The public relations industry has been affected by the COVID pandemic no differently than a whole multitude of industries. Josh Nass PR is an example of a company that has been deliberate about consciously communicating to members of their customer base, and its staff, about any announcements due to the challenges that the pandemic has brought.
The company has been dedicated to ensuring a healthy work environment for its team of employees. For that reason, there has been a policy in place just like many other businesses, of allowing all staff members to work remotely.
The beauty and value of the public relations industry is that the service can indeed be provided in a virtual environment. Communications with clients can certainly persist just as they would under normative circumstances. And whether its media relations which Josh Nass PR is known to excel at; or whether it is crisis communications and reputation management campaigns, the fact of the matter is that these services can be procured even during war-time situations.
The key with any proper media relations campaign is ensuring that there are well cultivated relationships with reporters and other members of the media. In order for it to be spearhead properly, there must be a substantial amount of trust that has been built up over time between the publicist or PR practitioner and the reporter or editor.
Trust is an integral part of public relations and that trust has been an incredibly important factor in the survival of many agencies in their abilities
Josh Nass and other leaders of NYC based PR firms are sure to consistently keep that in mind in their interactions with members of the media. The fact of the matter is that as a public relations professional, you never know when a reporter will be calling you about a story that may seek to cast your client in a less than positive light.
In such situations, it is especially valuable to have a pre-existing relationship with the reporter that is healthy and one built on goodwill. The reporter won’t forget that holiday basket you sent them; or the integrity you’ve exhibited in your dealings with them in the past. Perhaps they were working on a story that was an incredibly important one and you had a helpful bit of information to enhance their reporting and the quality of their sourcing.
Serving as a guide for reporters in such situations can actually prove both meaningful and beneficial, in certain situations. Reporters provide a tremendous public service that should be admired and appreciated. Like in any other industry, there are certainly bad actors that might not be intellectually honest. But on balance, most reporters are incredibly dedicated to their work, and truly working hard to make a difference. For that, they should be appreciated.
In the public relations industry there are unfortunately some that view reporters as nothing more than conduits and pawns or obstacles in the way of their obtaining coverage for their clients. This is not only a morally wrong view; it’s also factually inaccurate. And it can have deleterious effects on those same publicists’ abilities to get their clients favorable coverage. Reporters are smart; and they have feelings just like anyone else. If you’re a member of the PR space that does not treat reporters with the respect they deserve, it’s not just karma that will ultimately hurt you; it’s the quality of the press you’re able to secure your clients that’ll diminish greatly.