We pitch a story idea to a national magazine. An executive editor writes that the idea could be really fun. He passes us along to a senior editor, who he explains will follow up if there’s interest.
The senior editor contacts us, saying the story idea sounds fun. She is curious to see photos and asks us to send her five or so examples. We shoot high-resolution photos tailored to her needs.
After receiving the photos and a video, she says she is thinking about possible ways that she might feature the photos online. She requests more details and anecdotes. We provide her with the requested information and she replies with a request for additional details. We quickly provide more information.
We don’t hear back and follow-up about two weeks later. She thanks us for checking in. She says she’s been caught up in a few time-sensitive projects but hopes to focus on our story idea soon.
That was the last time we ever heard from her. We later followed up and over a stretch of several weeks, sent emails and left a voice mail. Not one of our messages was returned.
More than two months passed. I emailed the executive editor who originally contacted us. I explained we would like to be able to tell our client if the story still has legs or if the senior editor lost interest in the concept. We asked, “Can you help me learn the status of the story?”
The next day, the executive editor emailed back, saying the senior editor and he discussed the idea. “It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think we can get a story out of it. I’m sorry this wasn’t communicated. Thanks for reaching out.”
Why didn’t the senior editor explain this to us?
Did she leave the magazine? She obviously still works there.
Did she go on vacation or experience personal issues that prevented her from addressing her work in a timely fashion? Her emails did not include a vacation response. We don’t know if she experienced personal issues, but people typically take steps to shift workloads to co-workers during such situations.
Did she not have time to respond to us? We don’t believe that. We often hear people spit out such excuses when apologizing for not returning phone calls or emails. But we assume she found time to eat meals and update Facebook and Twitter during this more than two-month stretch. Within hours of our email, the executive editor found a few minutes to talk with her and write us a short response.
Did she act like a wimp? This is not the first story we can tell of a member of the media discussing a story idea back and forth and then seemingly dropping off the face of the Earth. One journalist recently texted us a lie instead acknowledging a story was not moving forward. Journalists must be tough enough to meet tight deadlines and ask awkward and difficult questions. But some reporters and editors dread telling people a story idea is not moving forward. They would prefer to ignore emails and phone calls and hope the caller eventually gives up.
Can I relate to this senior editor? I’m sure, early in my reporting career, I ignored some callers out of convenience. As my career moved forward, I realized this approach is rude. I learned I have five minutes to make a call or fire off an email. I understood that people know you’re not being upfront when you claim, “We’ll put the story on file.” At one point, I ensured I was as honest as possible even if that meant telling someone we had no interest in their idea or apologizing for taking up some of their time. That’s respectful.
Will the senior editor’s actions have repercussions? We don’t know. But some journalists make the mistake of believing that relationships with PR people are a one-way street. They can blow off PR people because that’s just the nature of the business and how would that ever hurt a reporter? Well, we may one day have a client this editor would really like to feature. Believe it or not, journalists may one day need a PR person they blew off.
Here’s the bottom line to journalists: Take five minutes to update someone on a story’s status. We’re big boys and girls. We can take rejection. As a reporter, I drove to far away places for stories that never aired. But if you’ve started a discussion and follow-up by asking for photos and more details, have the courtesy to not pretend we don’t exist. Otherwise, someone might ask, “Was she a wimp?” And how awkward will it be if our paths cross again especially if you need us for something.