Posts Tagged: Media Relations
Don’t Take It Personally: Media Relations Can Be a Brutal Business
by Robin Embry on July 29, 2010 | 1 comment
in Media Relations, The Media, public relations
Salespeople aren’t the only ones who have to make “cold calls.” In the PR world, we have to pick up the phone everyday and talk to the media…busy people who are often frantically working on a deadline…doesn’t that sound like fun!
I used to think if I adhered to Media Relations 101 and pitched a reporter a newsworthy story that fit their beat, it would be worth their time to listen. But, hey, reporters are no different than the rest of us and they are entitled to a bad day. At the other end of that bad day, we’ve received some entertaining responses over the years.
Situation: A serious infection is consuming the country and my client released the fastest test on the market that can ultimately save lives. I call a reporter who consistently covered the infection outbreak for a solid month.
Response: “Seriously, do you know how many PR people call me every day hoping I will write about their client. I don’t care if this test saves lives, I’m not giving a company free advertising. You guys exhaust me!” (Note, this “well-respected” reporter called me two days later and apologized for her outburst caused by lack of caffeine that morning.)
Situation: We read in the local newspaper that a local company “might” be expanding into China. We assume if the reporter thinks just the possibility of overseas expansion is news then surely it’s newsworthy that our local client has just opened an office in Australia.
Response: “Don’t call me about companies opening businesses outside of Nashville…we don’t cover companies that are expanded outside our city.” (We wanted to say…”Have you READ your newspaper this morning?!”)
You know the old saying “there’s no crying in baseball.” Well, there’s also no crying in PR, so we take things on the chin and move on. If you’ve had a funny experience, please let me know. I can always use the comic relief.
10 Tips for Successful Pitching
by Ashley Webb on July 16, 2010 | 1 comment
in Media Relations, The Media, public relations
- Contact the correct person. It’s plain and simple – do your homework. If you’re unsure who to contact, the organization’s website is a great place to start.
- Know how the person likes to be pitched. Many journalists prefer email to phone calls, but not in every case.
- Tailor your pitch. This shows them that you care – that you did your homework. Mistargeting is one of journalists’ biggest pet-peeves. And a blanket pitch is not going to work!
- Keep the pitch short and sweet. The subject line is the most important part of an email – it HAS to grab the person’s attention. And once you have their attention, the first two sentences must intrigue them to read more. If you’re pitching a TV outlet, set up visuals.
- Use bullet points. Most people are visual learners, seeing a simple list helps people understand the most important facts.
- Sell your expert. If you have an expert on the matter, sell him! Think about what makes that person unique. But be careful not to promote someone as an expert if they’re not. Someone with a few years of experience is not necessarily an expert.
- Avoid attachments. Many journalists have spam filters for emails with attachments. And let’s be honest, who opens attachments from people they don’t know? If you need to send an attachment, make note in your pitch that you’re sending a second email with an attachment, or ask them if they accept attachments.
- Take “No” for an answer. Know when to step back and when to push. If you have this great, timely, newsworthy story that’s on fire and the journalist says “no” then step back. Don’t continue to push the story in subsequent emails, phone calls, tweets, etc. This is an annoyance for journalists. Stepping back can leave the door open for future opportunities.
- Do NOT leave long voicemails. A long, breathy voicemail is sure to get deleted. When you leave a voicemail, leave your name and phone number at the beginning of the message and keep it short and to the point.
- Anticipate the journalist’s needs. Provide a phone number where you can be reached during and after business hours. Be sure you know your pitch inside-and-out and be prepared to answer questions and provide additional information.
When It “Hits the Fan” Is the CEO the Best Spokesperson?
by Paula Lovell on June 10, 2010 | 1 comment
in Crisis Communications, Media Relations, public relations
Over the years, I’ve had some clients take the position that we shouldn’t use their company CEO as a spokesperson during a crisis. “We need to shield him/her from all the negative media coverage,” I’ve frequently heard.
