our collective job is to sell papers, period. approaching media types with that type of mindset will hinder and not help your efforts.