A colleague was laughing at me yesterday. I told him I had informed a prospect about the inability of journalists to understand developments in a certain industry. His comment was that the owner of our agency must have choked. Well, the owner wasn't there, but I'm not sure he would have choked.
Journalists miss stories all the time.
Media relations helps them see issues they have overlooked and hear messages in the noise of competing interests. The hard part of our business is staying objective and recommending stories that are in the self-interest of the reporter and incorporate our clients' messages. I am frequently accused of being too negative about what a good story is and the owner of my agency of being too positive. I am a skeptic. Being gimlet-eyed helps me tease facts out of puffery.