Media Relations: An Overview of the Roles, Needs and How to Be Effective in Pursuit of Publicity for Your Business, Book or Cause
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By Nora Firestone An excerpt from the Media Sense and Savvy section of "The $10,000 Apostrophe" Copyright 2012 - '13* |
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During my years as a professional writer, reporter and marketing-team member for various organizations, I’ve observed a few key differences between effective and inefficient media relations efforts, the most significant being this: It seems that what prevents people from effectively promoting their companies’ or organizations’ news, expertise and events through media outlets are a misunderstanding of the roles and processes involved and a common lack of organization. Of course this doesn’t mean that the people charged with this task are ignorant or disorganized; most often it’s the unfamiliar territory that throws them. In other words, they’re relative newcomers to the media-relations/outreach part of the marketing job, they’ve never been officially schooled in the role and the essentials, and they’re learning as they go — and sometimes with no authoritative guidance. They simply don’t know what information they need to be compiling and why, and even if they had all the right information, they don’t know what to do with it, where and how to send it and when.
Press releases (also called news releases) play an important part in media outreach, and the proper development, direction and timing of these releases makes all the difference.
Bonus: From well-developed press releases a company can create additional content, including articles, blog posts, newsletters, video scripts, pod casts and other promotional pieces.
Fundamentally, effective media relations and outreach boils down to three elements: First, understand the media outlets, their needs and their audiences; second, understand what information you need to provide and have it logically organized and accessible; and third, understand what to do with that information, when, and act on it.
It’s all about understanding and appropriate action. Isn’t that the foundation for all solid relationships in life? So start cultivating an understanding of the goals and workings of various media outlets, what their audiences want, and what journalists need in order to assist you in telling your story or communicating valuable insight and information to their audiences on your behalf. Then act upon that information in a timely manner. And don’t be intimidated. Writers, editors, publishers, producers and broadcasters are no different from you. They do jobs, just like you do. They have friends, families and neighbors, just like you do. They eat, sleep and breathe, as you do. Be comfortable about approaching them. If they’re serious about their jobs, they appreciate you reaching out with news from the community, an industry or a particular experience or school of thought. They can’t do their jobs without news and interesting stories to tell, right? Relax, and think about members of the media as your partners in communicating information that benefits their audiences in some way. And be patient as you go. As with anything else, persistence is the key to continued improvement and overall success.
Bonus: From well-developed press releases a company can create additional content, including articles, blog posts, newsletters, video scripts, pod casts and other promotional pieces.
Fundamentally, effective media relations and outreach boils down to three elements: First, understand the media outlets, their needs and their audiences; second, understand what information you need to provide and have it logically organized and accessible; and third, understand what to do with that information, when, and act on it.
It’s all about understanding and appropriate action. Isn’t that the foundation for all solid relationships in life? So start cultivating an understanding of the goals and workings of various media outlets, what their audiences want, and what journalists need in order to assist you in telling your story or communicating valuable insight and information to their audiences on your behalf. Then act upon that information in a timely manner. And don’t be intimidated. Writers, editors, publishers, producers and broadcasters are no different from you. They do jobs, just like you do. They have friends, families and neighbors, just like you do. They eat, sleep and breathe, as you do. Be comfortable about approaching them. If they’re serious about their jobs, they appreciate you reaching out with news from the community, an industry or a particular experience or school of thought. They can’t do their jobs without news and interesting stories to tell, right? Relax, and think about members of the media as your partners in communicating information that benefits their audiences in some way. And be patient as you go. As with anything else, persistence is the key to continued improvement and overall success.
Also understand that media outlets are very busy places, and the people who represent them know what they need when and are always on deadline. In addition, print publications galore have undergone consolidations resulting in fewer pages to fill; meanwhile masses of Americans have been displaced within the workforce through the economic disruption of the growth of government, its dependents and its oppressive overreach. More people are in business for themselves; their shallow budgets often don’t support much advertising, and those dollars get split between online and offline campaigns. Fewer dollars spent on print advertising perpetuates consolidation within the publication world, and all of this means more competition for a shrinking amount of valuable free media attention. On the other hand, the growth of digital publishing has provided alternative opportunities for news distribution through bloggers, online magazines, social-media realms, traditional media outlets’ own digital platforms and more. So the routes for media outreach continue to expand in new directions. Pay attention to them, and use your understanding and recognition of high-quality vs. poor-quality content (parts one and two of "The $10,000 Apostrophe") when deciding who is worth approaching and who’s not.
