Journalists often make the career switch to public relations to leverage their storytelling skills and media relations expertise. But what does this transition really look like? In this week’s episode, Tim Moynihan, an award-winning tech journalist with a career spanning WIRED, CNET, PCWorld, and TechTV, joins the podcast to discuss his leap from journalist to PR professional, the differences between the two dynamic fields and how to pitch like a pro.
imPRessions Season 2 Episode #17 Transcript
Kalli: Hey, Jenn.
Jenn: Hey, Kalli.
Kalli: Jenn, have you always been in PR, or were you a journalist first?
Jenn: I’ve sort of done both. I’ve done PR for a while, both in-house and then, as you know, at an agency. But I had dabbled in freelance writing, especially during Covid when there wasn’t much to do. I worked for two different publications, and I would write on the side. So I do have a little bit of experience for the best of both worlds kind of thing, but why do you ask?
Kalli: So I actually have always worked for an agency, and our guest today actually was a journalist first and then switched to PR. It’s Tim Moynihan. He is an award winning tech journalist, and we’ve invited him on today to talk about making that change, going from being a journalist to being a PR professional.
Jenn: Oh, I’m excited to hear his thoughts.
Kalli: Yeah, let’s get to it.
Jenn: Making the switch from journalism to public relations is a journey that many professionals embark on, bringing a wealth of skills and experiences that uniquely position them for success in the PR world. But what exactly does this transition look like? If you’ve thought about making the switch from journalism to PR, you’ll love today’s guest. Tim Moynihan is an award-winning tech journalist with stints at WIRED, CNET, PC World, and Tech TV, who thrived as a journalist but made the career change recently to PR. Today, we’ll discuss the differences of both fields and receive key PR Intel from someone who is familiar with both worlds. Hi Tim, thanks for being with us today.
Tim: Hey, it’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Kalli: Hi, Tim. So as we’re, you know, talking about the change that you’ve made from journalism to PR, which is one that’s extremely common in our field of work. Can you walk us through and tell us a little bit about your background and how you made the switch?
Tim: Sure thing. Yeah. Like you said, it’s kind of a cliche, right? Every PR agency probably has a former journalist in it. Uh, so I’m filling that quota for airfoil. But before making that jump, I was a journalist for about 20 years. Tech journalism was kind of my beat area, and I was fortunate enough to cover tech during a really, really exciting time in the history of technology.
Jenn: So I know you just mentioned something that I find interesting: how every agency probably has, a former journalist. Do you ever see the other way around? Like do you ever see PR people going into journalism, or is it mostly, do you feel like journalists going into PR?
Tim: I’m trying to think of if I have worked with any former PR pros in journalism. I don’t think so. I do think that there are more and more opportunities now for that to be the case, right? There’s a lot more paid content programs, things like that, maybe social, maybe on the social side, there’s a good crossover. But that’s a great question. I can’t remember anyone who kind of started in PR and went to journalism.
Jenn: I mean, I’m sure it definitely exists somewhere, but, um, you know, just curious because you’re right, it is very common to see the other side of it. Now that you’ve made the jump, what skills from your journalism career do you think have been the most beneficial in your role today as a PR professional?
Tim: I think curiosity is probably the big one, like just being hungry to learn about new things, new clients, and new markets. You have to do a lot of that as a reporter, usually on a really, really tight deadline. So it’s actually one of the things I wasn’t anticipating to love about PR was you get a little bit more time to work on things, right? You’re not always working on a one-day deadline or a two-hour deadline. I think the other thing, too, is interviewing skills. I wasn’t anticipating that either. Like, especially when you’re working with a new client, it’s really important to kind of hone your campaign strategy by conducting a lot of interviews with their key stakeholders. So, a client might come to you with one idea of how they might want the agency engagement to look like. But then, by conducting those interviews, you can really kind of uncover new opportunities and angles.
