72 Point Blog National News, PR and Market Research Specialists…

Why Newspaper Hacks Often Fail To Make Decent PRs

The much documented decline of jobs on newspapers means many hacks are shifting their attention to PR.

PRWeek has covered a number of recent stories involving senior journalists hanging up their hard-news hats to join "the other side" - and a recent blog post by their editor makes the point that due to a sound understanding of comms channels - the right kind of journalist could represent a unique type of campaign adviser.

We employ a number of former-journos for varying roles, without whom we would certainly not achieve the level of news exposure we do.

But I have worked with many hacks in the past that have not been able to manage the shift - and indeed some whose PR careers have been short lived.

So why do many hacks fail to get on in the PR industry? Speaking from my own experience, there are a number of reasons:

1. They lack client-facing skills:

Having worked in a stressful newsroom environment with orders being barked at them or having barked orders at someone else, the hacks' experience of communication differs to that of a PR. Journalists can be impatient and at times downright rude. It is difficult for them to adjust the way in which they communicate and deal with PR-people, who they often regard with disdain.

2. They'll never care about a brand as much they care about a story:

A hacks' intrinsic priority is to create a gritty news piece. When working in PR, journalists need to be able to learn a deeply important skill - finding a middle-ground - a balance between retaining the brand message and creating something which is newsy and robust. A news journalist will always resent the watering down of a killer angle to keep the non risk-taking brand people content.

3. They miss the rush of a proper news story:

Every news hack I know claims the greatest aspect of the job is the feeling they have when working on a great exclusive or when a huge story breaks just before deadline. While achieving decent shows for a brand is a great feeling - even a page-lead for a client will never compare to the rush of a front-page revelation.

4. They miss not being in the news loop:

Newspaper hacks are at the forefront of the current news agenda. Most of them are in the job because they want to be the first to know about and report on current affairs or break a celebrity scandal. Journalists need to have the inside info and as a PR they have to move away from that close-knit environment and adapt their priorities.

5. They will feel they have "sold-out" or lost their integrity:

Although the appeal of a better salary is enough for most journos to be content with their change in career - many journalists will struggle with the feeling that they have sold out by turning from poacher to game-keeper. Moving to PR is still deemed by many in the news industry as giving up on one's journalistic integrity and old friends in the industry will continue to jokingly mock the decision.

So those are some of the attributes which can, in my opinion affect a successful shift away from news and into PR.

But with jobs in journalism fast depleting, there needs to be a shift in attitude if a career in PR is going to work out for a journalist.

The most successful "hack-turned-PR" types I know are the ones who have trained themselves to embrace a new mind-set. They accept the PR industry for what it is and ditch the old-school, pre-conceived notion that what we do is worthless.

Written by Harriet Crosse