We’re excited to share an interview with Sonora Jha, who is both a freelance journalist and a professor to PR students at Seattle University. She offers an incredibly insightful perspective on the industry and how PR pros can best work with journalists. Sonora has a Ph. D in Political Communications and is a published author, whose research on press, politics and the Internet has been featured in leading academic journals. In 2013 she released her first novel, Foreign, which was inspired by her time as a journalist in India. She also services as chair for Seattle University’s Department of Communications. Read on for more from Professor Jha: Tell us, what topics do you typically write about? I love writing about anything related to social justice. Since I’m from India, I’m really passionate about Indian politics. Recently, I wrote an Op-Ed for The New York Times called “How Suicide and Politics Mix in India,” which is a great example of the types of topics I enjoy writing about.   How has your work as a journalist and writer provided better insight for working in PR? Before I began teaching at Seattle University, I worked in communications for a non-governmental organization called ActionAid, which aims to fight poverty and injustice worldwide. Through that opportunity, I was able to travel to villages in India and write about rural poverty for the national urban press. One key part of my job was pitching to media in India about my experiences with the poor. I wanted to shed light on the disparity between the wealthy and impoverished of my home country, but I found that journalists and reporters weren’t interested in these stories, making my job a lot harder. This taught me that in PR, it’s crucial to pitch stories that are relevant – if not, the media won’t want to cover them. Also, what’s important and pressing to you may not be to the media you want to work with.   Can you share your #1 piece of advice for a PR person to build better connections with journalists and editors? Please, please, please familiarize yourself with a writer’s work. When trying to pitch media, it’s important to not waste their time. I would recommend knowing your local and national media outlets and reading a lot of their work. Journalists always appreciate it when they can see that someone has done their homework.   If you could tell PR people one thing about journalism to make both their job and the writer’s job easier, what would it be Similarly to what I said before, know your media. I cannot stress that enough. I also think it’s important for people in public relations to be sincere and authentic, especially when pitching. Since I’ve been in the industry for a long time, I can tell when a pitch is natural and genuine vs. being flattery. I also think it’s important to be direct. Journalists receive hundreds if not thousands of emails a day, so make sure you’re getting to the point while being sincere at the same time.   What do you love most about working in the communications industry? I love how the communications industry is always changing. Being a journalist has added so much excitement in my life, and I enjoy waking up each day ready to discover the next big thing. It never gets boring, I can tell you that much.     A big thanks to Sonora for this awesome interview! For more information about her work, visit her website and check out her latest book, Foreign.   -  Avery