And I remember when first learning the PR business, I took a media training course from a nationally renowned firm where they preached that you should do everything possible to preserve the firewall around the CEO. “Don’t put the CEO out there unless absolutely necessary because that implies the situation has escalated to a level that involves the senior leadership,” was the prevailing mantra. But that was before the proliferation of citizen journalists and subject-expert bloggers created an era of transparency.
Today, the public expects an almost immediate response from corporate America and its CEOs, and when they don’t get it, they go viral with their disappointment and outrage. When a company fails its stakeholders, they expect leadership to own up to it, and they want the message delivered by someone at the top.
By addressing a crisis directly in an open and transparent manner, CEOs have the opportunity to build credibility or perhaps recast events in a different life. That said, there may be times when a CEO is not the most appropriate spokesperson. For example:
- Local issues should stay local – there is no advantage to unnecessarily elevating the attention level
- Sometimes it’s better to defer to a subject matter expert on a complex matter
- If your CEO is a bad communicator or, even worse, a loose cannon – don’t risk it
- While most issues of substance demand a high level response, there may be issues that aren’t fair to attend to your CEO (i.e., politics, unrelated criminal matters, certain legal issues, etc.)
Let’s say it’s a new CEO who’s been brought in to mop up a corporate mess. Should the CEO step out there and take ownership even though she only inherited the problem and is, in no way, culpable? On the one hand, why taint the new leader with the fallout from mistakes made by a former CEO who may have already taken the hit by being asked to resign? On the other hand, if the new CEO brings a renewed ethical approach, improved business practices and a commitment to fix what’s broken, why wouldn’t you want to identify the new person with the company’s promise to make things right?
The question of whether or not to bring in your CEO to either defend or apologize for a company’s actions is sometimes a tough one, and the answer is rife with caveats. As with most things in PR, there is no “one size fits all” answer. The right thing to do depends on the circumstances and the players involved.
Proceed with care.
Here’s a Tip: Search Engine Optimize Your Press Releases
by Allison Russo on April 27, 2010 | no comments
in Media Relations, Writing, public relations
As much as I enjoy lazy Sundays spent drinking coffee and reading my beloved Styles section of The New York Times, I don’t know how I would function without the ability to effortlessly and instantly read the news online during the busy work week. With the invention of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, Twitter, Google Reader and the likes, I tend to believe I’m not alone in the quest for news delivery at the speed of light (at least Monday-Friday!). In fact, according to a recent article from the BBC, Pew Research Center has determined that online new sites are the “third most popular form of news, behind local and national TV stations.”
With that said, as PR practitioners, we have had to evolve our PR tools to cater to the needs of our target audience, which evidence shows, primarily lives online. So what is this evolving PR tool that I speak of? The Search Engine Optimized (SEO) press release. An SEO press release will not only get your news online, it will also help to improve your search ranking on Google, Yahoo! and Bing and, in turn, provide additional exposure to your company news. Below are five tips for creating a press release that will do just that:
Use Keywords: Develop a list of keywords that relate directly to the press release content and to your company. Repetition of these keywords will help search engines pick up on the main focus of the release. SEO experts say that search engines typically determine credibility of a release from reviewing only the first 250 words, so try to work your keywords into the beginning of the release as often as possible (at least three times is ideal).
Nix Generic Headlines: Many PR practitioners make the mistake of using a “teaser” headline or saying something generic to pique the interest of a curious editor. When it comes to SEO, a generic headline will go unnoticed if it is not informative. Make your headlines short and concise and always include your company’s name and a keyword or two.
Include Links: Linking to websites relevant to your press release content is another method search engines use when determining credibility. Link to your company website, of course, but make sure to link to other sites to improve rankings.
Limit Jargon: Press releases, whether meant for online distribution or not, should never include a lot of jargon. The point of a release is to get your news out there, not confuse people. The same goes for SEO. Search engines will have a hard time picking up on acronyms, so make sure to spell them out, at least upon first mention.
Embed Multimedia: Editors and search engines alike appreciate the value of multimedia to help tell a story. Embedding multimedia that links back to a website will help to improve ranking.