Despite the state of the news industry on any given day, this advice remains sound and relevant: Be understanding and respectful of journalists’ time, position and purpose and don’t get dejected if an idea gets rejected. Unless a person has done something egregious to alienate a particular member of the media (we’ll visit some examples of that in the pages to come), having someone “pass” on a story pitch or other outreach is nothing personal. In fact, only a small percentage of media outreach will result in a story about or including the company approaching any individual outlet, and that’s true for any number of an outlet’s own reasons. Naturally this book is meant to equip you with the knowledge, insights and guidance necessary for increased success with media outreach, and somewhat paradoxically, that will include managing your expectations.
Despite the state of the news industry on any given day, this advice remains sound and relevant: Be understanding and respectful of journalists’ time, position and purpose and don’t get dejected if an idea gets rejected. Unless a person has done something egregious to alienate a particular member of the media (we’ll visit some examples of that in the pages to come), having someone “pass” on a story pitch or other outreach is nothing personal. In fact, only a small percentage of media outreach will result in a story about or including the company approaching any individual outlet, and that’s true for any number of an outlet’s own reasons. Naturally this book is meant to equip you with the knowledge, insights and guidance necessary for increased success with media outreach, and somewhat paradoxically, that will include managing your expectations.
Understanding journalists, media outlets and their audiences
Marketing vs. journalism: honor the line
While one goal of an organization’s marketing and communications department may be to create media buzz, the members of the media who are equipped to facilitate that are on the other side of a very distinct and important line. It’s your job to recognize and respect this line.
The underlying goal of authentic journalistic media outlets is to serve their readers, viewers and listeners with interesting, relevant, unbiased, accurate content and authenticity. They don’t “owe” anyone anything, except that they owe their audiences good, trustworthy material and the information they need for forming their own opinions and decisions about subjects. Therefore, the heart of journalistic style and integrity is not promotional — it doesn’t involve hype, reporters’ opinions or partiality — and the interest of journalists is not in advertising your events, products and services; that’s the interest of their outlets’ advertising departments, which generate much of the revenue necessary to keep the outlets in business so they can deliver the good, unbiased reporting at the heart of the mission.
With that said, good media coverage, or publicity, that highlights positive news or input from a company can help foster the organic building of trust and brand awareness in the eyes of the public, which is one reason why companies strive for such inclusion. But this should be regarded as a desired natural consequence of media publicity, not held as an expectation or a demand to be heaped upon the members of the media. If coverage of your company elicits a positive reaction from an audience, that’s a drop of gravy in the boat. Savor it, yes. But don’t consider it prime sustenance.
What is a journalist?
In terms of what I’d like for you to understand about legitimate news outlets and media relations, let’s keep it simple: A journalist is a newsperson. Generally journalists include newspaper and magazine reporters and editors, photojournalists and camera people, TV news broadcasters and producers. Some talk-radio hosts, film makers, columnists and bloggers are also journalists.
Journalists are deadline-, detail- and audience-oriented people. Speed, facts, accuracy and relevance rule their worlds. Remember that legitimate journalists on the job are not your marketing partners. Serving their audiences with journalistic integrity is their No. 1 objective, just like doing your job well is yours. The more a good source understands the needs and role of journalists, the better (s)he can address and assist with them and avoid undesirable conflict.
Journalists are deadline-, detail- and audience-oriented people. Speed, facts, accuracy and relevance rule their worlds. Remember that legitimate journalists on the job are not your marketing partners. Serving their audiences with journalistic integrity is their No. 1 objective, just like doing your job well is yours. The more a good source understands the needs and role of journalists, the better (s)he can address and assist with them and avoid undesirable conflict.
What is a source?
A source could be you or someone else who represents your company. A source is someone who contributes to a print or broadcast segment by being interviewed about a particular subject. Just open a newspaper or magazine, watch the news or listen to a good talk-radio interview to witness the range of subjects to which sources contribute every day. A positive experience with a source typically stays with a journalist, who will then feel confident about calling upon or recommending that same source for future assignments. The qualities of a good source include:
- Trustworthiness, authenticity, credibility and depth of knowledge about the subject.
- An understanding of and respect for the journalist's job and purpose.
- Extreme accessibility and the willingness and ability to assist in getting a story told quickly, accurately and interestingly.
- The ability to communicate well.
What is "media relations"?
A company’s public relations, marketing and communications efforts generally work together toward the common goal of cultivating and maintaining a positive image of the firm in the eyes of the public. Collectively, this encompasses a broad range of efforts designed to establish, raise and maintain awareness of a brand or organization; develop and engage a trusting, viable fan or customer base; and ultimately drive sales, loyalty and/or patronage. Essentially, media relations is one element of this. Media relations is a term for the relationships that companies and their marketing/public-relations/communications representatives cultivate with a specific sect of the public: members of the media. These representatives act like bridges for communication between the company, which has news to share, and the members of the media who can help share that news with audiences. Many larger companies have in-house departments or hired firms for this; with very small companies, the job’s often in the hands of the owners or their assistants.
