Conversation with Stephen Kurkjian

Stephen Kurkjian is an investigative reporter at the Boston Globe. He shared three Pulitzer Prizes as a member of the Boston Globe’s spotlight team. His forty-year career proves that he really loves this job.

He believes a good story is not a matter of length, but has to be right on the target. “Tell the audiences what they truly care about, not what you try to sell,” Kurkjian said. Apart from the facts, Kurkjian believes reporters should look beyond the obvious and dig more. “Like the catholic sex abuse scandal, we first noticed one case from a lawyer and wrote about it,” he said. “I could tell there are more similar cases and it could be something big. So, we worked on it and kept digging.”

Like many reporters, Kurkjian has many contacts with PR practitioners. Speaking of this relationship, he said “As a reporter, I’m not in a business to win respect. People who do PR should fear me. If I write a story about your company, the authorities, the regulators, they will come looking at your company. You could lose a lot of money.” However, he believes establishing a friendship is not “off limits”, but a reporter should be aggressive. “If we’re friends and I’m not writing negatively to your company, I’m not being a good reporter,” Kurkjian said. He prefers a relationship which is civil but not too friendly.

The most important activity a PR person can do for a reporter is to let reporters know when something big is going to happen such as an announcement whether good or bad about the company, or when the company is going to promote something new. As he further mentioned, the key for PR practitioners pitching a story to reporters is to make this story helpful to the society. “You should ask yourself questions like is this story help people knowing about important function of government, or is it informing people a health issue that they don’t know before,” Kurkjian said. “Pitch a story that will bring improvements to the public.” He also believes that PR person can help to build the trusting relationship between reporter and their clients.

Kurkjian gives some advice for PR practitioners when they follow-up with a reporter. “The best way is to express to the reporter why the services that you are providing and promoting will help the public,” He said. It’s convincing to a reporter that your client provides quality services, and making money, but the public is also benefiting from it.

If the situation is a reporter doesn’t respond to you, Kurkjian suggests that it’s better to make a phone call rather than just fax or email them. If possible, communicate with them face to face when the reporter attending press conferences or other activities. “No matter what method you try, you should always present yourself in a brief way and be positive, talking about the good things your company is doing,” said Kurkjian.