The Flack Turns Hack…Temporarily

by lisa ~ August 20, 2009

Aug. 20, 2009 - What happens when an experienced flack goes back to her journalistic roots? She’s reminded of all the challenges inherent in the newsgathering process and of the frustration involved in dealing with impenetrable corporate communications departments.

I interned with a daily newspaper published by Gannett Co., then began my career in financial journalism after college. I worked as a reporter and eventually an editor for about four years. In 1998, I moved into a marketing communications role at Standard & Poor’s and, from there, into public relations.

Because of my understanding of corporate finance and my familiarity with complex financial products such as derivatives, I was asked to write an article by the editor of a financial trade publication. Although I have continued to write documents ranging from press releases to executive presentations to sales collateral, I was excited to take on the project.

This 3,000-word assignment called for an interview with a specific executive. Emails and phone calls to the subject himself, Mr. X, and his company’s top flack went unanswered for about a week.

I was relieved when I finally received Mr. X’s consent via email. With a month-long lead time, I wasn’t initially concerned about meeting the editor’s deadline but Mr. X could only fit in the interview three days before my deadline.

Although the flack hadn’t returned my calls, I sent him a general list of the three topics I wanted to cover. In return, I requested Mr. X’s bio and background information about the topics. About 30 minutes before the interview, I received Mr. X’s bio but nothing else.

When the call began, the flack informed me that the three topics I’d planned to discuss were off limits.  Words like “proprietary” and “sensitive” were used. Instead of discussing concrete examples about his company, Mr. X touched on industry standards and only referred to his own practices in the most general terms. The entire experience left me wondering why Mr. X had agreed to the interview in the first place.

Still, I cobbled together information from the company’s myriad filings with governmental agencies, and from experts who are familiar with the company. I also placed calls to approximately 10 additional potential sources. I received assurances from the flacks at only two of those organizations that their experts would call me; those calls have never come. The remainder of those contacted have ignored my requests for information. This being prime vacation time, I have chosen not to take this personally.

I attempted to gather information from industry sources as well - unsuccessfully, as it turned out. In order to gain access to the Media Center of a trade organization’s Web site, I was forced to provide not only my personal contact information but also my address and details of my story assignment. Instead of granting me immediate access in return, I received an email stating “Your registration is being reviewed and you will receive a response shortly.” Five days later, I received this notification: “We could not approve your registration. The site is for journalists and…established media organizations. Based on the information we have received from you, we do not feel that you fall into this category.” I did not bothering calling to complain.

During a second conference call with Mr. X that was intended to flesh out some of the elements of the story, the flack admitted that some of the information I’d requested was publicly available. He also sent me additional information that would’ve greatly eased the writing of the first draft and saved hours that I’d invested in research.

The article is nearly finished; I’m scheduled to turn it in to the editor today. After being away from journalism for more than 10 years, I have a new respect for the interdependence of the reporter and her subject. While I still gain immense satisfaction from creating a wonderfully researched and (I hope) thoroughly enlightening article, I’m reminded of the reasons I left journalism.

Lisa Tibbitts  is a corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.

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