What else are you doing to search engine optimize your press releases?
How to Successfully Pitch Bloggers
by Jessica Turner on April 15, 2010 | no comments
in Media Relations, Social Media, blogs
As a very active mommy-blogger with a somewhat large audience, I receive pitches from PR practitioners every single day.
As a PR practitioner myself, I find myself often evaluating these pitches with that hat on.
I am shocked by how many bad pitches are sent!
Many times the PR person has a great product, but most bloggers probably don’t even read the pitch because it doesn’t appear to be relevant to them.
If you or your company has a product that would be of interest to bloggers, when you send them a pitch, DO NOT:
- Use the same form pitch letter: It is important that your pitch letter be relevant to the blogger and their blog’s content. That doesn’t mean you have to craft a new pitch every time, but at least tweak the intro copy. For instance, I have received many pitches for princess books and toys. I have a 2-year-old boy. If the PR person had spent two minutes on my blog, she would have seen this and know to not send me that pitch.
- Use an image only press release: It will not show up in many people’s emails, is not customized (see above) and is tacky.
- Have no call to action: Oftentimes I will receive a press release for a product that is interesting to me, but the press release is not accompanied by a letter or a request for product review. Always ask yourself, why would the blogger be interested in this product – and answer that question in the email you send.
- Ask the blogger to go to your website for more details: Many bloggers receive dozens of pitches a week and they don’t have time to fish for information about every product that is introduced to them. Do your best to put all compelling information in your initial pitch.
By following this advice, you will surely have more success pitching within the blogosphere.
It’s all about Strategy!
by Jan Morrison on January 19, 2010 | 1 comment
in Media Relations, Productivity, The Media
Thanks to Netflix and my avoidance of winter weather, I’ve been working my way through the list of nominees for 2009 Academy Awards. After spending an evening watching Frost/Nixon about British journalist David Frost’s exclusive interviews with Richard Nixon more than two years after Watergate, I am convinced it must be required “watching” for all media professionals.
To provide a little background, David Frost was considered more of a “TV personality” than journalist until he landed an exclusive interview with Nixon by paying for the opportunity. Nixon accepted the request, presumably because of the money and his overconfidence that Frost would soft-pedal through a fluff piece that would improve his public image after the Watergate scandal.
Much to Frost’s credit he did not let the opportunity to conduct some serious journalism slip past him. Granted, he was a little distracted at first, but you’ll find out more about that when you watch the movie. Ultimately, he and his team of assistants researched, investigated, planned and, most importantly, strategized, about the opportunity.
His team didn’t just refresh their memories about the Watergate scandal, they learned enough about the situation and the parties involved to pin Nixon into a quasi admission of guilt. They never would have gotten the opportunity if they had not strategized about the opportunity first.
As professional strategists, we are charged with thinking through all of the possible scenarios of a situation before acting on them. When we work with members of the media, we strategize first to make sure we accomplish our goals and, equally important, that the reporter gets what he/she needs. We start by asking some of these questions:
- What information is important for the reporter to know even if he/she doesn’t ask?
- How do I provide that information to a reporter?
- Who is the best person to represent or personalize this topic?
- Who will benefit from this interaction?
- Are there topics I cannot discuss, and how do I respond if asked?
Now that you’ve added Frost/Nixon to your Netflix list, tell us how you strategize when contacting media or responding to media queries.
State of Journalism: Following the Story
by Jan Morrison on December 8, 2009 | no comments
in Media Relations, The Media
I recently served as the communications manager for a local political campaign and experienced first-hand some of the media changes that I have read about for years. We have all heard about reduced revenues and staffing cuts in traditional media outlets (particularly newspapers). A direct result of this trend is that there are fewer reporters who each have to cover more topics and, as a whole, are creating less overall news content. You know these things are happening but you don’t always see the impact until you are deeply entrenched in an issue that deserves media attention. A local reporter is in a tough spot when he is assigned to cover a city council race while still keeping up with ongoing city business like city council meetings, council committees’ endeavors, and all council-related interactions with city officials and municipal services.