Kalli: Speaking of different angles, obviously, storytelling is a huge part of the PR industry, and you really have an advantage coming from journalism, where you’re the one that’s really writing the story. How has your background in journalism influenced the way you approach pitching to media? Because obviously, like I said, storytelling is a huge part of it for PR people. We try to help provide those stories, but, you know, for journalists, it’s what is the story, what makes it interesting.
Tim: I would say I think my experience on the journalism side comes in handy in sort of understanding the nuances of what’s happening in the newsroom, like the differences between individual reporters and how you might be able to bend a pitch to an individual reporter’s interests. You know, there might be more than one reporter covering a beat area in the same newsroom, but one of them might be focused on, you know, executive interviews. One might be focused on product design, one is on lab testing, that kind of thing. So different pieces of the same story will kind of appeal to each of them in a different way. So you really kind of need to know how to speak their language. I think it also helps that, in some cases, I’ll know the reporter or the editor personally. So, I might have worked with them somewhere down the line or covered the same beat areas. Them. But that doesn’t guarantee coverage, of course, but at the very least, you get a response if you kind of have that relationship with them.
Jenn: Was there like a defining moment for you where, you know, you were just like, I am so sick of being pitched by PR people? I’m going to become one of them. Like, what was the moment you’re like, I just I’m done with the journalism. I want to try the other side.
Tim: For me, it was like, you know, 20 years of writing, every day is a grind. It’s a grind. Like it’s pretty crazy. But I think what the appeal to PR to me was that it’s more than writing; it’s more than communications. It’s really on a client-by-client basis, I guess. Creative problem solving, right? You’re doing a lot more work for a particular client, but you’re also using the skills in the journalism world, whether it’s research, whether it’s writing, editing, coming up with a content plan for a website or a media campaign, that kind of thing. So I think it’s like very similar to editorial work. It’s more being kind of an editor, like a top editor, than really a reporter. And that was kind of surprising to me. But I love that aspect of it. But yeah, I don’t think there was like a Eureka moment where it was like, I got to get out of journalism, going to PR. I think it just kind of naturally happens to a lot of journalists where they might be working in the same field for a long time, and it just gets to the point where it’s a grind. You have to be like, creative on command every day, even if you’re having a bad day. And you have to be accurate all the time. And, you know, in the social media era, you’re not getting that much positive feedback from the general public. So it’s just all those things that kind of add up to I want a new career path.
Jenn: Well, now that you’ve had both sides of the media coin, so to speak, what do you think PR professionals get wrong about media relations? Like deep dive into what people can do a little bit better, or maybe something they don’t realize about the industry.
Tim: Honestly, I think journalists might get more things wrong about PR than vice versa, but I guess the big one would be how they react to a lack of response from or pitch. Right? Because journalists, it’s just a volume issue, like reporters get literally hundreds of email pitches a day, so it’s impossible to respond to everything and do your core work right and actually write stories. Report stories. So I think, like lack of response to a pitch, it’s fair to follow up 1 or 2 times just to make sure they see it. I also think that, like on the PR side, you know, reporter databases are useful, but I think it’s a mistake to rely on them completely. And that kind of loops back to the nuances of a newsroom. I think it’s better to kind of go to websites, search for relevant stories in an outlet, take note of who’s covering each topic and in what way they’re covering them, and then actually read their stories to figure out the best potential angle for them personally, that takes more time, but I think it’s really worth it.
Kalli: I agree 100% with that approach. I always tell, you know, the interns and junior staff that I’m working with, like think of the databases almost like Wikipedia when you’re writing a college paper. It’s a great starting point. It might point you in the direction of resources you need, you know, such as an email, contact information, and things like that. But you have to put the work in. If you really want to make sure it works. Because I know, like early in my career, I used the database and pitched someone, and they had the completely wrong person. And like in the database, I was like, this person’s perfect, but in reality, they were the wrong person.
They didn’t report on it, or it was old information. A lot of PR is doing your homework and especially with media relations, it’s part of that relationship building. You wouldn’t just friend someone on Facebook because they’re pictures. You actually are friends with that person in real life. It’s that type of mindset about it that really helps you be successful as a PR person and gain a journalist’s respect. And, you know, maybe they see your name, and they do open that email out of the hundreds they receive.
