How timely was it that the Boston Red Sox fired Bobby Valentine on the very same day the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series focused on Media Relations?….In case you missed it, the Sox decided to hold “group” interviews with their media outlets rather than a full blown news conference to announce the firing….NESN, MLB.com and WEEI were given first crack since they are rights holders with the local newspapers and television network affiliates left to scramble… There was much hand wringing in newsrooms all across town but the subtle implication here might just be that the team did not want this to turn into a “live” circus and purposely chose this method…undoubtedly, many of the outlets would have carried the newser live and millions of fans would have had access, not to mention national outlets, like ESPN and FoxSports, who might have piggy backed off a local feed….
It was the job of the Media Relations department to come up with that strategy and while the people covering the team weren’t happy, the approach worked perfectly…..basically, control the message….
There’s no question fans want to know everything about the team and while it’s always the job to build that base, media relations people, just like reporters who follow the team on a regular basis, just can’t and don’t report everything…Some stories would be embarrassing to the team, think chicken and beer here, but legitimately there are times the P.R. people just don’t know what’s going on behind the curtain…”It’s not like everyone in the organization knows everything and we’re not putting it out there, says Christy Berkery, the Social Media Manager of the New England Patriots…”A lot of it just exists within a really small corner of people”…
Which makes it all the more important to build a connection with these people….The flow of information pipe is small enough without you making any enemies…Dave Scott is now the Director of News Content for ESPN after stints in the media relations departments at UMass Amherst and the University of Kentucky…He spends much of his day putting out fires as well as generating good press for the Worldwide Leader…But Dave had some valuable words for our students, “You’re always building relationships especially with P.R. people and you have to build a trust. There’s gonna be bad stories, we understand that. If you burn us on that story, it’s very unlikely we’re going to help you with that next story and that’s going to make your job harder”…
Which is not to say you don’t investigate, don’t report and don’t question but at the end of the day you have to remember, you need these people…And making your job harder is not what it’s all about….
27 Comments
Taylor Williams posted on October 8, 2012 at 11:25 am
So far, we’ve had five seminars covering five very different sub-topics of sports journalism. But within each discussion, the case can be made that the central theme, issue, or controversy is governed, at least in part, by the journalist’s personal relationships (Jerry Thornton/online journalism perhaps being the exception). Cultivating good dynamics and rapport and establishing intimate credibility are among the job’s unshakeable must-dos.
This undoubtedly applies to media relations. But the real question involves how those good terms are maintained over the long haul.
To me, it’s like dating. In the beginning, the process of give-and-take has to be plainly visible to keep the power struggle beneath the surface at bay. Developing empathy is key, and as Dave mentioned, pulling a fast one probably isn’t advisable. Though media relations people are ultimately loyal to the teams that pay their salaries, many share deep ties to journalists (like Dave, who used to be one), stemming from their love of sports and writing. Like with romantic relationships, when both parties focus and build on their similarities, not differences, they move toward harmonious and productive co-existence.
Dave also mentioned that there’s a “used car salesman” perception of PR men and women. But I think that can be avoided in sports media. Treat encounters with media relations people like dates – be respectful, play by the rules, and don’t be scared to woo them a little – so long as it’s not disingenuous.
Christy and Dave both struck me as regular, down-to-earth sports people who I doubt I’d have trouble working with. Still, the occasional butting-of-heads is inevitable. It’s the journalist’s responsibility to be straightforward about his angles and intents with a story, and not to exploit tools like Twitter for personal gains. It can be painstaking; today’s sports fans want their news the second it breaks. But if the journalist is fair and reasonable — a word I think should be in the title of every relationship book out there — the two sides can get past it.
The bigger the team, the bigger the opportunities are for a sports journalist to do hard-hitting reporting and meaningful analysis. But as Christy pointed out, with teams like the Patriots who enjoy ample, wide-ranging coverage, media relations has more discretion and influence. Those opportunities go up in smoke without their blessing.
Bobby LeBlanc posted on October 8, 2012 at 1:17 pm
David Scott and Christy Berkery touched on a number of important issues in this seminar, but one thing really stuck out to me. David put it simply when he said to just be honest. Like David said, if we are honest and are clear in our intentions, P.R. people are going to be fair for the most part. Relationships are key in the field of journalism, and some of the most important relationships a journalist can develop will be with media relations people. Like in all relationships, the most important thing one can do is simply treat the other person well. I don’t think anyone will get far as a journalist if he or she does not have the people skills to develop relationships necessary to be successful.
I think Professor Shorr makes a good point at the end of the blog in saying that we need P.R. people. I also believe it is important to realize that P.R. people also need journalists to get their news out as well. Again, this really comes back to relationships. Journalists want to have good relationships with media relations people and vice versa.
This article does a great job of laying out the jobs of public relations professionals and journalists.
http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/PublicRelations/Journalist_vs_PR_Professional.html
Journalists seek (or should seek) to provide the public with accurate and reliable news, while it is the job of media relations people to promote a positive image of someone or an organization.
The article also points out that journalism and public relations can be a symbiotic relationship. David and Christy made it clear that this really should be the case. David gave great advice on how to work well with P.R. people in that we should trust who we are working with and never burn anyone with a story. It is important for journalists to maintain strong relationships with media relations people, because they have information necessary for our stories.
Christy also gave great advice during the seminar when she said to make sure that we have our information right during a pitch. This shouldn’t just be the case for journalists during a pitch to public relations but all the time. Journalists need to have correct information when talking to players, media relations people, and especially in their stories.
While doing some research on journalism and P.R., I came across this YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CbiMXV8U4M
I know it’s kind of silly, but I think it does a great job of showing the relationship between journalists and P.R. professionals. I think the last line of the video sums things up perfectly when the counselor says to journalism and P.R., “You two are soul mates. You’re born to be together, like yin and yang.”
Nate Weitzer posted on October 8, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Media relations is a field that is becoming increasingly more important in today’s technology-driven world. The popularization of social media and the immediacy of information that is available about sports makes it extremely difficult to censor many of the interactions between athletes and journalists.
While many professional athletes are extremely intelligent, there are plenty more who are liable to say anything, anytime. Many pros are young adults who have been coddled throughout their collegiate and high school careers and don’t really understand the gravity of their words and actions. Once these athletes become attached to a professional team, their actions become a reflection on a multi-million (or billion) dollar franchise, and management needs to insure that they don’t compromise the integrity of that franchise.
