What's a press officer and why is it a good job for writers?
So for those of you who don't know, I'm a press officer at a charity in the UK.
This is something I've wanted to do for a few years, and now as the second job I started during lockdown, it's finally starting to stick.
A press officer is a person at your company who speaks with the press. They'll handle any/all press calls, meaning they're the ones who speak with journalists, and work with them to arrange expert comment, interviews, filming, and op-eds in the media. They'll often dip their toes into social media as well, but I don't do it too much. They write and sign off press releases, expert comments, make sure all releases are in the company's house style and guidelines, and work with corporate partners to make sure the company is positioned correctly in other press releases. Sounds a bit boring, right?
Not so much. It can be fast paced and you'll have to act and be confident in what you're saying. A lot of people freeze up, and when the BBC calls, you've got to be on your game. If you dither, waste time or turn down the request, the greater the chance that they'll go somewhere else.
What a press officer can do: Get your spokesperson on the evening news
What a press officer can't do: Promise your spokesperson will be on the evening news.
Part of my job is managing expectations, so when a campaign directors says they want an op-ed in the Times or the Telegraph, that's a big ask. You can arrange interviews for written, broadcast radio or televised guest slots, but very often these opportunities will be pulled at the last minute for breaking news, so part of the role is acting fast whilst going with the flow.
A typical day of mine:
9am - a journalist will email saying they want a comment on a certain topic, and they've got a deadline of 10.30. That means you've got just 1.5 hours to speak to your spokesperson and get their agreement to do the comment (or not) and then draft it, bringing together your knowledge of the topic, phrasing the comment in their unique voice (because everyone' s is different) and then make it short, punchy and pithy, in time for the journalist's deadline. And that's all assuming that you or your spokesperson isn't in meetings all day or happens to see the request right away.
10.30 - Get comment to journalist
12pm - Draft an op-ed from a spokesperson for a media partnership to be featured in a print supplement for a national newspaper
1pm - Lunch gets interrupted. A private individual has written to our website, demanding to know why we are affiliated with another company that has recently been at the heart of a scandal in the news. This requires a swift and thoughtful response, which means I now have to work with our executive assistant, creative director and draft a formal yet genuine reply, whilst alerting the company we work with of the complaint.
2pm - Meet with creative director and send our draft to the executive assistant. Meet with campaign director to go over ideas for promotion ahead of their upcoming report.
3pm - Media monitoring. This is where we examine all the mentions of the company in the new for the day. This might be a random mention by a blogger, or a comment by one of our spokespeople in a national paper.
4pm - Finalise response to the person who complained, alert the other company and send. Draft a tweet and LinkedIn post for the social media team on what one of our spokespeople said in a radio interview.
5pm - Sign off! But not quite. I've got my press phone on at all times, 24/7. There's not often a call out of hours, but in case there is, I've got the phone in my pocket.
This can be a really fun job for writers, as it means writing non-stop and in different creative ways. You'll have to craft expert comments in different people's voices, whilst hammering home a company message. You may get stuck in crafting tweets or LinkedIn comments, and you'll need to be responsive and act fast to complaints to avoid any reputational damage, whilst being available when journalists call.
That's it in a nutshell.
Cheers
ELJ
This is something I've wanted to do for a few years, and now as the second job I started during lockdown, it's finally starting to stick.
A press officer is a person at your company who speaks with the press. They'll handle any/all press calls, meaning they're the ones who speak with journalists, and work with them to arrange expert comment, interviews, filming, and op-eds in the media. They'll often dip their toes into social media as well, but I don't do it too much. They write and sign off press releases, expert comments, make sure all releases are in the company's house style and guidelines, and work with corporate partners to make sure the company is positioned correctly in other press releases. Sounds a bit boring, right?
Not so much. It can be fast paced and you'll have to act and be confident in what you're saying. A lot of people freeze up, and when the BBC calls, you've got to be on your game. If you dither, waste time or turn down the request, the greater the chance that they'll go somewhere else.
What a press officer can do: Get your spokesperson on the evening news
What a press officer can't do: Promise your spokesperson will be on the evening news.
Part of my job is managing expectations, so when a campaign directors says they want an op-ed in the Times or the Telegraph, that's a big ask. You can arrange interviews for written, broadcast radio or televised guest slots, but very often these opportunities will be pulled at the last minute for breaking news, so part of the role is acting fast whilst going with the flow.
A typical day of mine:
9am - a journalist will email saying they want a comment on a certain topic, and they've got a deadline of 10.30. That means you've got just 1.5 hours to speak to your spokesperson and get their agreement to do the comment (or not) and then draft it, bringing together your knowledge of the topic, phrasing the comment in their unique voice (because everyone' s is different) and then make it short, punchy and pithy, in time for the journalist's deadline. And that's all assuming that you or your spokesperson isn't in meetings all day or happens to see the request right away.
10.30 - Get comment to journalist
12pm - Draft an op-ed from a spokesperson for a media partnership to be featured in a print supplement for a national newspaper
1pm - Lunch gets interrupted. A private individual has written to our website, demanding to know why we are affiliated with another company that has recently been at the heart of a scandal in the news. This requires a swift and thoughtful response, which means I now have to work with our executive assistant, creative director and draft a formal yet genuine reply, whilst alerting the company we work with of the complaint.
2pm - Meet with creative director and send our draft to the executive assistant. Meet with campaign director to go over ideas for promotion ahead of their upcoming report.
3pm - Media monitoring. This is where we examine all the mentions of the company in the new for the day. This might be a random mention by a blogger, or a comment by one of our spokespeople in a national paper.
4pm - Finalise response to the person who complained, alert the other company and send. Draft a tweet and LinkedIn post for the social media team on what one of our spokespeople said in a radio interview.
5pm - Sign off! But not quite. I've got my press phone on at all times, 24/7. There's not often a call out of hours, but in case there is, I've got the phone in my pocket.
This can be a really fun job for writers, as it means writing non-stop and in different creative ways. You'll have to craft expert comments in different people's voices, whilst hammering home a company message. You may get stuck in crafting tweets or LinkedIn comments, and you'll need to be responsive and act fast to complaints to avoid any reputational damage, whilst being available when journalists call.
That's it in a nutshell.
Cheers
ELJ
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