Media Calls

Media calls are telephone exchanges between reporters and sources. Telephone calls are basic media relations tools, along with correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and personal visits.

Receiving calls. Public relations practitioners welcome telephone inquiries from reporters and editors and routinely include telephone numbers on news releases and in story queries. The telephone remains the most widely used reporting tool for most journalists seeking quick answers and direct access to news sources.

Reporters call public relations representatives to obtain background information, verify information, obtain quotes, and arrange to speak to organizational experts. These impromptu conversations provide important opportunities to obtain unsolicited coverage.

Knowledgeable personnel should be available to speak to reporters in the hours following the release of announcements, especially if release happens late in the day when writers are on deadline. Failure to respond in a timely manner can lead to errors or omission from coverage.

Being responsive to unsolicited calls is an important way to build media relationships. Reporters and editors tend to seek out helpful sources and recommend them to colleagues.

Placing calls. Professional courtesy suggests that media calls always should be returned, but careful thought should be given to making unsolicited calls. Calls that alert reporters about significant breaking news stories, such as a pending announcement or industrial accident, are obviously welcomed. Introductory calls to reporters assigned to beats are also usually appropriate. However, follow-up calls inquiring whether a reporter or editor received a particular routine news story only annoy busy reporters and should be avoided.

Practitioners wishing to “pitch” stories to media sometimes make cold calls to assignment editors or reporters. Although this technique can work when a relationship already exists between the source and journalist, most editors and reporters will tell unknown callers to send them materials in advance, after which a follow-up call is appropriate. If used, cold pitches must be simple and compelling and should telegraph the idea in the first several sentences of the conversation.

Telephone calls are frequently employed to place guests on radio and television programs. Talent coordinators and producers almost always demand to see materials in advance but will then negotiate details by phone. Thereafter, arrangements should be confirmed in writing.