The media relations staff has to focus on putting out fires caused by certain journalistic slip-ups, but they must also engage in ‘fire-prevention’ by mediating the nature of sports interviews. As Jason Gay wrote in an article for the Wall-Street Journal, there are a number of things that athletes flat-out should never say:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577402320934940932.html
If the public relations people can prevent their athletes from saying these types of things then they’ve done their job.
While Christy admitted that she can’t control what the Patriots’ athletes write on twitter, she also acknowledge that the team has certain regulations when it comes to social media. She also pointed out how one of the worst things a journalist can do is to try and gain media access to players without going through the media relations department.
This is all part of an effort to control the dissemination of information that may reflect poorly on a franchise, or a network. Dave Scott’s job is significantly different in that he doesn’t regulate the relationship between athletes and writers. However, he has to engage in prevention more often to avoid scrambling to put out media fires.
Dave pointed to how fast the Jeremy Lin headline became a national scandal. It was posted at 3:00 a.m. taken down at 3:10 a.m. but the information had spread so fast that ESPN took a ton of flak for allowing a writer to post such an inflammatory and offensive headline.
These people have to be on top of everything going on within their sphere of information. It’s a job that requires intense concentration and relies on preventative measures. While it’s certainly an exciting occupation that’s full of perks and privileges, perhaps it’s one of the most thankless jobs in sports- because the best measure of success for a public relations employee is the absence of scandalous news or publicity.
Greg Picker posted on October 8, 2012 at 3:54 pm
We always hear about how much journalism has changed over the past decade or two with the advent of the internet, but we rarely hear about how much public relations and media relations have changed. Because of the internet, the media relations of sports teams and organizations involved in sports (like ESPN or other media outlets), are not just there to control what gets out. Instead, they also must be aware of what gets in, especially from the fans.
Having interned with a professional sports team’s media relations department, I have seen first-hand how important Christy Berkery’s job is. In today’s world, a significant portion of the fanbase is involved in social media. The Patriots have 3.8 million likes on Facebook. Each of those 3.8 million has the ability to interact with the team through its Facebook page. The post involving the final result of the Patriots’ win over the Broncos received over 65,000 likes and nearly 2,000 comments. This proves how much influence social media has on the team’s fans. If the team isn’t winning or conducts itself in a matter the fans don’t agree with, the Facebook page or Twitter handle also serves as a forum for the fans to express their opinions. The Pats not face that sort of scrutiny as much as other teams, but social media allows the public relations team to interact directly with both pleased and dissatisfied fans. Social media also expands the fan base as it allows fans that might live in a different region of the country, or an entirely different country altogether to stay connected the same way a local fan might. On Facebook, a fan in Europe can interact with a team the same way a fan in Boston can.
As for how the Red Sox handled the Bobby Valentine firing, I believe the media relations department handed it brilliantly. The team has faced a lot of negative PR over the past couple of seasons, and anything to minimize possible attention to the fact that the Red Sox understand they made the wrong decision in hiring Valentine can be seen as a success. I believe the Red Sox also made the correct decision, from a PR standpoint, in firing Valentine immediately after the season ended instead of mulling over the decision until after the World Series. With the playoffs going on, the national media is not focusing on the Valentine firing. However, if the firing was made at some point in November, it likely would have been the only baseball news to discuss for quite a few days or even a couple of weeks.
Jashvina Shah posted on October 8, 2012 at 9:14 pm
The information Christy Berkery and Dave Scott shared is invaluable and insightful for anyone who intends on a career in sports media.
Sports journalists and P.R. departments need to have great relationships because they both need each other. Journalists need P.R. people to set up interviews with athletes and access to events, especially if the journalist is new reporter and has never covered the team before. P.R. people need journalists to disseminate certain information and keep journalists from publishing false reports.
When I was a freshmen here I really didn’t understand the importance of P.R. people and the SIDs, but now I understand how vital it is to know and have a good relationship with them.
Here at BU I have learned to work with SIDs to get interviews with the coaches and players. The SIDs have always been very helpful and easy to work with, which has made my job as a beat reporter so much easier. While I was an intern at Australia’s The Daily Telegraph, I learned to work closely with P.R. people from various rugby league and A-League teams in order to write stories for the paper. I also worked with people from the Hockey East communications department to gain access to Hockey East Media Day.
But working with P.R. people only makes sports journalism easier if you have a good relationship with them. I’ve been in situations where I haven’t really known an SID and it made my job more difficult. Journalists also can’t expect to use the P.R. people for one big story, like the one shared in the article QB Taking Hits. The article mentions how Jim Saccomano, the Broncos’ vice president of the P.R. department said on Twitter teams have to be wary of granting media access to “writes based on page clicks.” If you want to have a good relationship with the P.R. department, you can’t really do that.
Unfortunately sometimes P.R. people just don’t have good relationships with journalists in general, as John Koblin’s article, Life in Knicks Hell (http://observer.com/2007/11/life-in-knicks-hell/), demonstrates. The article, written in 2007, details how the Knicks P.R. department treated the team’s beat reporters. In the article, Alan Hahn said, “There’s zero access to players. They would rather you don’t even write.” There article also described an instance when Jonathan Supranowitz, the head of Knicks P.R., was present and took notes for every interview any journalist had with a Knicks player.
The P.R. world is changing with social media, as it allows teams more control over the content available to fans. The Patriots are a great example of this — they tweet out game-day injuries instead of having journalists share that information. But Twitter also gives athletes and coaches a way to spread their own thoughts, as Berkery noted in class and Mike Gleason mentioned in his article Bill Belichick and The Obsolescence of Sports-Media Access.
As someone who’s a social media coordinator (for WTBU Sports) I know it’s an invaluable tool. It’s the first place listeners go to tell us if a broadcast isn’t working and it’s where I go to notify our listeners and readers if a live blog or broadcast is suffering from technical difficulties.
Journalists don’t always use P.R. people, as a good portion of being a journalist is tracking down your own leads as Professor Shorr mentioned. However, it would be difficult for a sports journalist to write accurate information and getting access to players and events all the time if they did not work with P.R. people.
