Have You Thanked a Reporter Today?

Most of us had been raised to have good manners, together with saying “please” and “thank you.” These ideas apply to enterprise as effectively! When’s the final time you discovered a strategy to thank your purchasers, prospects, or members, or your distributors? It issues!It counts in media relations as effectively.When a reporter writes a narrative for or about you, thank that individual! Reporters work terribly onerous, and they’re often not paid what they’re price. They’re in it for different causes. A easy thanks from you and, when it is applicable, a observe to the reporter’s editor or writer praising the reporter’s work is a sort and well-mannered factor to do and it’ll additionally strengthen your relationship with the reporter, the editor, and the media outlet.

However let’s go one step additional.You probably have reporters you’re employed with frequently, take note of their work. In the event that they’ve completed one thing excellent, whether or not or not it has something to do with you, drop a observe of congratulations. Acknowledge their expertise and the contribution their work makes to your group.This technique can repay in surprising methods, and this is an ideal instance. One in every of my colleagues has adopted the profession of Brian McGrory of the Boston Globe for a few years, dropping him notes of “Well done!” on occasion-again, McGrory’s columns had nothing to do with my good friend however they had been attention-grabbing and effectively written. Right now, Brian McGrory is the editor of the Boston Globe! My good friend had no agenda however to be supportive, however now there is a robust relationship in place! So that you by no means know.Too usually, we get caught up in despising “the media.” And but, the position of native information media couldn’t be extra essential right now and the nice ones, the respected ones, know that they contribute to public life in crucial methods past “just” telling the information. They supply management, generally underneath the radar. They improve the standard of our lives by letting us learn about issues we did not know we would have liked to know.

What impressed me to submit this text? A narrative within the Salem Information by Tom Dalton concerning the 19th century abolitionist Sarah Parker Remond from Salem, Massachusetts. I’ve labored with Tom for a few years, in addition to his colleague on the “News” Alan Burke and their writer Karen Andreas. This workforce, and others, are a shining instance of precisely what I am speaking about, and I often drop them “Well done!” notes for no different cause than the truth that I respect what they do!So… take a while right now to thank a reporter or editor!They should hear reward, not simply criticism!