A tea party
Dear Public,
Subject: Pitching stories to reporters or, how to get coverage for your classroom tea party.
I have never hung up on someone before. I always, always, tell people first "I'm hanging up on you now", then I end the conversation by placing the receiver in the phone cradle.
It just seems nicer that way. And that has been the way I have operated, at least until yesterday.
My extension rings and I pick it up. I'm waiting on four call backs. I need these four call backs to get my story done.
"Hello," the female voice says, and promptly explains that she is an elementary teacher in one of the school district's I cover. "I'm having a tea party tomorrow in my classroom tomorrow and I was wondering what kind of coverage I could get."
Rule 1. Newspapers, like any other news organization, need to plan ahead, to schedule reporters and photographers. And when possible, we need more than 24-hours-notice for covering an event.
I try to tell her this, that we usually need a little more notice on stuff like this. I add that if she takes a picture and does a little write-up, we would be happy to run it in our Sunday Community News section. I start to give her the contact information.
"This is very-old, fine, china," she adds. Her voice has an edge to it now, and it seems a little louder. She reminds me that tea parties are very fun. And here's the thing, I don't disagree. I wish I had the time and resources to write about all the amazing things teachers do in classrooms, but I don't. So I have to prioritize. I try to tell her that I'm really happy she called, but coverage is just not possible for this tea party on Friday.
Her voice changes again, even louder this time.
"I bet if we were going on strike tomorrow, you would be there."
I decide that honesty is the best policy here.
"That's absolutely true," I tell her. "We would be there."
Honesty may not have been the best policy. The teacher begins to rant, hurling insults, telling me why she hasn't been a subscriber since 1984 and how we (the news) are only interested in the negative things and insult, insult, insult. I try to get a word in but she won't let me. She just keeps insulting the newspaper, a publication that I am quite proud to work for. I take it personally when people insult it.
Rule 2. Don't insult the news publication from which you are trying to solicit coverage.
That is when I did the hang up. I feel bad. I tell my news editor "you are probably going to be getting an angry call here soon." She tells me I shouldn't have hung up on the teacher. Now I feel worse.
Rule 3. When insults fail, and they always will, try a different approach. When a caller is nice (and almost all of them are), I will go out of my way, sometimes to my detriment, to beg the photography editor to send a snapper out to the Green Eggs and Ham Day on Dr. Seuss's birthday or Jump Rope for the Heart.
I check my messages, three of the four people I was hoping to talk to have called me back. I pick up the phone and dial.
Subject: Pitching stories to reporters or, how to get coverage for your classroom tea party.
I have never hung up on someone before. I always, always, tell people first "I'm hanging up on you now", then I end the conversation by placing the receiver in the phone cradle.
It just seems nicer that way. And that has been the way I have operated, at least until yesterday.
My extension rings and I pick it up. I'm waiting on four call backs. I need these four call backs to get my story done.
"Hello," the female voice says, and promptly explains that she is an elementary teacher in one of the school district's I cover. "I'm having a tea party tomorrow in my classroom tomorrow and I was wondering what kind of coverage I could get."
Rule 1. Newspapers, like any other news organization, need to plan ahead, to schedule reporters and photographers. And when possible, we need more than 24-hours-notice for covering an event.
I try to tell her this, that we usually need a little more notice on stuff like this. I add that if she takes a picture and does a little write-up, we would be happy to run it in our Sunday Community News section. I start to give her the contact information.
"This is very-old, fine, china," she adds. Her voice has an edge to it now, and it seems a little louder. She reminds me that tea parties are very fun. And here's the thing, I don't disagree. I wish I had the time and resources to write about all the amazing things teachers do in classrooms, but I don't. So I have to prioritize. I try to tell her that I'm really happy she called, but coverage is just not possible for this tea party on Friday.
Her voice changes again, even louder this time.
"I bet if we were going on strike tomorrow, you would be there."
I decide that honesty is the best policy here.
"That's absolutely true," I tell her. "We would be there."
Honesty may not have been the best policy. The teacher begins to rant, hurling insults, telling me why she hasn't been a subscriber since 1984 and how we (the news) are only interested in the negative things and insult, insult, insult. I try to get a word in but she won't let me. She just keeps insulting the newspaper, a publication that I am quite proud to work for. I take it personally when people insult it.
Rule 2. Don't insult the news publication from which you are trying to solicit coverage.
That is when I did the hang up. I feel bad. I tell my news editor "you are probably going to be getting an angry call here soon." She tells me I shouldn't have hung up on the teacher. Now I feel worse.
Rule 3. When insults fail, and they always will, try a different approach. When a caller is nice (and almost all of them are), I will go out of my way, sometimes to my detriment, to beg the photography editor to send a snapper out to the Green Eggs and Ham Day on Dr. Seuss's birthday or Jump Rope for the Heart.
I check my messages, three of the four people I was hoping to talk to have called me back. I pick up the phone and dial.
4 Comments:
I deal with the public too, and is it just me or are people being ruder and more demanding than they ever were? I don't know how Park and all the editors and reporters deal with all the complaints and criticism. And sometimes I wish all those critics had their daily work held up to public scrutiny so we could let them know how inept they are in their jobs. I have a degree in journalism and have worked for newspapers so I know what the papers are trying to do - present the news - not appease the audience. Don't know how you deal with all crabbiness every day.
We do send photographers often to Beth-Center. I was there just last week taking photographs of its Fun Run. Whoever organized it, called well in advance to get on the schedule.
You shouldn't feel bad for hanging up on a nagging idiot. My only advice for next time is to slam the phone down with authority and move on. By the way, my dog Checkers is having a birthday party on Wednesday, can you cover it and send a photographer?
This woman didn't know that, had she not been so rude, you probably would have found a way to get her NEXT tea party -- and somehow get a great story out of it. Her loss.
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