Nick Hansen posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:26 am
While I enjoyed listening to both Dave and Christy, I realized I would not enjoy their job. Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist. It seemed like a large portion of their jobs involved making sure that people “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
I think PR people are useful to journalists, but I also wonder if making connections with players is just as important for the beat writer. With an organization like the Patriots, I’m guessing it pays to know players. Take for example, Logan Mankins. Do you think the Pats would have said anything about his ACL this year? Probably not. It was good reporting that got that story out.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4729269/schefter-mankins-had-torn-acl-all-season
I think PR people are useful friends for journalists, but they shouldn’t be a journalists’ only ones.
Kendall Salter posted on October 9, 2012 at 10:34 am
Journalists often view public relations as the “dark side.” Their reasoning: with public relations, the message is too controlled, too formulaic and therefore untrustworthy. Designating someone a PR person, for journalists, brands them as company men and women, people who walk the party line.
I don’t know whether this perception is right or wrong, or even fair, but it exists, so the question then becomes what is the relationship between the PR professional and the journalist, and how do they coexist? Journalists and public relations professionals have similar intentions: they want to disseminate a message to a mass audience of interested consumers. But the way they each go about it is fundamentally different. Recognizing this, as a journalist, is probably the key to a good functioning relationship with a necessary aspect of the job.
As a sports journalist, I know that there are people paid to maintain control of story lines in the interests of the team or school. At UCLA, I worked closely with sports information directors for four years — the same role Dave Scott filled at UMASS — and rather than try to circumvent their policies, I found that honesty and directness were the best policy. Look, you don’t always write comfortable stories, happy epithets about the greatness of the home team or native son. Sometimes you have to dig deeper, and the SID or team PR person may not like that. But if you as a journalist respect that they have a job to do, treat them like professionals rather than an obstacle, your honesty will be appreciated and your access will continue unimpeded. That has been my experience, anyway.
The reason it was good to have Christy Berkery and Dave Scott speak to this class is that it is important to recognize that the creation of any story involves many different moving parts, and access is key. If you can’t talk to players, you can’t write a story about them without getting their side. If you aren’t credentialed, you can’t watch the game. In this way, a team’s PR staff act as gatekeepers, but hearing that perspective is extremely helpful. Ms. Berkery and Mr. Scott made it clear that they are not out to be the bad guys. Rather, they understand that the journalist-PR relationship is necessary and important to the development of a team’s image and a news organization’s success.
Paul Ryan posted on October 9, 2012 at 11:04 am
It’s amazing to view how different the job of a public relations person is in sports now compared to just ten years ago. The requirements for Dave’s former job at UMass and Kentucky have grown so much with the use of twitter, and the internet in general. Whereas then you would be writing a recap and setting up interviews with local writers, now you’re tweeting and on facebook, setting up interviews with far more people and really, much more busy than you were back then.
Also, I think it’s great we had someone like Christy come because she works for such a tight lipped organization in the Patriots. They are the perfect example of a team run the way it should be by its coaches and PR team, despite the wish of journalists they would do otherwise. Wes Welker’s comments about Bill Belichick just a couple days ago often never happen under the Patriots radar, but sometimes things slip out. Although journalists loved that Chad Ochocinco (now Johnson) was much more vocal than most Pats players, people like Christy hated it. It’s much easier for a public relations person to have quiet players than to have loud ones.
I found it interesting that Christy also will not retweet certain players that would create a possible backlash by the fanbase. As Dave taught us, it would create more putting out the fire rather than creating positive images of the team, which is what Christy and Dave are there to do. Public relations people are there to convey an image of the team, and for both Christy and Dave, it’s to convey the best possible image they can of their team/company. I completely agree with what they said and what Professor Shorr reiterated at the end of the blog: journalists need PR people and you have to maintain a close relationship with them in order to get anywhere in this business.
The thing that stuck with me the most from Thursday’s seminar was when Christy told everyone to know something everyone else doesn’t know or be different in one area then everyone else. Make yourself stand out from the other candidates instead of just being like everyone else. Jobs like Christy’s didn’t exist a couple years ago and we have to be prepared for the ever changing field that is sports journalism (and journalism in general). If there’s just one thing that I took out from this seminar, it is to stand out and make people notice you for being different, because a lot of people look just like you on paper.
Ashley Driscoll posted on October 9, 2012 at 12:53 pm
In light of Jerry Sandusky’s sentencing today, the role of media relations in sports is brought to light. Many news outlets have published articles, and kept them up to date with details as they emerge, regarding the trial and its outcome…
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/09/14315772-jerry-sandusky-gets-30-to-60-years-for-child-sex-abuse?lite
The above article contains the following paragraph: “In a statement, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said: ‘Our thoughts today, as they have been for the last year, go out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky’s abuse. While today’s sentence cannot erase what has happened, hopefully it will provide comfort to those affected by these horrible events and help them continue down the road to recovery.’ ”
It is very likely that a media relations representative from the university advised this statement. We can only imagine that Penn State is going through a PR nightmare right now, and has been for some time. Not only the football team, but the athletics program as a whole, as well as the university in its entirety, is dealing with the ramifications of the Sandusky scandal.
While media relations personnel probably do not want to be on the defense when a problem arises, this is part of their job. They prepare for crises, and they perform crisis management as need be.
Media relations personnel also control access to the team and they try to guide what stories are published about the team, including its players and coaching staff. While they cannot always have 100% control, they do try to guide stories as much as possible, through what information they allow journalists to have. Journalists have to understand that media relations personnel cannot always tell them information, however they are much more likely to be allowed access and to be given information if they have a successful working relationship with one another. As Dave Scott mentioned, if you burn them on one story, it’s unlikely they will be willing to work with you in the future. The long-term relationship is much more important to protect rather than risking that relationship in favor of one successful story.
Amy Barry posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:38 pm
David Scott began his career as a journalist in the early 1990s. Today he oversees public relations for ESPN’s news content. Scott uses his experience on “the other side” to help give a clear, more accurate picture of the incredibly deep and expansive journalist efforts.
Rosanna Fiske’s argues otherwise in her article, “Why journalist don’t always make the best PR pros” published on Poynter on Aug. 15, 2011.
Fiske’s main argument is journalist have great contacts, superb storytelling skills, knowledge in the media business and can pitch a story to their editor, but can they to a client?