During our campaign, I made contact with the media on a regular basis to provide them updates on the process. I alerted the media each time the candidates filed fundraising reports, attended events and held community forums. But with the scope of everything else local reporters are expected to cover they simply don’t have the bandwidth to cover each element of a city council race. In fact, the campaign was relegated to one comprehensive story at the end of the campaign followed up with reporting of election results. As a result, voters may not have had a chance to get to know the candidates over time or make the most informed choice on Election Day.
One constituent became so frustrated with the lack of information available to voters that she started a blog specifically about the campaign and its candidates. She provided more investigative information than any of the traditional media outlets in town. However, not everyone trusted the blog because the author (fearful of retaliation and losing her job) wrote anonymously. So constituents were left with a conundrum. They can rely on traditional media — a source of information that should be trusted but is sometimes not able to provide the depth of information needed to make an informed decision. Or they could rely on detailed, timely information that has been thoroughly investigated but may not be entirely trustworthy because we don’t know anything about the author.
Unfortunately, these were the options for voters during the campaign. Fortunately, our information reached enough voters that I was able to attend a victory party on election night. But when the next election comes around I’ll be prepared for a likely lack of campaign coverage. I also hope that our local anonymous blogger comes out of the closet and provides a legitimate source for residents to get the information they need to cast the next round of ballots.
Taking it on the Chin
by Rebecca Kirkham on August 7, 2009 | no comments
in Crisis Communications, Media Relations, public relations
Sometimes you just can’t win. Even with the best PR support, companies often find themselves on the receiving end of a media inquiry that is simply a lose/lose proposition.
Perhaps you have a perfectly good explanation for the questions being leveled at you but are handcuffed by a pending lawsuit or privacy regulations such as HIPAA. Maybe the harsh realities of running a business simply make for a less than camera-ready answer. Or maybe you’re in the wrong and just don’t want to talk about it.
Earned or not, getting a black eye in the court of public opinion is never easy. And, as anyone who has ever been the subject of unflattering coverage will likely tell you, things are not always as simple as they might seem.
Take, for example, the case of Martin Memorial Hospital. After suffering some serious PR blows last year when its decision to send a brain-injured illegal immigrant back to his country made The New York Times, the Florida non-profit was recently in the news again when a judge cleared it of wrongdoing in the matter.
Media outlets across the country recounted the story of Luis Alberto Jiménez, who was returning home from work when he was severely injured by a drunk driver. Unable to care for himself, he now lives in poverty in the hills of Guatemala with his elderly mother and little access to medical care. While there’s no doubt this is a tragic situation, the recent flurry of media coverage did little to illuminate the complexities of the healthcare and legal systems that created it or the no-win situation faced by Martin Memorial.
The fact is that after saving his life, the hospital spent three years and more than $1.5 million caring for Jiménez, even keeping him on as a boarder after it was unable to locate a long term care facility willing to accept him. After exhausting efforts to get the state to pick up the tab, Martin approached the Guatemalan government for assistance and gained permission to return Jiménez to his homeland. In return, they were slapped with a lawsuit alleging false imprisonment and asking for $1 million to cover the estimated lifetime cost of his care.
Truly, there are no winners in this case. But reading about it again last week got me thinking… What could the hospital have done differently? Martin Memorial went to great lengths to care for Jiménez, repeatedly voicing its desire to help him while explaining the harsh financial realities it – and all hospitals – face in caring for the uninsured. They appear to have maintained a transparent approach with media, granting interviews and rallying third-party advocates to speak on their behalf.
Yet none of these efforts could overcome the powerful images of Jiménez, who now has the cognitive abilities of a third-grader, sitting on a small bed in his tiny mountain shack. Short of spending millions more to care for him indefinitely, I’m not sure what steps they could have taken to achieve a different outcome.
It’s a sad reminder that often there are degrees of success in media relations. Sometimes, no matter how well you play your hand, you just have to take one on the chin.