Here’s why:

1. We are here to serve them. Working on a story that doesn’t include my client? It’s 2 a.m. with an hour until your deadline? That’s OK. Let me see what I can do for you.

2. We’re nice to them even when they treat us like crap. Most journalists are having bad days or crazy busy days as they like to tell us. And we aren’t? We get to call up cheery journalists eager to talk to us and relay their incredibly helpful feedback to our patient, understanding clients. Right. Regardless, we are always happy to get them what they need when they need it, or at least try our best.

3. We keep them informed. Yes, they don’t like to receive news releases on everything, but theylove being first to know real news. Without us, they’d have to spend a lot more time digging up news, making their days even busier.

4. We know what they want. Well, the good PR pros do and surely all of you reading this are savvy. Without us, they’d be dealing with a bunch of naïve CEOs and entrepreneurs who think their crappy story is worth telling, leaving out all the important info that we know reporters want for a story.

5. We give them samples. I know the regulations about receiving samples or freebies, but let’s be real. Reporters don’t have time to go out and pick up a bunch of items to consider for review or to test for their readers. They might not get to keep the items, but we make their lives much easier by getting it right in their hands.

6. We give them insider access. Many a CEO has been skeptical about a reporter’s intentions. It can often take a lot of convincing to get a reporter access to top execs, behind-the-scenes settings, etc. Convincing from an experienced PR pro who knows the value far outweighs the risk (on a case-by-case basis of course.)

7. We spread their news. Not only do we perform PR for our clients, but also we’re here to help reporters get their stories shared as well. We are some of the most active participants on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Pinterest, etc.

8. We make them smarter. We already know reporters are intelligent, but in a number of cases, they are assigned to beats about which they know very little. Scheduling desk sides and interviews with our experts get them up to speed faster than having to read a dozen books on their Kindle or spending hours researching on the Internet.

And the list goes on. Tell me, what did I miss?

Jennifer is co-founder and CEO of FlackList, where media can easily search and connect with brands, PR reps and expert sources within a social network setting as well as access the latest news. 

Culled from PR Daily