Do You Know What Stuff Journalists Like?

"Think like a journalist." It's one of the most important skills a PR person can have. As a former journalist, frankly, my experience in the media gives me a big leg up. For PR pros who have never pulled a paycheck in the media, it's a never-ending quest to get inside the head of journalists to do a better job anticipating their needs.

Here's some new help: a partly tongue-in-check, partly serious site called Stuff Journalists Like, playing off the "Stuff White People Like" phenomenon. Some of their dead-on posts:

• Free food


• Election day


• Statistics


• Reporter's notebooks


• Swag


• Year in reviews


• Weather stories

For a flavor of their style, here's part of their post on Anonymous Sources:

... And that’s why journalists like anonymous sources, because journalists like the truth. And one cloak and dagger call can level crooked politicians and deplorable corporations breaking the law.

Without Deep Throat, Nixon would have finished his presidency and Woodward and Bernstein would have just gone on to become two reporters among the bunch at the Post (and would probably be receiving buyout packages by now).

Anonymous sources can alter the course of history and undo injustice, which all journalists aspire to do. And the stories from anonymous sources can lead to fame and glory, which isn't bad either.

Need to do a better job Thinking Like a Journalist? Check out this site and better yet, use it to brainstorm ways to reach out to journalists more successfully.