PRs asking journalists for copy approval is as old as both trades. It has always been done, it will always be done.
This week it hit the headlines when national treasure Clare Balding was supposedly allowed to remove and rewrite parts of an interview with Saga magazine.
BBC Radio 4's The Media Show even gave it airtime - not often is PR copy approval discussed at such heady hights.
We should not be surprised that celebrities wish to carefully manage their public face - it is often the price of access. And lets be clear, the readers of Saga magazine, or any lifestyle mag, probably don't give a toss.
In professional services, and in other complex fields, it is not uncommon for journalists, even those at the very top of their game, to check that they have got the technical aspects right. They will often send parts or the entire spread back to PRs to check.
There is the temptation to 'correct' the entire story. That should be avoided. Correct mistakes and use it as an opportunity to clarify your own contributions. And then stop.
The document is not there for review and the journalist will not appreciate your critique of their trade.
Most PRs believe it's ok to ask for copy approval - although more than half of journalists say they never grant the privilege. That’s according to Twitter polls conducted by PRWeek and Press Gazette, following the row over TV presenter Clare Balding being allegedly allowed to remove and re-write sections of an interview with Saga magazine. Both Balding and the publication denied the claim, made by journalist Ginny Dougary in The Guardian. PRWeek decided to ask its readers, via a Twitter poll, if they think it’s ever ok for a PR professional to seek copy approval. Of the 247 responses, 26 per cent agreed that it’s ok to do so because "media has changed", while 36 per cent think it is fine under "exceptional circumstances". Just 38 per cent replied in the negative.
https://www.prweek.com/article/1446418/prs-willing-ask-copy-approval-journalists-refuse