Tim: And I wonder how many, because the thing that happens on the journalism side a lot is you get pitched for a lot of things that really aren’t relevant to your coverage area. And I’m wondering, like, are those database tools responsible for that? Because it might be like a reporter is listed as covering certain topics, and they might have done that like five years ago. And it just hasn’t been updated. That’s kind of I know that that’s like a common annoyance on the journalist side, where it’s like, I keep getting pinched for stuff that isn’t even relevant, but there’s a reason for that. It has to like tie back to something. Maybe it’s those database tools.
Maybe they just wrote one story about a specific topic, like three years ago. But yeah, it’s better to do kind of the legwork in creating those relationships and really understanding who you’re pitching and what their writing style is, what they’re covering within a certain topic area, and that kind of thing.
Jenn: Actually, this is a little funny because I reached out to a reporter maybe about a week ago because I was pitching her on one of my clients. And according to Muckrack, she covered that exact industry and should have been the perfect reporter. And for months, I just really hadn’t heard back from her. I sent her an email last week. I was like, listen, I follow your work, but it looks like you change beats because like what you’re tweeting and like, you know, your recent articles. But on Muckrack and Cision and even in your Wall Street Journal Profile it says you cover another industry. Can you clarify? She got back to me right away and was like, yeah, I’m sorry if I saw other emails, and I meant to let you know I did change beats. They never changed it, blah, blah, blah. But I think she appreciated that, that I was like, hey, I want to, like, be sure to give you relevant pitches, and I don’t want to bombard you if I’m off base here. But just so you know, you’re noted as something else in these databases. So yeah, again, just going back to that, you have to be diligent about making sure that they are actually covering it. But I also think it’s okay for PR professionals to ask those questions. And I think journalists probably appreciate it.
Tim: Yeah, that’s their language. Journalists ask a lot of questions. So it’s fair game turning the tables.
Kalli: Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It’s so silly. But you think, oh sometimes you just have to ask. And there’s no such thing as a silly question sometimes. And now let’s I kind of want to take a step forward a little bit, you know. All right. So you found your journalist, you’ve confirmed there be it and it’s a fed. You know, from that journalism perspective, what makes a press release or pitch stand out? You know it’s the right fit, but what catches your attention and makes you think, this is something I want to follow up with and potentially do a story on?
Tim: That’s a great question. I wish there was a simple answer. I think there are a lot of different variables in it, and it depends on the reporter, what their areas of interest are, and that kind of thing. Well, I’ll tell you a story. This is actually probably like not the answer you want to hear, but, uh, I’ve received email pitches with no subject line and that forces me to open them and read them. I’m not saying everybody should do that, but if you receive an email with no subject line where it’s just like, no subject, you’re gonna open it and read it. I mean, I think it loops back to as we were talking about relevance is a big one. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all journalist, right? They’re all individuals. So I think the more you can tailor a pitch to a specific person’s sensibilities, and that loops back to reading a lot of their articles, figuring out like, what are the trends that are kind of going through their articles consistently, like what are they talking about most frequently? Because a lot of reporters will have a bad area, but they will also have within that beat area, kind of an area of interest or preferences or things that they find most interesting about a product category or whatever. I think a press release in itself is just an inverted pyramid-like explainer of things. I don’t think a press release itself cannot stand out in a way beyond being super relevant to the journalist, where you can get, I think, a little bit more creative in that pitch, right? That pitch email, if it’s very personally driven, if you can talk about things that the journalist has written about or evidence that you’ve actually read their stories and know what they’re talking about and understand what they find interesting, that can go a long way. And also, I think, like the materials surrounding the press release in the pitch are really important. Product videos or explainer videos are super important these days. I think like video is by far the most popular form of content online. It’s also the most shared form of content. And if you’re giving reporters videos, good product images that are sort of a range of things, right, like lifestyle shots and just well-done product images and well-done product videos, you’re giving them a lot of resources to embed in an article, talk about within an article, and ultimately make their work more visually appealing. And I just realized, like, I’m speaking about this from completely my area of expertise, which is like technology product coverage, right? But I think the more you can personalize the approach for each reporter in terms of targeting their interests, talking about their interest, showing evidence that you’ve read their work and you understand their sort of style and preferences, the more successful you’ll be.
