Media Relations: Who’s Your Daddy? Editors And Producers Are!

I routinely annoyed one of my former TV managers by saying we worked in a producer-run shop. I was arguing producers normally made the final call on which stories to cover. She didn’t enjoy it when I made this point. But I seldom recalled situations when reporters covered stories producers didn’t like. However I remember countless times producers assigned stories reporters didn’t like.

Here are some replies I’ve received from reporters who liked my story pitch:

“Uh u know as well as I do, what I think doesn’t matter.”

“I like it, but these producers don’t listen to me.”

“They didn’t bite, sorry!”

“My producers passed on this idea.”

Journalists sometimes don’t actually like your story idea. They fault editors and producers to avoid the awkward moment of saying they don’t like the pitch you spent so much time crafting. But I attended many editorial meetings when reporters passionately pitched someone’s idea. Co-workers nodded their heads in approval. But a producer sat in silence planning to justify why something you didn’t care about was more significant. Yes, the argument may have contradicted the rational he or she gave only a week earlier, but you could see out of the corner of your eye the cane preparing to pull you off stage.

Reporters may get some of the glory. But editors and producers often wield the wand of power. Getting a journalist to pitch your story is only half the battle. Getting the producer you can’t see to say yes is how you achieve victory. Learn what producers want and what they think makes a good story. Just don’t be exasperated if what they want changes from week to week. Because producers will tell you it doesn’t matter what they think. The managers don’t listen to them.