media relations – Page 2

How to pitch to journalists

May 16, 2011/in Media relations, Public relations/by ignitepr

Public relations certainly isn’t all about media relations, but it is a major element. Knowing how to pitch stories and how to build relationships with journalists is a crucial part of our success.

One thing to think about is whether to pitch by phone or email. This can come down to personal preference, the nature of the story, how well you know the journalist you’re pitching to, the time of day. It’s not a broad brush approach, so think about this for every pitch you make. Journalists are more and more favouring email over phone calls, which can disrupt their day much more. Also, in this modern age of social media consider using services such as Twitter to pitch. There’s certainly skill in pitching a story in 140 characters and it’s direct and much more immediate.

Here are some other key things to bear in mind.

1) Know your story: this may sound obvious, but can you sum your story up in two or three sentences or a few bullet points?

2) Make it relevant: why should a particular journalist care about what you have to say? Even if you’re working from a news release that has been approved by the client you can vary the pitch and pick out different elements according to who you’re talking to. And don’t forget about the ‘extras’, e.g. interviews, exclusive additional content, photos, etc. Be targeted

3) Do your research: use media databases such as MEDIAtlas (paid-for) and MediaSync (free) to find contact details and the right contacts, but also try to look at a publication or website, listen to a radio station or watch a particular television show – know who covers what, what’s been covered on your topic recently and whether a particular journalist always wants exclusives

4) Respect deadlines: if you’re calling a journalist always check whether it’s a good time to talk, you don’t want to launch straight into a pitch if they’re on a deadline; it won’t be appreciated

5) Get to the point: even if a journalist says it is a good time to talk, make sure you get to the point (this links back to knowing your story) – they haven’t got all day; some journalists will receive many calls and hundreds of emails a day

6) Be professional: be friendly but don’t be over-pally if it’s the first time you’ve spoken to someone. With the first contact you have no credibility and no history, so it will take time to establish this

7) Don’t spam: similarly, consider whether a story really is relevant to someone, if you’ve made a media list using something like MEDIAtlas make sure there aren’t duplicates in the list so you don’t call or email someone more than once

8) Be available: if you’re pitching a story make sure you’re around and ready to deal with any requests or follow ups from journalists otherwise you could miss out

9) Follow up with caution: if you’ve sent an email pitch, don’t just follow it with a call saying “did you get my email?”, consider whether you can offer anything else – what justifies your follow up call? Perhaps in your email you can say “I’ll call in a day or two to get your feedback, unless I hear from you beforehand” – at least then you’ve given a warning!

10) Know when to give up: sometimes a story is perfect for someone, and you know it, so you keep trying, but sometimes you will be flogging a dead horse of a story so you need to know when to call it quits. If your story isn’t flying, think about why and what you can do to change this in the future, it’s our job as PRs to advise our clients of the best course of action after all

If you’re planning a long and illustrious career in the PR industry it’s vital to understand how the media works and how to work with the media. Think long-term relationships and making friends. If you do a journalist a favour, turn around stories quickly and efficiently, pitch the right things to the right people, you’ll make a good name for yourself and journalists will, in turn, listen to you.

What do you think? Are you a PR with a journalist pitch story to tell? Are you a journalist with strong opinions about how PRs pitch stories to you (this is most of you, surely?!)? Do you have anything to add to this? We’d love to hear from anyone with advice or anecdotes.

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6 questions: Fiona Donnelly, Queensland taste Editor, The Courier-Mail

May 12, 2011/in Media relations/by ignitepr

Over the coming months we will be approaching a few top Brisbane and Queensland journalists, as well as a few specialists, to find out how they like to work, any issues they have with PRs, how they like stories to be pitched to them, etc. First up is Fiona Donnelly, Queensland taste Editor from The Courier-Mail. (And yes, we know it’s technically 8 questions.)

1) What is your deadline day?

I file every Wednesday for the following Tuesday. If you’re sending releases for taste, the general rule is the longer the lead-time given, the better the chance that I’ll be able to use something. Feel free to send a follow-up email closer to the date, if you haven’t heard anything back.

2) How do you prefer to be contacted (i.e. email, phone, fax, post)?

Email is always best – unless it’s urgent.

3) Is there a particular time of day you prefer to be contacted?

If you’re emailing – email anytime! If you’re phoning, please don’t call me on Monday (it’s production day for taste).

4) Do you like to meet companies and bosses for coffee/ lunch? If yes, do you have any favourite venues?

Happy to meet anyone, anywhere – as long as there’s a scoop in the offing.

5) What are your three pet peeves about PRs?

Generally I don’t like being called by PRs to check if there’s any interest in an email/event – if you’ve sent the email, the odds are I’ll have received it and if there’s interest I’ll certainly phone or email for more information.

6) What would the perfect story pitch be for you? And what’s the best PR pitch you have ever had?

Haven’t had any stand-out pitches from PRs – the pitch really isn’t the important aspect for me. If your information is timely – i.e. if it’s provided to me before the marketing emails and press releases are sent out generally; and if it’s of interest to The Courier-Mail taste reader, then it’s a good pitch!

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Top tips for media interviews

April 20, 2011/in Business, Media relations, Public relations/by ignitepr

Ultimately, we recommend any executives who will be undertaking media interviews to undergo professional media training to hone key messages and delivery – it’s you and your company’s reputation on the line after all – but we thought it would be worth sharing just a few pointers to bear in mind if you’ve got a big interview coming up.

1) Meet deadlines: journalists are busy people and the story they are working on is the most important thing (to them) at that time, respect that by responding to requests in a timely manner, and when a big story breaks make sure you are available.

2) Preparation is key: never ever wing it. Always try and get a full brief on the questions that will be asked, have your key messages ready to go, try and actually practise an interview with a friend or colleague asking the tricky questions.

3) Know what you want to say: shape your message(s), work out what you want to say and how you can say it as simply as possible, always avoid jargon and don’t over complicate. Stay on track with your message(s) throughout the interview and learn how to bridge – i.e. when the question doesn’t necessarily cover what you want to say you can add your own extra bits. For example, “It’s important to remember that…”, “Before we get off that topic, let me just add…” etc. Try and think about two or three key ‘take-away’ points you want the journalist/ viewers/ readers to remember.

4) And how you want to say it: body language and eye contact are important, often (for television and radio) it’s not really what you say its how you say it.

5) Tell the truth: stick to the facts, distinguish between fact and opinion, if you don’t know the answer to something say so.

6) Take written information: reporters often need help putting an issue in perspective, so feel free to provide them with written information to highlight the key facts and figures.

7) Never say “No comment”: if you can’t answer something or choose not to, just give a brief explanation why otherwise it can be a little like a red rag to a bull.

8) Silence is golden: don’t talk to fill any silences, say what you want to say and then it’s the reporter’s responsibility to keep the interview going.

9) Nothing is 100% off the record: it’s worth remembering that a journalist is always on the lookout for the next big story, don’t let your ‘off the record’ comment become that; nothing is ever fully off the record.

10) Get performance reviews: everyone can get better so make sure you review resulting articles or the broadcast coverage and seek comments and feedback from friends and colleagues

Good luck!

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