#muckedup recycles PR trash talk, but where is the real conversation?
Yesterday, all of us PR folk thought we were going to catch a tweeted glimpse of what our journalist counterparts really thought about us. Feeling sneaky, we all clicked over to our Twitter streams to check out their not-so-secret club meeting under the hashtag #muckedup. The results were not as juicy as we hoped, mostly a bunch of pitching 101 complaints– no more embargoes, poorly written ALL CAPS pitches, scary attachments and the like. I’m not sure who is sending pitches in all caps, but we agree, please stop.
Of course there is the rogue tweet that caused us to straighten in our seats and say wait just a minute…my mama taught me to be polite and ask how someone is before launching into my really great news about “insert company.” We want to build polite, professional relationships with journalists, so yes, I actually do hope that you are well, it’s not just a platitude.
Excited our PR companions were to get their friendly revenge the next day, I think we were all a little let down by how quiet the #muckedup hashtag has been today. As several tweeters pointed out, are we scared of burning a few bridges? Afraid that prickly journalist might see our name in their inbox later and go “Oh that guy? No way.” In a less dramatic scenario, maybe the word just hasn’t been sufficiently spread.
The most important thing this #muckedup hashtag has hopefully done, is remind journalists and public relations practitioners that more conversations like these are essential for developing what another tweeter pointed out should be a symbiotic, rather than parasitic relationship. We have news, you want news, and it should be as simple as that.
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