Why Journalists are Not Happy These Days

From: http://www.freeportpress.com/why-journalists-are-not-happy-these-days/

Why Journalists Are Not Happy These Days

March 19, 2015David Pilcher

The hallmark of good technology is that it makes our lives easier, more enjoyable and therefore makes us happier. So why are so many journalists saying that working in this digital tech-heavy age is harder than ever?

“According to the survey of North American journalists and media professionals released today, 68% of journalists feel that their job has become more difficult in the last 5 years,” notes this article from Talking New Media.

The article cites results from a survey conducted by ISEBOX.com that showed “an overwhelming number of journalists and media professionals are unhappy with how they are approached by corporate communications, resulting in working longer hours and increased frustration.”

“There seems to be a major gap between what reporters need, and how corporate communications are providing these needs,” says Salvatore Salpietro, CTO of ISEBOX.com in the TNM article.

“There is increasing pressure to gain earned media coverage by corporate communications and public relations teams, yet they are still making the process very difficult for media to access content and put together a story by using things like FTP, email, locked-down websites, and manual requests – all of these are enthusiasm-killers,” Salpietro continued.

With the growing focus on multi-media content, journalists are still finding that most pitches from corporate communications departments and PR agencies do not offer images, videos, graphics or even corporate logos, leaving the reporter to scramble to put it together.

“If a pitch doesn’t contain graphics I can include with my article, it’s hard for me to take it on. Even better if there is a video. I am under strict deadlines to produce at least 5-7 articles a day, and visual content is always required. Wasting hours sourcing and editing a company’s logo or media content to accompany a post is something I literally cannot afford,” says Karen Fratti, freelance writer for Mediabistro and Huffington Post.

“When a pitch comes with everything attached, no cumbersome downloads, I want to hug that PR rep. And, I’m more likely to pick up on the next release from them, too,” she says.

Next time you make a pitch, do the journalist and yourself a favor and tuck in the multi-media content they need with your email. Content, baby, content.