Advice for the 21st Century Journalist, 2 09

Advice for the 21st Century Sports Journalist3.3.09

Jackie Reau

Game Day Communications

About Jackie Reau

“Old School PR Girl Goes Digital for Survival” Stints at The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati Art Museum Co-founded Game Day Communications in 2002 with

former ESPN Anchor Betsy Ross because of desire to work in sports PR

Word of Mouth Marketing Academy Faculty Member

About Game Day Communications

• Boutique PR firm specializing in sports and cultural entertainment

• Media relationships (local to national sports media)• Influencer relationships (team stakeholders, fan

development, tourism, corporate sponsors)• Event Marketing Management/Staffing• Digital Media/Social Media Evangelists

Some of our Clients

Keys to Success

#1 Know Your Beat + (the Business of Sports, the Entertainment of Sports, the Culture of Sports, etc.)

#2 Cultivate Your Sources (be nice to PR people!)

#3 It’s All About Writing (grammar, style and interest)

#4 Connect with Your Readers via Social Networking

Know Your Beat

a. Read the papers/internet media, use Google Reader as your aggregator

b. Follow your competition (teams, athletes, leagues)

c. Connect readers with features and “did you know stories”

Cultivate Your Sources

a. Think long-term for controversial stories and how it will affect your source relationship

b. A little bit of honey goes along way…c. Be nice to PR People!

a. AP Styleb. Corrections are bad, very badc. Understand how to be flexible with traditional

media and new media with your writing style

It’s All About Writing

Who, What, When, Where…Social Networking

Social Networking…

It’s not just for you, the kids…some 300 million U.S. residents areusing social networking sites

It’s a lifestyle change…a shift of time management and work flow

Get in the game, see what others are doing on social networking sites

Storyboard your use of social networking; have a purpose, a subject matter

Be proactive; update your site with informative information based on yourpurpose/expertise

Get Connected with Social Networking

Create Your Own Social Media Network

Linkedin.com: Make sure your profile is at 100% completion, join affiliate groups of interest, share interesting story links

Facebook.com: Keep it professional, create private groups for private information, use it as your information aggregator, set time limits for use

Twitter.com: Have a purpose, use it to share professional updates or position yourself/company as an authority, link to your Facebook

Youtube.com: Create your own channel, use a flip video camera to capture video of your projects

Update all regularly

My Sports Media Hero #5

Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Basketball Player

a. He has created his own social media network: 209,000+ Twitter followers and tweets daily

b. Shaq, LeBron Dance Off has 11 million views on youtube.com

c. A frank, candid interviewee who transcends multiple “fan” channels: sports, entertainment

My Sports Media Hero #4

Paul “Doc” Daugherty, Enquirer Media, WLW-AM

a. His media network includes: daily newspaper column, daily blog and radio broadcast on 50,000 watt radio station with national reach

b. Provides an ESPN’s Rick Reilly” perspective on issues

c. Recently called a “Cincinnati Sports Legend” and compared to Oscar Robertson

My Sports Media Hero #3

Mike Lopresti, USA Today/Gannetthttp://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=472

a. Great access: From the Press Boxb. Insightful and diverse columnsc. Terrific circulation among Gannett papers

My Sports Media Hero #2

Bill “The Sports Guy” Simmons, ESPNhttp://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

a. Yes, he has an East-Coast bias but, who doesn’t at ESPN!

b. His podcast was one of the first on i-tunesc. He is honest and entertaining about all sports

My Sports Media Hero #1

Tom Jolly, Sports Editor, New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/index.html

a. Has managed several multimedia projects for the paper’s web site including blogs, videos

b. He shares the leading feature story each day on his Facebook page

c. He oversees great columnists who continue to provoke conversation

Contact Information

Jackie Reaujreau@gamedaypr.comwww.linkedin.com/jackiereauwww.twitter.com/gamedayjreauwww.youtube.com/gamedayjreau