Jenn: Great advice. I mean, reporters are people. So, you know, treat them like their people and, you know, not just your servant to get coverage, you know, for your client. So now that you’re in the PR world, PR is one of those industries that whether you think it’s good or bad, it evolves. It really kind of adjusts itself to the world around us and trends and things like that. Are you seeing anything new happening? Any new trends that people should watch out for? Anything that strikes you as like an interesting evolution in our world right now?
Tim: I think it’s not exactly new, obviously, but I do think that a lot of PR professionals, and I think maybe even media professionals, think of traditional media and social media as kind of two different animals in terms of like pitching and targeting traditional journalists versus quote unquote social influencers. The reality of the situation is that a lot of the media figures on social are journalists. They just happen to be doing it on social media. Right? Like a perfect example is Marcus Brownlee, who’s an incredible product reviewer, just like an incredible channel with an incredible following. You know, his clout, especially among younger generations, is way more significant than some of the traditional media outlets that people are targeting first and foremost. So I think, I mean, the interesting trend, and I think it is just going to get more and more powerful, is how social media has blossomed from like, oh, these are just people who are quote-unquote influencers, where it’s actually like independent journalists who just happen to use social media as their main platform. I know in a lot of places, like the media relations team and kind of the social influencer engagement team, are maybe different, and there may be siloed, but I think more and more social media just needs to be treated as normal media because it’s, you know, especially among younger generations, social media is where they’re getting their news and their product coverage. So not exactly new, like social media isn’t new, but it’s just getting very powerful in terms of the media space.
Kalli: That’s so true. And I’m glad that you talked about that because that’s something a lot of people miss and also isn’t always in the databases. So again, do your homework. Aside from that piece of advice, what else would you tell someone who is considering making the switch from journalism to PR?
Tim: Obviously, there are some skills that translate writing, communication, just having a good understanding of a beat area, and maybe like the competitive landscape there. But it’s a lot like…. let’s say you’re a basketball player. If journalism is basketball, PR is like volleyball or whatever, right? There are skills that translate, but it’s a completely different sport with completely different rules. So you can’t make the jump from like a basketball court to a volleyball court and like dribble and dunk, right? Like those things aren’t part of the game. So I think it’s like, just be patient and take it as a learning experience. I was really, really fortunate with the team I work with at airfoil. They were super patient with me. I think I approached it with like kind of an open mindset where I think a lot of journalists think they know more than PR professionals. If you read some of the like comments on Twitter, it seems like there’s at least five a day where it’s some journalists complaining about some pitch that they got or whatever, right? And like journalists have to understand that they don’t know everything about the job. They understand the other side of it, but they don’t understand how to do the job. So the more you can kind of approach it with an open mind without thinking like, oh, I’m a journalist and a lot of this job is communicating with journalists, so I will know how to do it 100%. There’s going to be a rude awakening there. You have to kind of approach it from a standpoint of learning and kind of adapting your existing skills to a completely new career.
Jenn: Well said. I completely agree with that. PR and journalism may seem vastly different, but there are countless similarities, so anyone who is considering changing industries might be pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition can be. Tim, I think you’ve really laid out the path for our listeners. Thank you so much for being here today. This was really a wonderful conversation.
Tim: Thank you for having me. It was it was fun.
Jenn: For our listeners, reach out to me and Kalli anytime with guest suggestions at impressions@pollackgroup.com. As always, continue to share your support by following us on social media and rating or reviewing our podcasts. We appreciate the support and look forward to seeing you next time.
