 |
|
|
Health Check
Wellness Clinic - Provide Budget & comprehensive screening
package
Log in
www.healthcheck.sg for
detail
|
Forget The Story Youre Promoting ? Heres What Journalists Really Want From PR People
Although it seems less common these days, there are still a fair number of us
public relations practitioners who enter the business by crossing over from the
journalist's side of the notebook. When you make that transition, you become something of an oracle.
Colleagues and clients expect you to be the walking, talking answer to the
Rubik's cube puzzle of how to gain the attention of the media. If only it were
that simple! Landing media placements is at least as much about art as it is science. But it's also about you and who you are as a PR person. What did I learn in two
decades of writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and news services? First of all, a PR pro doesn't need a journalistic pedigree to succeed with
journalists. But you do have to possess something else: knowledge of what journalists
really want from PR people. I'm not talking about what journalists want from
your story ? that's another subject. I'm talking about you. Do you know what journalists want from you, as the
individual who's e-mailing, faxing, calling and (too often, I fear) pestering
them? Here's my short list of attributes that will get you a hearing from journalists
(and that's all you want ? your story will sink or float on its own merits): 1. Honest brokers Journalists know PR people have something to promote ? a company, a
product, a point of view. That's not the issue. It's whether the journalist trusts that the story is coming from someone who
won't waste their time ? someone who has invested the effort to understand
them, their organization, their boss, and whether the story might interest the
audience the journalist serves. Trust is fundamental ? but it's also earned. Becoming an honest broker
requires more than one conversation with a journalist. It requires enough
dialogue that a relationship and a history of honest dealings can be
established. 2. Facilitators Face it, journalists don't want to talk to PR people ? at least not on the record,
and not as newsmakers. Good PR practitioners know they're not newsmakers. They recognize that their
role is to make stories happen, not be part of them. So good PR pros focus on
being matchmakers, putting journalists together with the sources who make
stories come alive. For the PR pro, as well as the journalist, it's all about the story. It's not about
you, or the institutional challenges you face in making the story happen. It's
about making the story real. And that leads me to what journalists really,
really want from PR practitioners (and what we should strive to be): 3. Advocates for communication No journalist wants to deal with a PR person who's primarily unavailable, and
when he or she is available, has a vocabulary limited to phrases such as "no
comment." All other things being equal (including working for an organization or a leader
who doesn't communicate) journalists still give the benefit of the doubt to a PR
person whom they know to be an advocate of communication. That doesn't mean someone who's going to speak at inappropriate times about
subjects that aren't in the best interests of their organization. It means
someone who understands deadlines, editors, the competition and the other
pressures that journalists face while trying to do their jobs. It means someone who understands that the best interests of their
organization always include good relationships with the news media, the
trusted purveyors of independent information for the customers, employees,
investors and other audiences that the PR pro wants to reach. In the end, that's what all of media relations is really about: A good journalist
and a good PR pro want to serve their audiences first. It's not always possible for journalists and PR pros to achieve that objective
from their respective viewpoints in every interaction. But over the course of
time, in a relationship of trust, respect and understanding, honest brokers who
facilitate the story and advocate for communication will succeed in landing
media placements. Paul Furiga is president of WordWrite Communications LLC, a Pittsburgh-based
virtual agency. He is the former editor of the Pittsburgh Business Times, and
has also covered Congress, the White House, edited magazines and written for
publications ranging from Congressional Quarterly to Frequent Flyer magazine.
|
Get Checked Before
Complication Strike Log on to
HealthCheck.sg - All
nationalities welcome to enjoy the privilege and offer corp
price .
|
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Do-It-Yourself PR: An Accident Waiting to Happen
Early in my career as a public relations consultant, I remember standing in a group of people at a business function and listening to one man's tale of woe. It seems the founder and president of a small and growing business was bewildered about his lack of media attention. He organized an event to launch a ground-breaking new product and couldn't understand why no one covered the event.
Austin?s Annual Charity Event with KVET
In my travels around the country while building my business I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the greatest community volunteers in our nation. I never missed an opportunity to meet community leaders and learn all I could about every market my company franchised in. One event in particular was a standout; the Austin's Annual Charity Event with KVET.
Public Relations: Converting the Non-Believers
What's the real reason some managers shy away from public
relations? I believe it's because they don't understand, or
believe, the direct connection between what public relations
is capable of delivering and their need to achieve specific
business objectives.
GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS
You have a story to tell. Your company has developed a revolutionary new product, or an improved version of one that is known and respected in the marketplace. Most companies are media-savvy enough to take a proactive approach to publicity. Yet there are many firms that instead sit on a new development, waiting for the press to come to them because they are unsure of how to "break the news."
Get Outsiders on Your Side
Especially good advice for business, non-profit and association managers whose job success depends in large part on the behaviors of their key external audiences.
Dont Get Eaten Alive!
If you don't have a grip on public relations, how your most
important outside audiences behave really CAN eat you alive.
Media Relations: Ending the Press Release Crutch
When most people think of media relations, they think of press releases. To be sure, writing and distributing them is one of the most important parts of the job. But press releases may be the most overused tool in the media professional's arsenal to the detriment of other tools that might have greater results.
Press Releases
How do press releases or interest stories have an effect on meeting new potential clients?
Five Publicity Buckets For Marketing-Minded Financial Planners
Maybe you've seen another financial planner on TV, and thought, "Hey, I'm just as good as she. Why didn't the press pick me?"
What Some Pros Know About PR
They know they had better do something positive about
those outside audiences that MOST affect their
organizations. Especially business, non-profit or association
managers, who also know they must persuade those key
external "publics" to the manager's way of thinking, then
move those people to actions that allow that manager's
department, division or subsidiary to succeed.
7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Online or Offline Publicity
You worked hard to get a story on your business in a popularwebsite or your local paper. Don't let your efforts ends there --here are seven tips to help you maximize your online and offlinepublicity:
How To Make Time For Public Relations
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of
hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michalangelo, Mother
Theresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Join Your Professional Organization to Get Free Publicity
Unlike some professionals like lawyers and doctors, financial planners aren't required to be members of a professional association.
Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Create Your Very Own Story to Get Free Publicity
One big mistake that many marketing-minded financial planners make when contacting the media is to drop what's called an "information dump."
Managers, Start Your PR
There'll never be a better time for a manager working for a business, non-profit or association to ask this question: "Am I getting the public relations results I'm paying for -- the really important external audience behaviors I need to achieve my department, division or subsidiary objectives?"
What You Dont Know About PR Can Hurt You
And hurt bad if you are a business, non-profit or association
manager. Especially when you rely too heavily on tactics
like special events, brochures and press releases to get your
money's worth.
Publicity - Tips on Dealing With the Media
You thought of it, you researched it, you wrote it. So you own your story. At least you do until you send it to the media.
Achieve Media Attention for Your Business
Do you want to be quoted by the national press on a daily basis? (How much would that be worth to your business?)
Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Focus on Main Points During an Interview
You never want to inundate a reporter with information, but you don't want to be branded a one-trick pony either. That's why I recommend coming up with three key points for every interview you do.
I Cant Afford A PR/Publicity Campaign -- Can I?
It's a phrase I hear over and over again from many entrepreneurs, small businesses owners and inventors: "I'd love to hire someone to launch our publicity campaign professionally, but we can't afford it, so I'm just going to have to do it on my own."
|