Major differences exists in the fields; knowing your audience, be an advocate and focus on outcomes, not outputs. A PR audience is no longer just the reader but a combination of client and employer. In public relations a person is advocating on behalf of a client or employer. Lastly, unlike the publicity of an article public relations concentrates on the business value of the work.
Christy Berkery began her career at the New England Patriots as an intern. During the seminar she discussed the position was given to her because she had a niche – photography.
It seems to me that not many people are solely in the public relations business; that individual’s background are spread out over the field of communications.
Even Fiske, who made the argument that journalist do not make the best candidates in public relations, began her career as journalist. Currently she is the chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America.
Before the seminar, Professor Shorr said at some point if you’re a reporter you’re going to have to deal with media relations people. These relationships can make or break a reporters story and/or career.
This is where I disagree with Fiske. I think it is crucial for media relationships personal to have a background in a different field of communication – photography, journalism, etc. With a background PR people may understand “the other side” better, thus making everyone’s job a little easier.
Amy Barry posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:39 pm
I put the link as a hyperlink, but it didn’t work …
here it is
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/142682/why-journalists-dont-always-make-the-best-pr-pros/
Nate Boroyan posted on October 9, 2012 at 2:51 pm
While listening to Christy and Dave discuss the flip side of the media game (public relations), I was reminded about a simple truth, sports and sports media are businesses. As a fan and journalist this is a hard realization since I, for one, tend to imagine professional athletic competition as one of the last “pure” institutions.
Its easy to imagine that sports are played by athletes who are simply in love with the game and journalists cover various topics strictly on the basis of personal/public interest, but with the money and the spotlight that surrounds the profession(s) it is obvious that companies always have an angle. I suppose that is where Dave and Christy come into play.
I can’t pretend to say that I am a marketing expert by any stretch, but I do know that branding is perhaps the single most important aspect. In Dave and Christy’s occupation, they must constantly focus on how to best shape their organization’s image as a whole.
I hate referencing the New England Patriots so frequently, but it seems as though, as an organization, they have become the prototype for producing either good press, or no press. Very rarely is there a negative story that comes out of Foxboro. Even in the case of spygate, the issue peaked and stalled once the season began.
I found Christy’s reference of Brandon Spikes fascinating in the sense that this guy is a beast on the field. He has what it takes to make himself a household name in the NFL. My sense is however, that Spikes is relatively unknown outside of New England. Why? He just isn’t marketable with the Patriots organization’s overall message.
From his sex tape that leaked to, his rants on twitter and his four game suspension for using a band substance, his image would shine a negative light on the organization as a whole. Regardless of his performance on the field.
Dave’s occupation at ESPN is unique in the sense that he does not only have to worry about branding ESPN and promoting the company’s image, he also has to structure it within a framework that represents ESPN’s partners, such as Disney. For instance, if Stuart Scott’s twitter rant reflects badly on ESPN, it also reflects poorly on Disney.
In a way, I can imagine that this limits considerably the amount of “hard-hitting” topics ESPN would have the ability to cover. The most important aspect might be censorship.
It is common knowledge that television personalities are on a short leash when it comes to verbal slip ups on air (i.e. swearing) and personal conduct issues. I can’t imagine, with the 24 hour news cycle, that a rant such as Bill O’Reilly’s famous youtube hit would allow a ESPN employee to retain a position.
Lastly, as Dave pointed out, ESPN is a ratings based news organization. In being responsible for the organization’s content, Dave must make a conscious effort to drive content in a way that generates and retains viewers. Despite being the world wide leader in sports, ESPN is very much driven by a few selected cities.
For example, the New York Jets are one of the worst teams in football but are covered as if they are a top 5 team. Why? I imagine its because of the large amount of televisions in the New York metro area. I would hazard a guess that over 30% of the nation’s televisions are located in the area.
So, when people complain about ESPN discussing “irrelevant” sports stories surrounding hot-topic teams such as the Jets or the Knicks, one has to understand the business side of the organization. To totally ignore the New York area would cause ESPN to take a major hit in their viewing audience.
Mary Gagliardi posted on October 9, 2012 at 3:35 pm
What I found extremely interesting from this seminar – and one of the main reasons I believe Prof Shorr brought media relations representatives in for class – is how connected the media relations representatives are to journalists. The seminar accentuated how important it is for journalists to build a positive relationship with these media “gate keepers.”
I was very intrigued that Dave Scott was a free-lance journalist before his job as the Director of News Content for ESPN. This is very telling because even though currently our interests lie within the journalism field, there is no way to tell where we will end up career-wise.
I took this seminar one step further in my mind and found it very useful, as I am a senior and trying to determine my future and a career path. While I will graduate with a broadcast journalism major I am not completely sure what I want to pursue. I have an interest in sideline reporting along with media relations and PR – all revolving around sports. But, this seminar reassured me that even though I may not have studied media relations or PR, it seems that a transition into such positions are more or less common for those with a journalism major and experience. Scott also mentioned that ESPN was especially interested him because of his journalism experience.
I also took from the seminar that it would almost work in one’s favor to have a background in journalism in media relations. Such experience most likely make it easier to relate to the reporter and understand what they would want and what information they would need to build a story. On would also have connections in the journalism field and have already built trusting relationships with many journalists. This would make getting “burned” by a revealing or “bad” story less common.
I believe professor Shorr intended this specific seminar to teach us journalists how to interact with future media relation’s representatives, but also show us that our career is not simply limited to journalism.. With a major such as broadcast journalism our opportunities are far from limited. Ultimately, the most important information I gained from this seminar is as a journalist, make nice with the media relations representatives. These people can potentially either make or break your story.
Phillip Kisubika posted on October 9, 2012 at 4:52 pm
In our education as journalists, many of us are taught that public relations doesn’t have a place in our work. We don’t advocate for any people or organizations in our reporting, and we maintain objectivity at all costs. That’s not as much the case anymore. Especially in terms of sports journalism, if you’re not working with media relations people, you’re not doing your job.
They hold the keys to several aspects of our work. You’re constantly communicating with them for information about interviews, stats and player/coach news. During my undergrad years covering UGA athletics, the sports information staff was a great help to me. They couldn’t tell me everything I wanted to know (and that wasn’t their job), but they kept me in the loop and passed along tips and knowledge that were useful in my reporting.
