Here I go committing career suicide again, by biting the hand that feeds me. Last week, you may remember I listed a few ways that us PROs can annoy journos. This week, the tables are turned and it’s my turn to say what I find irritating about the hacks I rely on.

Seven things that tick me off about journalists:

1. Lack of respect. We PROs may need journos more than they need us, but some, not all I hasten to add, journos can be patronising when there is no need. PROs and journalists aren’t all that different in the grand scheme of things.

2. Sloppy writing. I know journalists have multiple deadlines across several different media but when they get their facts wrong it’s me, the poor PRO, who feels the client’s boot.

3. Blaming someone else for their mistakes. Sometimes a bit of humility goes a long way. It can’t always be the sub-editors who have inserted wrong information into the piece, or who have slanted the information so much that it’s plain wrong.

4. An inflated sense of their own importance. Some of my senior clients aren’t that bothered about providing a quote for a magazine with hardly any relevant readers. That’s why they don’t want to be hassled out of work hours, by either me, or a journalist.

5. Their conviction that all clients have dirty secrets. It makes for a good story if a journalist succeeds in finding out some juicy information, but sometimes there’s nothing untoward to discover. And this can lead to journalists bending the truth to get a more interesting tale. Shame that it’s wrong.

6. Asking inane questions. Mind you, it’s better than those who never ask any questions at all and print any old press releases without making any changes at all. Flattering as that is.

7. Being rude. No excuses for being rude. If only for the selfish reason that you never know who you might meet on the way back down!