Reuters want comms professionals to build long-lasting relationships with its journalists, its senior editorial team revealed at Cision's latest media briefing
Editor-at-Large Axel Threlfall told a packed house at the company’s UK headquarters that he recently had a conversation with a PR who had declared that working with Reuters had been a “mystery” to him.
He encouraged communicators to give him a call and to start building a relationship, rather than relying on a scattergun approach. “I’m happy to build a rapport with anyone, if they have the patience and a decent pitch,” he said.
Nick Tattersall, Reuters’ Managing Editor, News, EMEA, added that it was essential for PRs to work together with the news organisation’s journalists so that reporters can immerse themselves in their specialisms.
He noted: “It’s essential that our correspondents are in touch with and understand the beats, companies and institutions that they’re covering, even when they’re not in the news. I would encourage communicators to reach out to our journalists not just when you have a story to tell, but also in “downtime” to build that relationship.”
Alessandra Galloni, Reuters’ Global News Editor, emphasised Tattersall’s point that comms professionals should build relationships when not involved in a news story, as “the best understanding is going to come when journalists and PRs are not under time pressure.”
The trio went on to discuss Reuters’ combination of speed and accuracy, the benefits for PRs working with Reuters, the importance of being truthful and the different audiences its stories catered for, including the Refinitiv financial data business.
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