Archive for March 5th, 2010

If more property stories have the whiff of puff about them these days, it probably has nothing to do with journalists writing ‘favourable stories’ in return for favours –as Graham Norwood suggests in his Blog.
No, the reason is that the digital age and the ease and speed of email makes many journalists lazier than ever and PRs more powerful than ever.
Email and instant communication has many benefits. But robust, balanced stories are not always one of them. Request to speak to a big cheese and quite often – and there are honourable exceptions - the PR answer is ‘email over some questions and the nature of the piece and we will see what we can do.’ Very helpful, but immediately the PR is in control.
You will get your answers quickly, complete with jpeg attachments (too many) of suitable images, but there is a good chance those answers will be anodyne, sanitised to fit the brand and polish the message.
Meet face-to-face over a cheeky New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (bought by the developer/agent obviously) and you not only get sharper, trenchant quotes devoid of spin, but you add colour to your piece because you are dealing with a personality – be they larger than life or curiously diffident – not an email address.
Failing that, a phone interview will provide you with far better copy than an email ‘conversation’. Again you get an infusion of character and the conversation may go down a far more interesting route than initially envisaged. Result: better story.
This is not a ploy to trip up the developer or agent and leap upon an indiscreet remark to turn into a cheap headline; it just provides better copy full stop.
Last month Redrow Homes, launching their New Heritage Collection, held a fantastic event at Bonhams in London, with a very good press turnout. Having a boss like Steve Morgan helps, as he calls a spade a shovel and with a personal fortune and ownership of a Premier League club comes oven-ready with colour. The result was coverage everywhere. And ok, yes, a good headline about referring to previous new developments as more at home in Stalingrad – a line unlikely to appear in an official press release, or in an email Q & A.
I am as guilty as anyone of taking the easy option via email and working from home on a tight deadline, with the three-year-old to pick up from nursery, means a trip to meet a developer or agent on unreliable trains, or clogged roads, can be more trouble than it’s worth.
Email saves on your shorthand too, although I am an honourable graduate of the Sylvia Grimwood Secretarial College for Ladies in Newbury (honest). But I know my best work is done face-to-face.
As for taking bribes for favourable copy, I was once offered sex for editorial coverage. It proved rather disappointing and so ended up in the News in Brief section, rather than a full-blown feature.

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