At the end of the day, the people in media relations have jobs to do and so do we. We’re not always going to be on the same page, but as long as there is mutual respect and professionalism, those relationships can go a long way. It was important for us to see things from the PR side because from our end, the tendency is to see media relations people as obstacles to keep us from getting the story. Their first priority people as obstacles to keep us from getting the story. Their first priority is to their organization, but they’re willing to help us.
It was also interesting to see how their jobs have evolved over time and especially now that social media is involved. Organizations now have a lot more on their plate now that athletes have Twitter and Facebook accounts. is to their organization, but they’re willing to help us.
It was also interesting to see how their jobs have evolved over time and especially now that social media is involved. Organizations now have a lot more on their plate now that athletes have Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Phillip Kisubika posted on October 9, 2012 at 5:52 pm
My bad…serves me right for trying to post from my phone. Here’s my actual, mistake-free post:
In our education as journalists, many of us are taught that public relations doesn’t have a place in our work. We don’t advocate for any people or organizations in our reporting, and we maintain objectivity at all costs. That’s not as much the case anymore. Especially in terms of sports journalism, if you’re not working with media relations people, you’re not doing your job.
They hold the keys to several aspects of our work. You’re constantly communicating with them for information about interviews, stats and player/coach news. During my undergrad years covering UGA athletics, the sports information staff was a great help to me. They couldn’t tell me everything I wanted to know (and that wasn’t their job), but they kept me in the loop and passed along tips and knowledge that were useful in my reporting.
At the end of the day, the people in media relations have jobs to do and so do we. We’re not always going to be on the same page, but as long as there is mutual respect and professionalism, those relationships can go a long way. It was important for us to see things from the PR side because from our end, the tendency is to see media relations people as obstacles to keep us from getting the story. Their first priority is to their organization, but they’re willing to help us.
It was also interesting to see how their jobs have evolved over time and especially now that social media is involved. Organizations now have a lot more on their plate now that athletes have Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Matt DeFonzo posted on October 9, 2012 at 5:52 pm
The most lasting impression I got from last week’s seminar was that journalists should be open with the media relations and P.R. representatives from any sports team or company. Prior to the seminar I had always viewed journalists and media relations people as opponents, but I was surprised to find there is supposed to be more of an open relationship between the two groups.
I think this openness is a good thing. Letting a P.R. person know that a story or some of the elements in it could potentially be controversial lets them know that they could have to react to some negative press, and gives them time to prepare. In a way, it maintains the “give-and-take” relationship that Taylor mentioned already: since the media relations department is allowing you access to write a story, you have a professional obligation to inform them when the story might get controversial, thereby giving them time to prepare a response to release once the story is published.
But I think that sometimes media relations and P.R. people have professional obligations to journalists too, such as not attempting to hide events that are newsworthy. I’m not saying sports information directors should stand on top of a milk crate and announce to the world when one of their athletes has been slapped with a DUI, but they shouldn’t cut media outlets off either. Take, for instance, the Boston Red Sox choosing to hold their initial Bobby Valentine firing “press conference” with only three media outlets, as Professor Shorr mentioned.
I don’t think that’s right.
There are some things you can’t expect media relations people to tell you, like information about the criminal behavior of athletes. As Kendall pointed out “there are people paid to maintain the control of story lines in the interests of the team or school,” and by doing that they’re just doing what they get paid for (Ashley and Paul also alluded to the idea that they’re just doing what they get paid for). But at the same time, when you’re creating an event that’s going to drastically affect the path of a franchise, such as the Red Sox firing Bobby V, you shouldn’t cut media outlets off. Organizations like ESPN and The Boston Globe should have been able to attend the earliest editions of the Bobby V firing press conference. When you deal with journalists that are from reputable organizations and have been as reasonable and balanced as possible in their newsgathering, you should not cut them off from an announcement that’s truly worthy of top billing in the sports world. How can you expect journalists to be fair and open with you if you’re not disclosing information that’s vital to understanding the path of the franchise? If I was the Red Sox beat reporter for the Globe, I’d be a little upset about getting shut out from such an important story by people I’d worked to build up a trust with.
Of course, I don’t really know what type of relationships journalists from the likes of ESPN and The Boston Globe have with the BoSox, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking that in general, organizations of that caliber shouldn’t have been shut out of such an important story about a national franchise with a well-known manager.
With all that said, there’s one more point I’d like to make about the journalist-P.R. relationship. Reporters should be open to hearing media relations representatives state their case if they feel their team hasn’t been portrayed fairly. Let’s face it, everyone makes mistakes, and errors could include accidentally writing something that’s not entirely fair. If a journalist is approached by a P.R. rep from the team he or she covers, that journalist should listen to what the media relations person is saying. If a team is allowing you access to their locker room, you have the professional obligation to listen to them if they think you’ve portrayed their team unfairly.
So to sum it all up: A journalist should always be open about the fact that a story might cause controversy, but in turn, P.R. people shouldn’t cut media members off to the most essential and newsworthy information. And when push comes to shove, journalists should also be listening to the criticism they’re getting from the team or teams they cover.
Kaleigh Fratkin posted on October 9, 2012 at 9:44 pm
The field of communications is all about interacting and developing relationships with others, both in person and through technology. Media relations and journalists are a good example of jobs that involve trustworthy relationships. For me, Christy Berkery and Dave Scott, through their experience, demonstrated the importance of “don’t burn your bridges” in this seminar.
Christy and Dave explained how important it is for journalists and media relation people to have trusting relationships because media relation people can help make or break a story. For me, the term “don’t burn your bridges,” applies beyond a journalist having a good relationship with P.R. people so they can get information necessary for a story. Yes, I do believe it is important that journalists have the ability to get the inside scoop, but I also think “don’t burn your bridges” applies to a grander scale. Down the road, you never know who is going to be in charge of something or who will know someone that can get you a job somewhere, therefore it’s important to build honest and reliable connections. I think Christy and Dave’s central point was that as media relation people aren’t enemies for journalists. In fact they want to be able convey all the information they know, but sometimes they cannot do this as they aren’t always told everything.
Mary pointed this out nicely…. Media relations mirrors closely with journalism. I think it was important to have Christy and Dave share their experiences to show aspiring sports journalists that you don’t have to major in P.R. to get a job in P.R., that journalism provides opportunities in those fields as well.
