My Creative Team Media Relations White Paper

8/9/2019 My Creative Team Media Relations White Paper

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I’ll Alert The Media:

A My Creative Team Special Report On Effective Media Relations

By Harry Hoover

We Make You Look Good

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- Introduction

- What Is News?

- Are You Newsworthy?

- Printed Press Kits: A Contrarian View

- Cooking Up A Press Kit

- Writing The News Release

- A Glossary Of Media Terms



Introduction

Media Relations is a Public Relations tactic that involves working directly with members

of the news media in an attempt to garner editorial coverage. News coverage costs only

our time to generate it and typically carries more credibility than advertising.

There is no great mystery to good media relations. Anyone mastering some basic

principles can become a good spokesman.

Reporters are young, intelligent and have a strong desire to succeed. For the most part,

they are college graduates, perhaps with advanced degrees. Reporters are, for the most

part, liberal. Their reward is not money but the power that comes with the job. They areidealists. They are creative. They love controversy. Editors, on the other hand, come

down out of the hills after a battle and shoot the wounded...and they get plenty of

practice.

With a little planning and preparation you can remove the adversarial aspect from media

relations and position yourself as a reliable, fast-acting, knowledgeable source of information on your area of expertise. That is the goal of this special report.

What Is News?

Non-news professionals often have a hard time understanding why their ENORMOUS

news announcement, creates barely a ripple in the media.

That's not to say a news release shouldn't be done about it. There are audiences besides

the media - like employees, customers and trade allies - to whom news releases may besent. But the media is interested in things that are different from the norm. So, generally,

bad news gets more play. Let's examine these six categories to help us better understand

what the media wants.

MONEY TALKS - In an age where cash is king, financial matters concerning your

company can be big news. Mergers, acquisitions, good or bad earnings reports, new

technology that will save or make money, all are good copy. Coverage increases the moreyou mention amounts and values.

TAKE THE GLOVES OFF - This category has a couple of dimensions. First, is in thearena of controversy. Whether it's DOS against LINUX, Beta against VHS, or DSL

against Cable Modems, the media loves an argument about which standard is better. If an

argument is good, an all out war is better. Ford vs. GM, or Apple vs. IBM - those are thekinds of battles that get an editor's attention. Don't be afraid to take sides.

GIVE ME A HUG - Editors even like a good love story. It could be a strategic alliance

or an outright merger between two companies. No matter, the media are interested,






particularly if there are questions about the cooperative effort's chance of success.

LEADING EDGE - The rarified air where technological history is made intrigues themedia. Show them tangible evidence of how the technology will improve things in the

here and now, and they'll cover the story.

CARRY A BIG STICK - If your name is not GM, Microsoft, or IBM, don't worry. You

can take advantage of a big brand name. Leverage a new agreement, alliance or

partnership between you and one of the big boys for your benefit.

CHANGES - Established companies with proprietary methods like the status quo. Shake

it up a little with a new system that changes the paradigm and you have the beginnings of

a story.

The best stories will include something from each category, and then they will have

major media staying power. Rarely does a release get covered if it centers on only one

category.

For the business media, focus your efforts on MONEY TALKS and TAKE THEGLOVES OFF categories. Getting trade media coverage typically is a little easier.

Although the first two categories will ensure coverage, LEADING EDGE, CARRY A

BIG STICK AND CHANGES together are good enough for some ink.

Are You Newsworthy?

There is something newsworthy happening right now at your organization, but you must

first think like a reporter before you issue that press release. (See the list of newsworthy

occasions below.)

Too many news releases go out from the company's perspective and land with two dull

thuds. The first thud is on the reporter's desk, and the second is in the trashcan. Let meillustrate how this often happens with a client.

Phone rings. On the other end the client says, "hey let's do a press conference on our new

window blinds. So, here's some information: they are easy to hang by the homeowner andare painted with a new paint in fashion-forward colors."

"Yeah," I say, "but the last ones were easy to hang and were in cool colors. Besides, weonly hold a press conference for the second coming. We could do a news release, but we

need more. What about the hanging mechanism? How many colors? Can the customer

get special colors?"

"Nothing new on the mechanism. Ten colors. No customization."

"Hmmm. New paint, you said. What about that?"



"Oh, yeah. It resists dust."

"Blinds you have to dust less often! Now, we're talking, and maybe a press conference is

called for."

