Briefings becoming non-events

The public relations practice is facing bigger challenges in terms of improving services and bridging the gap with the media, results of the Middle East Journalists’ Survey 2009 reveal.

According to the survey conducted by Media Source and Insight, the most striking result was the collapse of confidence among the Arabic language media in on-the-record briefings. While 88 per cent regarded them as either “very” or “somewhat” important in 2007 that figure has halved to 44 per cent two years later.

Two years ago 81 per cent of the journalists judged off-the-record briefings either “very” or “somewhat” important, but that finding has dropped a massive 37 points to 44 per cent in 2009. The survey noted that there is a growing scepticism among Arabic language journalists about the value of briefings in general, whether they are on or off the record. 

The statistics for the English language media were similar with a minor increase in “very important” and a slight decrease in “unimportant”. 

Rebecca Hill, Executive Director, Middle East Public Relations Association (Mepra), said: “The decrease in trust towards on-record and off-record briefings reflects a growing cynicism among the media. This will translate into more aggressive questioning and ultimately, good journalism that is based on critical thinking.”

Sumaya Husseini, a PR manager, said: “Journalists are becoming more investigative now. They are not convinced with the information provided by the clients and are researching more to do their own story.

“I think two years ago, journalists were less informed about their areas of specialisation. They would want to question a statement or a story but they did not know what to ask, because they did not have enough background and experience.

“However, now, two years down the line, journalists have become more able to question. Consequently they are less convinced with the facts we provide and wish to research further.”

Similarly, two years ago 48 per cent of the Arabic language media people considered a release to be either a story in itself or the information that can be used to build a story on. This has dropped by 22 points and now a clear majority see a good release as simply “an idea for a story”. 

It’s a different story with the English language media where 45 per cent believe a good release is a story in itself or the majority of a story. This is up 17 points from the previous survey.

Along with such development, PR consultants believe their clients now better realise the importance of having a spokesperson.

Hill said: “We can’t force people to speak. We do suggest our clients have a spokesperson and currently there are more companies with spokespeople. In fact, more of our clients are also requesting media training. This is a growing trend.”

However, according to Hill, the economic crisis has affected that trend, as many clients tended to slash their budgets starting with communications. “In some cases, the crisis has also helped some clients become more media friendly.”

Hill said that issues highlighted by the survey would encourage PR firms to work on eliminating the misunderstanding on both sides.

“There is a misunderstanding of the role of PR and the dynamics of the relations between the PR practice and clients. PR has to manage the expectations of the clients and the media.”

She added: “This misunderstanding can be resolved by training and dialogue, and Mepra can help address those concerns.”

As in the previous survey conducted two years ago, journalists continue to express their discomfort with the way PR executives pester them to publish stories, although results convey an increased usage of press releases as a source of information.

Ahmad Hammoud, PR consultant, said: “Journalists are being approached by too many junior PR people with little or no insight into their clients’ industries or journalists’ needs and deadlines.

“Journalists are bombarded with calls from PRs who don’t read their pages, listen to their programmes or watch their shows. How do you expect clients to respect the advice of their agencies when those same agencies don’t do enough to educate their own staff?”

He said: “It is the PR consultant’s responsibility to manage client expectations and set the standards for ethical and professional practice, and that is what serious journalists are looking for when dealing with PR people. Still too many press releases are being published verbatim in our media.”

Journalists still believe, as they did two years ago, press releases are being sent to general mailing lists, resulting in many irrelevant stories landing in their mail boxes.

In fact, the survey says that there are more press releases being sent to journalists every day, with 54 per cent of the Arabic journalists receiving below 20 releases a day, 24 per cent receiving between 21 and 40 releases and 23 per cent receiving more than 41 releases a day.

Almost 16 per cent of the English media said they received more than 41 releases a day.  The survey said there was a growth across the 41-plus category compared to 2007, accompanying the huge growth in the number of agencies in the region during 2007 and 2008.

On a positive note, however, the survey saw the number of press releases used by the media increase compared to 2007.  Use of releases has increased markedly among the Arabic language press with 41 per cent of them claiming to use a quarter or more of all the releases they receive. While “none” or “less than 10 percent” stood at 55 percent across all respondents in 2007, this figure dropped by 11 points to stand at 44 per cent in 2009.

Hill said: “This is a very positive highlight. To a journalist a good press release has to present the facts and provide all information. As a practitioner, my goal is to anticipate all of a journalist’s questions and provide the answers. A journalists’ role is to get additional information. We still have to understand the challenges of being on the other side of the fence, mainly deadlines and requirements.”

On the other hand, some journalists continue to complain about being hassled by follow-up calls, while PR practitioners seemed keen on understanding the deadline pressures of media professionals.

According to the survey, more journalists dismissed the importance of PR agencies’ tip-offs with a 15 point drop (from 31 per cent to 16 per cent) in English language media that rated tip-offs in the very important category.

 

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