Overall, I think this seminar sent the important message that in a field of relationships and trust like communications, it is important to watch what you say, who you say it to and how you say it because you never know who you will need to talk to, what favor you will need done from someone or why you will need something
Jason Lind posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:06 am
Listening to Dave Scott and Christy Berkery last week provided more insight into the widespread effect of technology on communication. “My job hardly existed a year ago,” said Christy. Dave’s job, too, would be different without social media (he mentioned dealing with Stuart Scott tweeting during the Democratic National Convention). Twitter is often a sports journalist’s friend for finding or disseminating information. Before people like Dave and Christy managed it so consciously, Twitter was the new American Frontier. There were few rules and many unfiltered opinions.
Now, the Twitter feeds of the New England Patriots and ESPN personalities are monitored. Christy has to dissect every thought Brandon Spikes spits out in 140 characters to make sure it is consistent with the Patriots “brand” (she joked about dealing with Spikes but there is some truth to it. He gets into trouble for his online “presence”). Twitter sounds like a nightmare for any media relations department, let alone one that deals with polarizing figures and big games week after week. Not everyone in Boston has an opinion on the economic policies of Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren, but sometimes it seems like everyone here has an opinion on Bobby Valentine.
Dave and Christy turned nightmare into opportunity. Again, Christy might not be working for the Patriots if it weren’t for Twitter. Both of our guests use social media as a new way to make their messages. Social media may cause more problems, but it provides new jobs and new places to deepen the message. The ESPN Front Row blog allows Dave to give his audience access to the inner machinations of the Worldwide Leader. Christy said that there are no experts in social media; you can be as much of an expert as you want to be. Dave, Christy and people in social media relations jobs everywhere are increasing their expertise every day.
So social media is a new place for sports media relations to control the message, just like the press conference or the postgame locker room interview. That can be frustrating for journalists trying to get the real story from the players or coaches. Dave, who worked as a journalist for years before doing media relations for Coach Calipari and ESPN, was hired to think like a journalist but act in media relations. His advice to journalists: “Follow the golden rule. Be clear about what you’re trying to do, even if it’s controversial. You’re always building relationships. If you burn us, is it worth it down the road to not have the access to us your competitors have?” You have to know how to play to game.
Greg Huntoon posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm
As a journalist, maintaining a good relationship with those in public relations is very important. They have the power to make journalists’ lives very difficult. It may seem like a two-way street, but the traffic flow is controlled by the P.R. departments, and that puts an extra burden on us as journalists.
This is especially the case with big time organizations. If a journalist is unhappy with the P.R. department, there isn’t too much they can do, because they still need the access to the team. But if a P.R. department is unhappy with a journalist, they can give their access to the next person waiting in the wings. This means that as journalists, we have to be extra careful in knowing the rules and boundaries.
This is brought up in detail in the “Kentucky Basketball” article on Blackboard. A student newspaper had their invitation rescinded to a media interviews session after a reporter asked two walk-ons “are you a walk-on on the basketball team?” and “would you be willing to talk now or later today?” The second question was said to violate the understanding that the student athletes not be “bombarded with interview requests constantly.” The article looks into the validity of the actions, as well as similar examples that happened previously.
Regardless of whether the media relations department’s actions were right or wrong, the newspaper was at their mercy. One wrong question lost them access to a session, and puts them on the watch list of the department. Journalists have to make sure they know where their boundaries are. Greg Bedard talked about getting information on the Patriots from outside sources a few weeks ago and we all thought that was a great idea. But I’m sure Mr. Bedard knows who he can talk to and has the OK of the Pats P.R. department.
Especially when we are just starting in the field, being cautious and taking the extra step to make sure we are following the proper procedures is especially important. One little mistake can lead to a much bigger problem.
Jonathan Lemons posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:54 pm
The objective of the journalist is to find and report the truth.
The objective of public relations is to put forth a positive image of an organization.
These, of course, are not necessarily antagonist objectives but can easily become so.
The concern, from a journalist’s perspective, is that the relationship appears rather one-sided.
By accepting credentials from the organization’s public relations department, you are agreeing to work within their guidelines. As they hold all the power in connecting you with particular stakeholders, your ability to effectively perform your job rests largely on their willingness to cooperate.
However, from PR’s perspective, there is often nothing to gain by assisting reporters in anything other than a positive story. (That is, after all, the major purpose of their job.) While David stressed the importance of being upfront with PR when a writer is working on a negative story, he never gave a satisfactory answer as to why PR would be motivated to assist a journalist in such a story. Particularly at Christy’s level, the upside of cooperating with anything that could be considered negative is non-existent. Time and again, Christy referenced worrying about losing her job if she were ever to be the source for such a story. (Assuming, she even knows the story. As she mentioned, often times the truth is kept at much higher levels and in an extremely tight circle of people.)
I love Taylor’s image of the journalist/PR relationship as dating and think is quite apt. Occasionally in this relationship, what’s good for one, is not necessarily good for the other and how each party handles these occasions, as in romantic relationships, goes a long way in determining the quality of the relationship.
What Taylor doesn’t mention, and where my concern lies, is that unfortunately for the journalist, in this simile, PR is also dating a lot of other people and thus, has less at stake if this particular relationship ultimately fails. In other words, a PR person has less incentive to work through a challenging situation with a particular journalist because there are plenty of other outlets covering the team.
(In fairness to Taylor, I should clarify that I’m referring specifically to PR staffs of major sports teams, primarily because the dynamic of the press/PR relationship tends to be fundamentally different here than in most other contexts.)
Perhaps only when the media writ large, that is, the vast majority of the writers covering a particular team are demanding information on an unflattering story does PR have motivation to cooperate.
Patrick Thomas posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Before last Thursday, I would have personally thought media relations inhibited the freedom of journalists. I always saw them as making our jobs more difficult either by not giving us the information we want and even need. Didn’t occur to me that what they do can actually help journalists out a lot.
Obviously media relations personnel are dyer to sports journalists. However, watching how they monitor the information released to the public can show us as journalists how we brand ourselves. Take for example Dave’s point on tweeting regarding ESPN anchor Stuart Scott. Scott posted a tweet on the presidential debate (unrelated to sports) and received ‘angry tweets’. Unfortunately, Scott replied in anger too. Just like Christy said, sometimes you just have to ignore or as she also said “kill em’ with kindness”.
