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Holtz v. Scoble Round 1

Posted by prdude | Posted in Bloggers, Pitches, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter | Posted on 07-04-2009

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So the PRWeek/PR Newswire Media survey came out yesterday to practically no fanfare. Maybe I was blind or plain crazed yesterday that I didn’t see any PR pro tweet about the findings save for Shel Holtz who challenged technology blogger/editor Robert Scoble to respond to his open query.  Apparently, Shel takes issue with some of Scoble’s attitude towards PR pitches and PR people in general.

Shel got his answer. Scoble ain’t backing down and posted this in response.

My take.  Both have valid points, but as a PR pro, I’ll have to side with Holtz on this one. Yes, there are crappy pitches out there, and it’s in your inbox, so simply click delete. It’s nothing personal. If reporters only knew the kind of pressure PR people are under and the amount of time we have in a day to service clients.  We try to be as smart and strategic as possible, I hope, but do we really have the time to research every reporter’s and/or blogger’s past articles to ensure pitches are targeted? In front of clients, we say YES, but in reality, who’s got the time?

If I had to research every reporter/blogger and figure out whether they’re an appropriate target, I’d be 7/11, that means working 24/7.  No one wants that even in this sad economy.  To put it mildly, be happy we’re pitching you, and the fact that you work in the media means you’re a target.  Just think of yourselves as celebrities, but not as pretty, and PR pros as the paparazzi, but not as sleazy.

Comments (1)

Sarah Soczka said on 07-04-2009

I also have to side with Holtz as a PR Pro even though Scoble raises good points. It would be great if PR people had the time to individually pitch every reporter, but at times that is simply not possible. It’s become even harder with reporters switching and adding beats as media outlets downsize. Many times it’s all a PR Pro can do to make sure their media list is accurate. It would be nice if there was a little more understanding on the news side.

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