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Media Relations — by the Book

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where the people areLet’s continue chatting about some of the tips from David E. Henderson’s “Making News in the Digital Era.”   [overview of David’s book provided in previous post]

“The practice of influential communications with the media comes from realistic knowledge of what makes appealing news, what is and is not a story identifying the best news outlet to reach your audiences, finding a reporter to develop a story with which you will be pleased. The goal is to reach and engage audiences.” [p. 7]

Just what is news anyway?

“News” is more than whatever information an organization or individual wants to share.

In journalism classes, we teach about “newsworthiness,” i.e., the elements that make facts into a story: (a) timeliness and (b) local relevance are two helpful elements, but more compelling components would be stories about (c) important topics that affect peoples’ lives; (d) well known people; (e) competing sides [as in sports]; and (f) human interest subjects that tug at the heart strings.

David emphasizes two key “newsworthy” points throughout the book: ** Tell stories **Make those stories about how readers will benefit — NOT about how great your company/product/service is.

“If you want to achieve outstanding coverage by the media — whether a daily newspaper, cable news, blog, or online news service — it only makes sense to speak their language and understand what they need.” [p. 158]

A primary tenet of information distribution in this new media world is that you “narrowcast” rather than “broadcast.” In other words, mass distribution of press releases is a waste of time.

What do you do instead?

First you find out where your audience is, i.e., where do they get their information?

  • If offline in traditional media, you will need to cultivate personal relationships with the reporters and writers who cover your industry.
  • If online, you will need to listen & engage with customers/clients/employees on the sites and platforms they prefer AND read & comment on the blogs they read.

David’s tips and rules for media interviews

  1. Never guess when you don’t know.
  2. Always tell the truth.
  3. Know when to stop talking and just listen.
  4. Strive to communicate three clear messages and use facts and statistics to back them up.
  5. Answer questions that are asked.
  6. Remember that eye contact and how you say things is as important as what you say.
  7. Never say anything you do not want to see in print; media interviews are not conversations.

WHEN ON CAMERA: Look straight into the lens —  and be as natural and friendly as you can be.

“Audiences do not care to hear an organization talk about itself. People only want to know how an organization’s products or services benefit them and bring value to their lives.” [p. 170 – last page of the book]

FURTHER READING:

Creating messages for the media

Core values to build trust and value

Blogging

Facilitating Conversations: Talking the Talk – Part 2 of my glimpse into Putting PUBLIC Back in PR

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Crank up the conversation
Crank up the conversation

Want to join the discussion of “How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging PR Business”?

I did yesterday when I began the day writing my take-aways from Part 1: “The True Value of New PR” — Putting the Public Back in PR by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge — and ended the day engaging in an online chat with the Social Media Book Club discussing Part 2 of the book.

The five chapters in PPBPR’s second section covered these areas:

Ch 6  The language of New P’R – suggesting that terms like “user” and “audience” are out-dated.

Ch 7 Blogger Relations – for which Brian has published an entire Ebook, and the main point is that PR people, and anyone who wants to get a blogger’s attention, needs to read the blog BEFORE making contact.

Ch 8  Social Media Release [SNR] 2.0 – includes an actual template for a recommended format.

Ch 9 Video News Release [VNR] 2.0 – features strategies for creating successful video programs.

Ch 10  Corporate Blogging – my favorite portion of this section because of the tips and links to more resources for planning blogging strategies for companies.

My first experience with Tweetchat and the Social Media Book Club

Not ever having participated in an online chat before [I can’t believe I’m admitting that], I was surprised to see how easy it was to (a) sign up at Tweetchat through my Twitter account, (b) write in the hashtag #smbookclub, and (c) VOILA, I was in and waiting to begin.

Lara McCulloch, an event planner from Ontario, moderated the discussion for the seven or so Tweeple dropping in. The key points discussed included the following:

  • For effective blogger relations, PR people need to read and understand what a blogger writes about BEFORE contacting him or her.
  • If bloggers have a large following, then the comment section can be as valuable as the blog post itself.
  • Gobblygook [i.e, meaningless jargon and cliche expressions] does not belong in press releases.
  • Many companies are finding the news releases, distributed by wire services, may only be necessary for huge product launches.
  • PR is all about relationships, and if you want someone to write about you, you need to establish a relationship.
  • The problem with most traditional releases is that they are designed for a mass audience — and that’s no longer effective, either for the media person or the end consumer.
  • Marketers and PR people need to stop thinking about sending messages, but rather tell stories, i.e. telling rather than selling.
  • Social News releases focus on the facts clearly stated in an easy-to-read format as in the template offered in the book.
  • Newswriting — and the teaching of newswriting — is a different ballgame these days.
  • Print media is looking for community engagement and is doing more stories on local residents.
  • VNRs are time-consuming and expensive, but they are very effective.
  • Video logs, or Vlogs, are not as common as their likability would suggest because they are more time-consuming to create, and they are not as searchable as text-based blogs.
  • Corporate types find it difficult to get into the dialogues that ought to be achieved through company blogging.

The final task of the discussion was to list some quotes that resonated with us:

“We earn the relationship we deserve.”

“To be an effective marketer, you must think like the consumer.”

“”The true influencers are the peers of your customers.”

“Blogs are little First Amendment machines.”

“The game is changing: It is no longer about survival of the fittest, but also the most capable and sincere.”

Don’t forget that you can join next week’s discussion of Part 3 to share your ideas on “Participating in Social Media” – Tuesday, Sept 15 at 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT. Log into Tweetchat and put in the hashtag #smbookclub.

If you missed this week’s chat, but want to add to the conversation, please write your comments below.

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