They say the devil is in the details, but do the details truly matter when it comes to PR work?

Absolutely they do. Many people don’t understand the care and attention we put into all that we do… which is a lot!

From double checking writing, dates, comments, and even making sure all the text is the same font and style, you truly do have to sweat the small stuff in PR.

Every little thing matters

Paying attention to what is written and ensuring things are factual, grammatically, and punctually correct are all standard practice, of course, and makes it look like we’ve done our job properly (we are writers, after all!).

If you were to spell something wrong, or not format something correctly, and a journalist reads it, it could show that you don’t put the effort in, so why should they?

We work with institutions all over the world, which additionally plays a large part in the details, as they may follow different spelling rules. Checking if it is English or American spelling that is required is something we look out for, which can be simply adding or removing a single letter, but makes a huge difference. You want to be consistent.

But is it perfectionism we need?

So, are we striving for perfectionism, or is there room for mistakes?

It’s worth bringing attention to a recent ‘trend’, of sorts, in which people are purposely making typos in their writing to prove they are not an AI. Considering in the 2026 Cision State of Media Report, which surveyed 1,800+ journalists, a large 53% of those journalists oppose AI-generated pitches.

Clearly, human content is the way to go, and with AI writing being harder to spot, is there something to purposely making a small typo, or adding an extra space between words, to show that we’re human? And where is the line between strictly being professional or adding a small error?

Humans do make mistakes, but it’s always important to ensure any dates or research that are mentioned in work is factual, names are spelt correctly, and writing is clear to read and grammatically accurate.

There are also so many other ways to appear human, such as taking the time to build a working relationship with a journalist, inviting them for coffee, or checking in with them. Humans aren’t perfect, but a pitch or press release should try it’s best to be, especially in something as important as academia.

The personal details

It’s true that a large part of a PR’s role is pitching to journalists or sending out press releases. Of course, we need to make sure the details in these are correct, but many don’t realise the care we put into finding the right person to pitch, too.

In the Cision State of Media Report, when journalists were asked, “What is one thing PR professionals could do to better support your work?”, one journalist responded with “I love when PR professionals reference my past stories and offer sources.”

Another journalist said that “too many PR professionals pitch me without ever learning who I am or what I do. If they can’t be bothered to craft a real relationship, then I can’t be bothered to respond.”

It’s clear that fostering a relationship with a journalist is crucial, which means going the extra mile when writing a pitch and finding out the details about the journalist to make the pitch personal to them.

72% of journalists in the report said that spamming them with irrelevant pitches is their biggest frustration, so while you need to spend time researching the journalist and ensuring what you pitch them is relevant, you can go even further than that.

Take the time to research the journalist and their previous work. Reference previous articles, or look them up on LinkedIn and see what they have been up to.

Mentioning relevant work or events they have been to when reaching out will show them you’ve taken the time to research them as an individual, rather than simply a journalist; and who doesn’t love it when someone goes the extra mile? Besides, impressing a journalist will likely improve your chances of them accepting a pitch and working with you in the future.

Good things take time, which is completely true for PR work. Taking the time to get to know our clients, what they want, and ensuring all our work is perfect pays off in the end. PR is a long-term game, one that we are true experts at.

For more information on how we can help you secure media coverage, get in touch today. We’d love to hear from you!

 Author: Rachel Varnham
With an impressive academic and journalistic background, Rachel brings the ideal experience to her role in education PR. Boasting an Undergraduate Degree in Sociology from the University of Kent and a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University, she has a personal understanding of the inner workings of universities, which she subsequently built on in her career as a staff writer and editor prior to BlueSky Education.