I believe Dave said this but I liken the relationship between media relations and journalists to the golden rule. The biggest thing to me about what Dave said is that he could be the greatest help or hurt to a journalist. In this age of social media and media relations, knowing how to charm people who work in this industry can give us as journalists the credible stories we need. Why not forge a great relationship with someone who has ALL THE ACCESS to the info we need? It is not only a novel idea, but also a needed asset.
As an organization, I think the Red Sox media relations handled the firing great. As a journalist, I would be pissed to think my network or newspaper didn’t get the heads up first. Those situations are really out of the control of us since the Red Sox acted basically as partners with the networks who broadcast their games. That said, isn’t that the thrill of being in sports journalism though? It is always a rush to track down that next lead or piece to add to a story when the odds seemed stacked against us. Sometimes when situations like that occur, having a great relationship with someone like Dave or Christy never hurts.
Journalism isn’t all about writing and reporting. Often great communication with Media Relations or PR gets you the great contacts. Those contacts put us in positions of power to get the best info to tell the best story.
Davis VanOpdorp posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:05 pm
To address the post first, I think the article that Mr. Shorr posted about Bill Belichick and media access is very pertinent here.
Mike Gleason’s article talks about the emergence of the internet, and how breaking news spreads to sites and blogs in an instant. He notes how Bill Belichick has become more savvy because of the internet. He writes, “In the future, then, we can expect to see fewer outlets with access. To be sure, access does allow for serious, investigative journalism, but day-to-day information will increasingly come directly from the team.”
This is why relationships with media relations employees is so important. They can allow journalists access to the team, something that is becoming more and more scarce. Journalists also have to be careful what they write, for media relations departments can take away our access just as easily as they can give you it.
In the case of the Red Sox, if you notice, all the mediums they allowed access to are broadcast mediums for the team and the website that Major League Baseball owns. The Red Sox knew that the story was going to blow up on all media, and thus only allowed access to the outlets that they had the best relationship with.
However, another important side to the seminar, which is why I think that it is so important, is that they have their own agenda as well. I turn once again to an article on Blackboard about the Dodgers, who had an aggressive social media campaign after the McCourt divorce. Teams are trying to promote their brand just as much as they are trying to give you information. A journalist has to balance what he or she has to report to maintain a great relationship with team, as well as what he or she wants to hear for the stories he or she has to report.
Andrew posted on October 10, 2012 at 5:05 pm
The art of communicating face to face, between actual people has become a lost one and it is up to young journalists to reverse the effects social media has had on our ability to have a conversation. This conversation that has helped the relationship between journalists and pr people for years, has become strained because of journalists ability to gain information 24/7 from the athletes themselves.
The public relations side of media is obviously at odds with journalists seemingly all the time. It seems to be a never-ending chess match between both sides; what information the pr departments can control versus what scoops reporters can get on the latest injury or team scandal. And I think that’s where the misunderstanding starts. In many interactions you are dealing with messengers on both the pr and reporting front; both just taking orders from the top either editors or general managers. Combine that with the old adage “sex sells” and you have the perfect storm for a not so cordial relationship.
In response to this potential friction I will draw back on what a previous seminar guest “I’d rather be right, than first,” said Greg Bedard of The Boston. And I think that is what will separate the journalists from the entertainers. This idea will require a bit of self-control on our parts because of the obsession over twitter and the intensity of media coverage not just on the sports but on the people who play them. However if we can become a little old fashioned again I think that reporters can enjoy healthy relationships with even the most prominent pr departments say ESPN and the New England Patriots.
We must be careful of the benefits that social media can give us…it has created a variety of new jobs, made information flow quicker the positives are undeniable but as Christy Berkery said “just because I have a personal Twitter and Facebook doesn’t mean I know how to run a company’s…it took practice”. Just because we are young doesn’t mean we are experts in social media, but it also doesn’t mean we are novices at communicating person to person either.
With that said, it has become quiet clear that these seminars that Professor is putting together are to help guide us through the future of sports media as much as it is to tell us about the past and present. The sports PR seminar was no different.
Sandeep Chandrasekhar posted on October 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
First, I really enjoyed listening to Dave and Christy speak about their respective jobs. I never knew just how many hours, including travelling, are put into media relations and have gained a greater appreciation of the industry and the way they go about their business.
When Christy discussed her transformation regarding the social media explosion within the past few years, it got me wondering just how different the world will be even five years from now, when a college graduate like me will enter the media industry. She said that her position did not even exist five years ago. Imagine the number of positions there are now that are going to go away in the next five years. I learned just how important it is to evolve into the big new resources in the current world. If I cannot learn new technologies, I will immediately fall behind in the media industry and may ultimately lose my job as a result of it. Although she has only been in the industry for a brief amount of time, she has quickly been able to adapt to twitter and learn the different nuances in how to communicate to the public.
Furthermore, especially since she works for a specific organization, another significant concept I learned was the value of loyalty to the organization. For instance, even when the referees made egregious calls during the SNF Ravens/Patriots game and then the atrocious MNF call that decided the Packers/Seahawks game, she explained the value of defending the league even at hard times. In order to become a trusted member of an organization, one needs to gain the trust of his or her superiors. If I become loyal and will choose to defend my organization/company, I know that I will gain the respect of the people if I continue to support them during the most difficult times.
Furthermore, news stations like ESPN, whose purpose is to produce content for the public, requires the same level of loyalty and precision in the distribution of content. I really liked how he said he handled the controversial Jeremy Lin “Chink in the Armor” headline. Because Twitter is accessible around the clock, people can ReTweet or publish information immediately after someone posts it. As a result, even if someone immediately decides to take down a regrettable tweet, hundreds of people (especially in a news outlet like ESPN, which has over 5 million followers) will have already seen the tweet. This will quickly spread across the entire sports news universe. Thus, it is more critical than ever to make sure to publish accurate, fair, and professional information without any egregious errors.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed both speakers and learned several valuable life lessons in this process. The skills in media relations is needed in multiple industries, including business, politics, and technology, as these companies and organizations are looking for people to effectively produce mass content in a professional manner.
