Five minutes with journalist… Linda Jones

Five minutes with… Linda Jones

  Linda Jones is the founding editor of the family travel website http://www.havealovelytime.com which brings together reviews and reports of family activities and holidays, by parents, for parents. A journalist for 20 years, she has also written for most national newspapers and women’s weekly magazines.

What I want from PR people is…
…clear, concise communication and to be treated like a human being as opposed to a faceless freelance on a long list of people to be given exactly the same information and expected to get excited about it.

The best way to get my attention is…
…to do your job properly.

But please don’t…
… promise me something you can’t deliver or lie that something is an exclusive when it’s not. Also, please don’t send me “news” of some ridiculous survey which basically means you’ve asked your mates in the office what they think.

When pitching a story to me…
…please understand that what I’m most interested in is case studies to back it up. Please understand what a case study is and please understand what information journalists want from case studies.

If you’re sending a press release…
…I want the people featured in it to be available, I want the facts and figures to make sense and be relevant and I don’t want it as an attachment. I want you to tell me what someone “said”, not “commented”, and I want you to realise that use of PR-puffery that cannot be backed up with solid facts will see your release consigned to the bin.

The most successful PR people…
… (working in media relations) are those who understand what deadlines are. It sounds obvious but I never cease to be amazed that it, well, isn’t.

With thanks to PR Success Monthly who published this article.  http://www.prsuccess.co.uk

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