Not every story has the potential of a product I actually helped launch, Levolor's

DustGuard™ blinds. But, with a little thinking, any story idea can be made more

newsworthy. Here are a few things to remember as you think through your story ideas:

• Reporters Don't Care. You spend at least five days per week working in your industry and thinking about your business. You care deeply about them. The

unvarnished truth is that reporters are not in the business to care about you. They

want information of interest to readers, and they want you to make their jobeasier.

• ROI. Ask, what makes this relevant, original or impactful? Consumers don't care

about 10 colors of blinds, but they sure care about not having to dust them asoften. That's relevant.• Hype Not. Corporate hyperbole will not endear you to reporters. In the news

release, tell the facts, just the facts and nothing but the facts. This is as important

as ROI, particularly if you are trying to build long-term relationships withreporters.

Possible Newsworthy Occasions

• New Products

• Business Start-Up

•

Partnership• Strategic Alliances

• New Or Innovative Business Strategy

• Restructuring The Company• Going Public/Going Private

• Company Comeback From Adversity

• New Employees

• Important Executive Retiring/Resigning

• Executives Comment On Business/Economic Trends

• Employee Promotions

• New Branch Offices

• New Divisions Established

• Headquarters Relocating

• Research Results Announcement

• Major Anniversary

• Major New Client Acquisition

• Company Revenue, Sales or Profit Growth• Company Name Change



• Winning Major Awards Or Receiving National Or Regional Recognition In The

Media

• Company Presenting An Award

• Receiving Important Accreditation or Certification

• Holding Free Seminar or Workshop

•

Employee Appointed To Civic, Government Or Professional Organization Board• Availability Of Guest Articles Or White Papers

• Issuing A Position Statement On Topical Subject

• Free Consumer Information Available

• Company Speakers Bureau

• Company Philanthropic Support

• Major Company Milestone

• New Board of Directors• New Website

Printed Press Kits: A Contrarian View

Much has been said about the demise of the printed press kit. Online and electronicversions - pundits say - are the way to go. No editors or reporters want to receive printed

press kits when they could have electronic versions. Right?

Au contraire, mon frère! Let me posit an alternate view. I've often found that when

conventional wisdom says to do one thing, you should do the other. Zig instead of zag.

Reporters and editors get too much email, just like the rest of us. Besides you shouldnever send a large attachment to anyone, especially an editor, unless it has been

requested. And, if they don't know the sender, they may worry about unwanted virusesand other digital things that go bump in the hard drive.

Many editors and reporters are still "old school." They would rather review analog

material instead of digital. Quite frankly, it's quicker. I've been to trade shows as a

reporter and a PR person and have seen how things work in the press room. An electronic

press kit is not as useful as a printed one in such a venue.

You can sort through a printed press kit in mere moments, pulling the info, graphs and

photos you need and discarding the rest. I always develop and display both printed and

electronic press kits for trade shows and let the journalists decide which format they

want.

Cooking Up A Press Kit

Press kits, like any dish, may include different ingredients depending upon who will be

consuming them. A good press kit can be used with potential investors or clients, just as

it can for editors. The contents should be developed based upon your audience.



Let's review some common elements you will find in press kits aimed at journalists. A

letter of introduction - or a pitch letter - often is attached to the outside of the press kit

folder. This could include an overview of kit contents and your contact information. Now, let's go inside the folder:

The Backgrounder. This is an overview of your company that may include its historyand a profile, company locations, as well as brief bios of key company officers.

Product/Service Information. Include product and service spec sheets or brochures, aswell as any reviews you have received from neutral third parties.

Art. Photos, charts, graphs and illustrations often help sell the story. Editors and reporters

are always looking for ways to visually illustrate news and feature items. Including art

gives you a leg up.

Recent Coverage. If you have received editorial mention elsewhere, include it. This

gives an editor a little more confidence that your story or company has merit.

News Releases. Now, I'm not saying you should include every release you have written

since the dawn of time, but include some that are pertinent to the subject at hand.

Article Layout. Laying out a story using text and visuals in what is known as mat formatoften can result in additional coverage. Editors can pick up the entire layout and drop it

into the publication. This is more likely to happen with small newspapers and trade

magazines than with major media. But it can even give major media editors ideas on howto illustrate a feature.

FAQs and Facts. Frequently asked questions and bulleted fact sheets also can spur coverage.

Writing The News Release

• Report the news. Make sure your story contains all the relevant facts. Ask

yourself: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How?

• Make it readable. Here’s how:

o Use short sentences. (Best single thing you can do. . .and easiest.)

