Ongoing battle

There is always going to be a battle of wills between groups of people in every industry, and for journalists there is the fine line between us and PRs/their clients.

I know it is often not the PR's fault when an interview is cancelled/postponed, but they are on the front line and unfortunately receive all the wrath of the particular journalist that has been stood up.

Sadly some (not all) large corporates (naming no names) seem unwilling to have an open relationship with the press anymore - and certainly in the eight years I have worked in the channel press, this relationship has changed quite considerably. Gone are the days when you could ring a high ranking executive at a tier one vendor and get straight through for a chat. Now they have to be monitored all the way in case they actually say something interesting and fail to tow the corporate line.

Today, the preferred press model by a lot of vendors, seems to be having one person in the entire company (no matter how large) that is able to talk to the media, and if they are not available - it is basically tough luck.

A lot of that stems from the US attitude to the media, which cannot understand that the UK press is independent, and has no qualms about asking difficult questions to satisfy the queries of their readers. Certainly when I went on a recent business trip to the US, the trouble I had getting past customs when they saw I was a journalist was unbelievable.

Sadly I think things are only going to get more strained as corporates tighten their ranks even further as the years progress. I hope I'm proved wrong.