In his outburst he published the list of over 600 PR professionals he has blocked from contacting him. The list noticeably contains the e-mail addresses of most the bigger PR agencies.
My thoughts:
- 1) I think there is a CRITICAL lack of training for junior PR professionals and pitching. I can't comment on what University teaches, but the fact Chris is even being targeted with press releases seems largely to reflect the pressure on PRs to pitch by the quantity and not the quality.
2) PR professionals are lazy and don't think things through. If you're pitching a big magazine (the type of magazine which receives a lot of pitches) then you can't spam the general address listed, you need to pick up a copy of the magazine and find more relevant e-mail addresses.
3) In a follow up post Chris commented that some of those on the list have apologised and asked to be removed. Honestly, if you're on his list, you probably need not be too concerned - he wasn't the person you were supposed to be pitching to anyhow.
4) PRs are probably a little too comfortable with e-mail, and need to consider other avenues to getting coverage by Wired.
5) I'm in favour of this list, I think Chris has taken a very provocative step which might eventually be seen as a positive effort to improve PR.
Also read: how not to conduct yourselves. Thanks Ed
6 comments:
Agree with your points Rich, and the minor ripple of outrage that followed the original post amused me somewhat.
Although ethically questionable, I'm sure Chris's actions echo the desperation felt by his peers and serve to highlight the extent of the problem.
My only concern is that some PRs may be deterred from pitching powerful bloggers for fear of retribution, even though they may have something relevant to offer.
Hold on a sec there Richard.
What's the difference between this list and appearing on TWL's "Biggest PR F-up"?
The difference is really subjective isn't it? My thoughts are that the TWL list was part of his campaign against me. I was nominated for a category within an industry i'd never even worked in. Read a few posts down for more info on that.
This list, I daresay, is a fair consequence of spamming journalists and reflects a pretty dismal state of PR.
I think you make some good points, Richard. It will be interesting to see if Chris's decision to post the list will change they way PR people build media lists from here on out.
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