Research shows sentences of 15-20 words or less are easiest to

comprehend. If you must write a long sentence, punctuation — like colonsand dashes — can help the reader.o Use short paragraphs. Usually one or two sentences per paragraph is

enough. Otherwise, the reader sees a solid, gray mass when looking at a

narrow newspaper or magazine column.o Use easy words. Avoid multi-syllable and/or technical words that are hard

to understand. If you must use them, explain them with simple definitions

or by using analogies.



o Use personal words. These are human interest words: e.g., “I,” “you,”

“me,” “they,” names, quotes.

o Use active verbs. These are words that show action. Examples are easily

found in recipes or on sports pages (mix, stir, blend, whip, hit, run).

• Then get to the point. . .fast! Readers and editors don’t have the time or

inclination to wade through a bunch of words before finding out what a story is allabout.

• Use an “inverted pyramid” style. Most editors chop stories to make them fit

available space — usually from the bottom. So put the most important points first, second most

important next, and so on

down to the least important.

• Writing tips and tricks. NOW. . .that you know some of the rules of good writing,

here are a few tricks

to help you.

o Before the story, think.

Audience. who do I want (or expect) to read this? What do theywant to know? What do I want them to know?

The “gatekeepers.” These are usually the editors who will decide if they will use your story. What kind of story do they normally use?

How long? Style?

o Getting started writing. If you just can’t get the first word down on paper,

here are some things to try.

Talk to someone about your story. Listen to yourself. Write the

story like you told it. You can always rearrange sentences or paragraphs later.

Go through your notes. Star the things you think are most

important. Then try to start a story with at least one or two of thoseimportant things in the first sentences. Write the headline first. Then make sure your first paragraph or

two says essentially the same thing as the headline.

Try being childlike. How do kids tell a story? They blurt it out,getting to the point fast with plenty of action verbs.

Plagiarize. If you see something written that you like, borrow the

idea (not word-for-word). I’m especially talking about borrowingideas of style.

o Smoothing out the story. To do your thing, try these ideas:

Write as you talk. Better yet, write as you should talk.

Relax on grammar. Don’t ignore what you learned in English, butyou can bend the rules. Some examples:

Start with a conjunction for emphasis. Use a sentence fragment for impact. End a sentence with a preposition if it’s more natural that

way.

Polish. Edit. Let someone else read it and offer an opinion.o Rewrite if necessary.



• The newsfeature. More and more, writers are combining news writing style with

feature writing. This simply means adding a twist that can make the story more

fun to read and write.

• FINALLY. . .get over all those hang-ups about writing. You can write. And it’s

not that tough! Honest.

A Glossary Of Media Terms

Reporters and editors use a specialized vocabulary to describe their activities. These are presented in an effort to help you feel more comfortable with things you may hear

discussed from time to time when you are interviewed for radio, television or newspaper.

Actuality

Also “audio cut,” “cut,” or “sound bite.” Short newsworthy statement from interviewsubject recorded on tape and used in news story.

ADIAcronym for “area of dominant influence.” Generally the geographical area a radio

station’s signal can reach, usually illustrated on a map covering surrounding counties.

Sometimes a marketing term.

Ambush Interview

A sudden confrontation with a TV news crew, in which the interview subject is

ambushed, caught by surprise, and frequently appears guilty or furtive.

Audio

The sound you hear during a TV newscast, as distinguished from video — what you see.

During the editing process, audio and video are sometimes inserted separately into thevideocassette that will eventually be broadcast as a reporter’s story.

Beat

Specialty area on which a reporter concentrates from day to day, i.e., police beat, City

Hall beat, business beat, etc.

Beeper A report or interview done over the telephone. Term dates from the time when radio

stations were required to use an audible “beep” tone to indicate to interviewees and

audience that the conversation was being recorded.

BiteShort for sound bite. A small portion of a videotaped interview which is edited into thereporter’s story. Usually less than 20 seconds. In network stories, frequently less than 10

seconds. One bite is sometimes edited to another in a way that makes it appear both

sentences or phrases were spoken together, in sequence. (NOTE: Sound bite editing canresult in misquote or comment taken out of context.)



Correspondent

The proper term for network reporters, probably because they are always on the road.

They were given this title in the early days of TV news, in the same way that newspapershave traditionally called their out-of-town reporters correspondents.

CutAnother term for an actuality.

DocumentaryA 15-, 20-, 30- or 60-minute report which explores a problem or an issue in detail.

