Thanks for sharing. But don’t bother pitching.
That’s how most journalists prefer to relate with public relations professionals on social media, according to Business Wire’s 2015 Media Survey, which finds that although about 40 percent of the nearly 400 editors, reporters, producers and bloggers surveyed appreciate when their stories are shared on PR pros’ social networks, less than 4 percent prefer to receive story pitches or learn about breaking company news through Twitter, Facebook or any other social platform.
These types of sentiments are reflected throughout the survey, which reveals that journalists’ perspectives on media-related innovation are decidedly mixed:
On one hand, they sound like visionaries: When they were asked which media outlet best represents the future of reporting, the social news website Buzzfeed was their most popular choice. Despite its reputation for being obsessed with pictures of cute puppies and cats dressed like Kanye West, Buzzfeed gathered more votes (33.3 percent of the respondents) than traditional long-form outlets like The New York Times (27.9 percent).
On the other, they sound old-school: The majority of them (66.5 percent) say they prefer to receive story ideas and breaking news the same way that PR pros have been sending them for years. Namely, an email message with a link to a full press release.
As PR pros map out their media relations programs for the future, these and other findings from the Business Wire survey can be useful – and the single best insight is probably this: The majority (57 percent) of the respondents now (and probably for many years to come) say that the best way to win their favor when pitching stories is to do more research on their outlets and beats before making the pitch (by email, of course).