The PR pro is a gateway to information; the journalist is a gateway to visibility. The couple is entangled in an epic saga of deadlines and details. Yet, is the scale balanced?

A lot of time and energy is spent luring journalists to the story and sustaining the courtship. (Photo spotted at Birdsasart.)

Finding the message. Tricking out the release. Crafting the pitch. Getting attention. Constructing a provocative newsroom. Exploiting the sexiest medium.

Aside from journalists, bloggers, investors, members and prospects are also benefiting from this ceremony. You should do whatever you can to keep them coming back for more. Brilliant content powered by social media tools can add a lot of charm (although a lot of corporations are still making limited use of new media in communications).

This includes adding the ability to comment on news items and multimedia assets. As reported by eMarketer earlier this week, “US Internet users clamor to express their opinion online, judging by a Forrester Research study conducted in the third quarter of 2007. More respondents said they wanted Web sites to offer ‘user ratings and reviews’ than any other site content or functionality.” (See chart.)

How do journalists display their own allure?

With last-minute phone calls, of course. If you’re not devoted to press inquiries, this can derail you every time. It might not feel like a mutually fulfilling relationship. (Thanks to Larissa for the excellent video.)

But there is another way. Presenting: a quasi-social network for reporters seeking input. If I Can Help A Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com) is a potential Craiglist for the media industry. Two or three times a day, publicist Peter Shankman sends out a digest of press inquiries to registered users, who can then make a judgment call on whether or not a response is warranted. PR Week has the details.

• It’s free
• It’s got a renegade feel (started as a Facebook group)
• “It now has about 5,000 members that get a three-times daily e-mail containing two to 10 reporter queries.”

Denise Wakeman at Biz Tips Blog thinks HARO is a goldmine: “I read Help a Report Out emails as soon as they hit my email box because media inquiries usually require a quick response.”

Sounds like a little more balance could be on the horizon. HARO’s network will only be as good as the quality and quantity of interactions it facilitates, so spread the word to your PR and press colleagues. PR pros like to band together anyway. Cavorting with journalists in a Craigslist fashion could be good for everyone.