Journalism is not PR. That’s why #journchat needs to be split.
I am frustrated with #journchat, the wildly popular creation of @PRsarahevans. What initially started out as a great idea to have a Monday evening Twitter chat with journalists and public relations professionals has spun out of control, and has gotten flooded with PR folks (and related questions) with very few journalists.
When there are questions about journalists and/or journalism, it has to do with our interactions with PR professionals. While PR people might think that’s all we do, they couldn’t be more wrong. Our stories come from many sources — and the press release is just one of them. Let me be honest: most press releases get thrown in the garbage or deleted in our inboxes.
The discussion moves way too fast — and that’s because there are way too many people involved. Last night’s discussion so fast I could barely contribute.
That is why I am proposing all journalists stop attending #journchat, and that a new #journchat just for journalists is created. Many journalists CAN’T attend #journchat at its scheduled time (8-11 p.m. ET) because those are the deadline hours for a lot of East Coast and Midwest newspapers.
The new #journchat will be held at a more convenient time, and will go at a slower pace so actual discussions can be held.
Let’s start the dialogue.
-@ethanklapper
Washington
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