Stephanie Jarvis posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:17 pm
After thinking about this week’s seminar, it’s clear that the media relations position is there to not only be proactive in preventing a mess from happening, but to clean up the mess as well. Just in this past year alone, I can think of multiple college athletes who have tweeted something inappropriate, which ultimately cast the university and the corresponding athletic department in a bad light. Just to be more specific, I’ll use my own undergraduate school as an example. Last week, Ohio State’s third string quarterback tweeted that, “classes are pointless” for those athletes that came to play football. His twitter account was almost immediately taken down and he did not dress for the game against Nebraska the following Saturday. Unfortunately for media relations departments across the country, it only takes one person to take a screen shot of a tweet in order for it to live forever on the internet.
In addition to taking down Jones’ twitter account, OSU also released the statement to the media addressing the quarterback’s game status. All in a day’s work in the media relations department, right?
There was something else that I found interesting that relates to the old “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” in regards to media relations. ESPN, as well as other national outlets, picked up the initial story on Jones and followed up with opinion pieces. After checking with the Columbus newspaper that follows the Buckeyes, I could not find one mention of the story beyond a sentence saying Jones did not dress. One of the writers that I follow on twitter mentioned OSU’s statement on Jones’ status in a tweet, but the Columbus Dispatch did not write a story on the athlete. I may be reaching here, but I wonder if this has to do with what Dave and Christy were talking about in class. Is it worth it to lose information in the future over making this story a big issue? The answer seems to be an across the board “no”. It seems the majority of local outlets that cover the team regularly reported the facts released to them by the team – Jones would not dress for the game.
I think the most important point to take away from this week’s seminar is the importance of keeping the lines of communication open. As a journalist, we have to be forever conscious of the information we have and the way we present it to the audience, because that information may not be available in the future if we burn bridges in the process of reporting a story.
Also, this kind of goes off topic of what I focused on, but this story is interesting in terms of media relations:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/10/10/weis-kansas-student-newspaper-response/1625043/
Tim Larew posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:03 pm
It was great to hear from both Dave and Christy during last week’s lecture. As with most lectures in the past, this one was extremely useful and applicable to not just the sports world, but also other industries and life in general.
Public relations is a totally different animal from any other that our class had tackled together prior to last week. While the field requires long hours and top-notch expertise like many other fields, it differs in the sense that essentially, it’s a PR worker’s job to “keep in” information rather than to let it out.. like a journalist, for example. Dave discussed that in the past year, between the Bernie Fine and Penn State cases, basically 75% of his (and other PR professionals’) job was comprised of “putting out fires.” Typically, he said, it’s the other way around. In quieter years with less controversial, problematic news, 25% of the position would be “putting out fires” while the other 75% would be generating positive press.
What I found most interesting and inspiring about the lecture was Christy’s discussion about how she essentially created her own job. With the ever-evolving internet and all that stems from it, the sports media industry is constantly changing, so there’s really no excuse for us not to take advantage of that and create opportunities for ourselves… and that’s exactly what Christy did. She rode the Twitter wave perfectly, and she became an expert in a field her elders and mentors are still trying to learn because they’re still newcomers to the technology Christy and her peers grew up with.
I found this inspiring because it was extremely clear how passionate Christy was about her job. When she was talking about it, it seemed she would be equally happy doing it as a hobby for no pay as she is professionally, making a living for herself. She spoke confidently when she talked about her ability to create opportunities for herself simply by mastering techniques and technology others around her might not even be aware of. In this day and age, we have the power to rise to relevance and become a company’s “need” by getting ahead of the curve. Right now, the curve is Twitter. What’s next? Well, I don’t know yet. But I’m working hard every day to create that opportunity for myself because when I do, I’ll be an irreplaceable asset just as Christy is an irreplaceable asset to the Patriots organization.
When she talked about cross-promotion via Twitter and being careful about which players to retweet, it really hit home for me. I do an equal amount of work in the hip-hop music world as I do in the sports world, and in both spheres, an artist/athlete’s Twitter behavior can make or break them… as odd as that sounds. It may not seem like much to Brandon Spikes that Christy and the Pats don’t show him much love on Twitter because they wouldn’t want their fans thinking less of them, but he could be missing out on great promotion, endorsements, etc. simply because he doesn’t know how to sensor himself on social media. Same goes for the hip-hop world. Artists are typically more willing to work with others if they have a good reputation on social media because then it will reflect well on them.
Christy and Dave did a great job explaining their respective professions and what it takes to succeed in the public relations field. Both concurred that though extremely long hours are required, the job can be very fun if you’re passionate about it. And as with lectures in the past, passion was the driving force behind the speakers’ success and happiness. Is work really WORK if you love it and are proud of what you do?
Caitlin Donohue posted on October 11, 2012 at 10:54 am
Last week’s seminar really gave me a taste of what a job in media relations entails. While I was familiar with the smaller group “interview” sessions, I did not realize how much the Media Relations department must “control the message” until its organization allows the release of the information. I found it interesting when Christy stated that with certain organizations like the Patriots, media relations has even more of an impact than journalism. This is because the Patriots focus more so on keeping their decisions known amongst a small group of people within the organization rather than releasing such information to fans. Christy and David both emphasized the negative consequences that the premature release of news can have on an organization.
And how does a journalist develop a story with such limited, controlled information?
The answer is simple: know the industry. As an aspiring journalist, I was previously unaware of the code of ethics among PR professionals, as well as the similarities and differences between PR and journalism. This ignorance could have considerably hurt my career, because in order to work most efficiently with PR professionals, I must know how they operate. Amy covered these basics with her link to “Treat the Media Like Your Best Customers.” In this article, the importance of our guests’ suggestion to “build relationships with key members of the press” is further expressed. If we strengthen our connections with PR people, they will be more likely to trust us with valuable information. While the relationship between PR and Journalism is oftentimes considered a rivalry, it is vital to note that neither can live without the other.
http://prestigeagency.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/the-lovehate-relationship-between-pr-and-journalism/
Journalists sometimes underestimate the impact of media relations, but this is a two-way street. The article below profiles several common habits of journalists that are widely despised by PR professionals. Although the article is rather extreme, I think it is important as a journalist to consider these “nightmarish behaviors” so we can avoid them in our interactions with PR people; after all, PR and Journalism “are meant to be together because they both work to inform the public.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-pr-people-really-think-of-journalists-2012-1
And how do the fans really know what’s going on in the world of the Patriots? Well, as Christy seemed to imply that sometimes, for the best of the organization, they will just have to wait.