Why your quotes weren’t used…
I’m writing this on one of my last few days at my co-living place Pranik Living. Despite the intense building work which has impacted my stay, I’m genuinely sad to be leaving. I’ve rested. I’ve felt the fittest I have during my trip (thanks four gym workouts a week, plus individual and group Pilates and yoga sessions), fed myself lots of healthy home-cooked food, and managed to file a number of pieces that I wanted to finish off before flinging on that backpack and spending the next two months travelling across Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.
I recently asked my contacts on LinkedIn how journalists could improve the way they work with PRs. You can look and add your thoughts here. There was a reference to quotes not always being used and I thought I’d chip in here with some of my own thoughts.
You’ve organised an interview, the interview seemed to go OK (or so you thought) or you sent over quotes, and then weeks/months later, you read the piece and to your surprise the client's/organisation's comments haven’t made the cut. Why?
I can’t comment on individual reasons as to why your/your client’s comments/interview failed to make the published article but I will start by saying that nothing is guaranteed. Hell, it’s not even guaranteed that the piece will definitely go ahead (and this something I will raise in another newsletter after a piece of mine was recently ‘killed’ – yes, that is the terminology that is used here). I’d always recommend saying to your client that yes, you’ve given the interview, but there’s always a chance the article might not go ahead or your views might not be included. Editors move on. Agendas change. Pieces are thrown out. Nothing is guaranteed.
One key reason quotes aren't used is down to the length of the article/TV or radio segment, etc. Editors might ask for more research, another case study, and in a nutshell, they rejig the piece around and have too much copy – and something needs to give. And unfortunately sometimes it’s the part involving you/your client.
Often freelancers aren’t aware of what the final copy will look like. Sometimes an editor will run an edited piece past me to check to see what I think/to see if there’s any errors. There’s been many times I have noticed a case study/expert has been completely omitted and I’ll ask for them to reinsert at least some of their quotes, if possible. This sometimes work, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’ll especially argue my case if I feel like a lot of effort went into that interview/case study/comment – and certainly if someone came to me with the story idea in the first place, I’d make sure that person/client is mentioned/quoted. But at the end of the day, the final decision is down to the editor.
Another reason a quote might not be used is because, quite simply, someone else said something better. I know that might be gutting to hear, but sometimes that’s what happens. Perhaps we carried out several interviews and the one from you/via you just wasn’t as great as others. Perhaps they didn’t add much value, they weren’t that knowledgeable, or it was bland. Or maybe we spotted it was AI rather than a human voice.
I will say that personally I do try and include everyone I interview as I appreciate everyone who has given up their time to speak to me. But for the reasons above, just sometimes they might not end up in the final piece. Don’t blame the journalist. And certainly don’t send a spiteful email – that’ll make the journalist not want to work with you again. And you never know, the conversation might spur another story or end up being used for another piece.