To gain positive media attention/publicity throughout the year, a company representative needs to know how, when and why to approach members of the media. The elements of a good media-relations representative align closely with those of a good source and include:
- An understanding of and respect for the journalist’s job and purpose.
- Having a finger on the pulse of various media outlets, their editorial schedules/timelines and the interests of their audiences.
- A deep enough understanding of the company and the expertise of its representatives to “recommend” them to journalists for an array of potential good fits for audiences.
- A creative mindset, initiative and the ability to recognize opportunities for voicing data, tips, opinions, new information and thought leadership amid everyday news and current or foreseen trends. A good publicity or media-relations rep gets excited by this point at which his or her understanding of the media merges with the in-depth understanding of the company, and (s)he recognizes and creates heightened streams of opportunity for spreading the word in multiple directions.
- Extreme accessibility and the willingness and ability to assist in getting the story told quickly, accurately and interestingly.
- The ability to communicate well with members of the media and company sources. Sometimes this involves explaining to a not-yet-media-savvy source the role and needs of the reporter, the purpose of an interview, what the interview process entails and the importance of being extra accessible for follow-up questions during the story-development process.
What is “brand” or “advertorial” journalism?
In short, it’s far from pure journalism; it’s advertising. These are the news-like stories about or including a company, its people and/or its impact that are developed by or on behalf of the company, typically to establish or maintain its position as an authority, and then distributed through any number of print, broadcast and/or digital outlets. To many, this represents a blurring or crossing of the line between marketing and journalism, as the stories may resonate as or be mistaken for traditional, non-partial news stories because they are intentionally created and conveyed with the same authentic journalistic style that signals to audiences: You can trust this information. Often brand journalism is produced by former journalists who have crossed over into the marketing and PR realm.
Some of the distribution outlets for advertorials may be run by the source company (the company website, a YouTube channel, Facebook page, etc.), while other distribution may be purchased (as in branded magazine-type publications delivered as newspaper inserts, pay-to-play direct-mail advertising magazines, submission to news aggregation services, recommended content on Web pages and as “native ads” placed amid editorial content of some news outlets).
Former “Wall Street Journal” reporter Ryan Chittum analyzed the nuances and potential line blurring of advertorials, particularly native ads, in an interesting article published in “Columbia Journalism Review” April 3, 2014. Check it out here: http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/tpms_native_ads.php
Former “Wall Street Journal” reporter Ryan Chittum analyzed the nuances and potential line blurring of advertorials, particularly native ads, in an interesting article published in “Columbia Journalism Review” April 3, 2014. Check it out here: http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/tpms_native_ads.php
My own personal/professional opinions on the topic align most closely with those of Andrew Sullivan, to whose statements Chittum refers in his article.
You must understand that this line between marketing and journalistic integrity exists and why. In your relationships with journalists, show respect for this. A word of advice on that point: Never insult a real journalist by calling his or her news articles or segments “ads.” That’s happened to me, and although it’s nearly impossible to offend me, this not-so-uncommon occurrence has made me question the mentality and intentions of potential sources who should know the difference. Don’t give a reporter reason to question yours.
You must understand that this line between marketing and journalistic integrity exists and why. In your relationships with journalists, show respect for this. A word of advice on that point: Never insult a real journalist by calling his or her news articles or segments “ads.” That’s happened to me, and although it’s nearly impossible to offend me, this not-so-uncommon occurrence has made me question the mentality and intentions of potential sources who should know the difference. Don’t give a reporter reason to question yours.
Going forth
This unit’s insights and how-to guidance aim to help you and/or members of your organization become the kind of sources and representatives that journalists will appreciate and may even be inclined to call upon as contributors more than once. In the pages to follow you’ll discover more about the aforementioned points, including an in-depth look at press release/pitch development, timing and submission, and you'll find examples of how these qualities — or the absence of them — can impact the relationships between journalists, media-relations professionals and expert sources.
Contact Nora for more information about the book, speaking, workshops, media interviews or with any other related inquiries.
An abridged version of this article appeared in "Inside Business" news journal, May 18, 2015.
*Copyright 2012 - '13 (and updated as necessary), Nora Firestone. This content is based upon original presentations given since 2012 and is included in my media-relations workshops and the Media Sense and Savvy section of "The $10,000 Apostrophe."
