How do you source most of your stories?

Mostly, we look at what’s going on in the world of business news at the moment. Sometimes PRs send us useful press releases, sometimes it’s our own initiative. It varies. Meeting with PRs tends to lead to more interviews, or their clients writing us expert or opinion pieces, rather than stories that we write ourselves per se.

How do you prefer to be contacted by PR professionals?
Email. Almost every time. The trouble is, I work in a hot-desking office up to four days a week, so at the moment we don’t have access to our landlines. A lot of the time, especially before 1.30 pm when we’re working on our daily bulletin, we’re just too busy to take calls, so email is always preferred.

How long should a PR professional wait before chasing up on a press release?
Very, very occasionally something interesting has passed us by, but most of the time it’s really not worth following up. If we haven’t replied it’s because we don’t have time or I personally don’t have time, and it’s not relevant. Especially if they call the next day, by then it’s old news.

Do you expect PRs to know your deadlines?
It would be nice if they knew, but I don’t expect them to.

What is the most useful service that PR professionals can provide?
Knowing the brand really, really well and not harassing us with pointless press releases and constant phone calls.

Do you frequently use PRs for their contacts?
Sometimes PRs have introduced me to useful people and interesting opinion or expert pieces. That’s normally from the PRs who take the time to read and learn about Management Today rather than bulk sending out press releases and then following up on them.

Meet the media is supported by PR Newswire. For more Meet the Media, visit www.prnewswire.co.uk/meet-the-media/