Drive Time

The time of day when people are usually driving to or from work. Morning drive is

considered “prime time” in radio, and for commercial-buying purposes is usually 5-10a.m. In actuality, drive time (the most prime time) is actually 6:15-8:30 a.m. or

thereabouts. It will vary from market to market. Afternoon drive is usually sold as 3-7

p.m. but is, more properly, 4-6 p.m.

Format

The type of music or programming a radio station airs. Standard formats are: AC (adultcontemporary), UC (urban contemporary), country, news, news/talk, golden oldies, big

band/jazz, classical. There are many sub-groups of formats and more develop all the

time. Format can temper the tone and depth of a station’s news broadcast, making itmore or less suitable for a particular story since format and listenership demographics go

hand-in-hand.

Lead-in

The introduction to a TV news story read by the anchor, usually less than 15 seconds. A

headline, designed to tell you what the story is about and alert you to pay attention.

Live ShotA reporter stand-up or interview relayed back to the TV station for immediate, live

broadcast during a newscast.

Market

The area served by a television station, usually about 30 or 40 miles in all directions.

Network Feed

A prearranged delivery of material (e.g., commercials, news information, programming)

that a station’s network sends on a periodic basis, usually once or twice a day, sometimesmore often.

News Director

The person in charge of everything in a local TV station’s news department. The person

who hires and fires reporters, anchors and photographers.



Out-takes

Film or videotape shot by a TV news crew which is not broadcast. Often the center of

conflict between government and TV news operations. Some organizations, as a matter of principle, refuse to give up out-takes, even if they are subpoenaed.

Producer The person who decides how a TV newscast will be organized, the order of the stories,

how long they will be, and how they will be produced. Roughly the equivalent of a page

editor or section editor at a newspaper.

Rating

The percentage of households in a market area who own a television set who arewatching a certain program or station at any given time. A rating point is one percent of

the entire potential audience watching a given show. In radio, ratings result from a

survey of listening habits by a company that specializes in statistical surveys bytelephone or written diaries. Ad agencies frequently rely on surveys for guidance on

which stations to buy for their clients, referred to as “buying by the book.”

Reader

A story read by an anchor without visuals or reporter involvement. Also called a “copy

story.”

ReversesVideotape of a reporter asking an interview subject a question. Usually shot over the

shoulder of the interview subject after the interview is finished, so the question can be

edited to an answer already videotaped. Can distort a TV story if the question is not

worded and spoken exactly as it was when the answer was given.

Sign OutThe close of a reporter “package” or “wrap” in which the reporter signs out. “I’m Earl

Egotist, Channel 14 Action News.”

Standup

A reporter’s narration where we hear and see the reporter talking. Whether the reporter is

standing, sitting, talking, driving or lying down, it’s still a standup.

Super

Writing which is superimposed over video during a broadcast. The name of the reporter or interview subject is supered when we first see them, to tell us who they are. A super

saves time. The person appearing on camera does not have to be introduced on air.(NOTE: Be sure to provide a business card or slip of paper showing the correct spellingof your organization (?) and your name so the station will get it right on the super.)

SweepsShorthand for periods of time when Arbitron surveys a market. Depending on market

size, “sweeps” will be done one, two, three or four times annually. During “sweeps”

stations try to air provocative programming that will attract listening audiences.



Talent

TV talk for those staff members who are actually seen on TV. Reporters, anchors,

sportscasters, weather forecasters and talk show hosts are “talent,” even if they aren’ttalented.

Talking HeadJust what it says. Someone talking on-camera with nothing to break the visual monotony.

(NOTE: A sure cure for talking-head syndrome is to have simple charts or visuals with

you when you are interviewed; these will break up the camera shots and provide visualinterest.)

Two-Shot

A picture that includes two people, usually the reporter and the interview subject. Also

used when two people are on-camera at the same time in a TV studio or in the field.

Voice-Over

This can be done live or edited onto videotape. We hear the voice of the reporter or

anchor while we see video — usually what the narrator is talking about. On videotape,the reporter’s voice is mixed with the original sound on the tape, which we can still hear

in the background. In live voice-over, the sound on the tape is turned down. We canhear that sound under the voice of the anchor, who is talking over the sound on the tape.

About My Creative Team

My Creative Team, www.My-CreativeTeam.com, is a Huntersville, NC-based network of

highly experienced and talented independent marketing professionals that gives clients better work that’s a better value. The firm delivers great work, on time and on target, and

that makes the client look good.

Services include turnkey website development and promotion, presentation development,

email marketing programs, pay-per-click advertising, advertising, media planning and

buying, PR, and video production. Clients range from National Gypsum and Rubbermaidto Bank of Commerce and Focus Four.

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