Journalist Whispering;

How to make them

listen.

By John Rockley

@johnrockley info@jdoubler.co.uk www.jdoubler.co.uk

What you need to know.

1) What journalists want.

2) How to make then listen.

3) How to become a ‘contact’.

4) How you can screw it all up.

@johnrockley info@jdoubler.co.uk www.jdoubler.co.uk

Remember;

Journalists

responding to PR

are like deer...

Scare them away

and you won’t see

them again.

Make too much

noise and you

won’t see them

again.

What do Journalists want?

Stories?

Journalists

want to go

home.

No matter what journalists say, journalism

isn’t special. It’s like working in a sausage

factory… only the sausages are made of

news.

Every day is the same; a programme /

publication that needs to be filled with

‘stuff’ some of the stuff is a bit dodgy, but

as long as no one finds out what’s in it it’ll

be OK… Like a sausage.

Journalists are like factory workers.

They all have lives outside that are

more important than the life inside.

They just want to go home.

0

2

4

6

8

10

Difficult Perfect Reality Hoped for

Effort

Quality

Feedback

Help them go home by helping them make news. The

reality of news is that it takes a lot of effort to produce

something below par. Help them produce content

that they have to work for, but is good quality.

How to make

journalists

listen

Make it easy

Clarity, narrative, emotion

Be clear what the story is…

Does it have a narrative or is it just

information?

What is the emotional heart?

Clarity, narrative, emotion

Ask yourself…

What is the story?

What is the story?

WHAT IS THE STORY??

Clarity, narrative, emotion

Tell a story, don’t present information.

Who are the people?

(people buy stories about people)

What is your ‘default narrative’?

Clarity, narrative, emotion

From the point of view of the audience ask

yourself…

Why should

I care?

How to become

a ‘contact’

The average person who

contacts a media

organisation is the sort of

person who contacts a

media organisation.

BE NORMAL

BE A CONSUMER

GET UNDER THE RADAR

Piggy-back

Journalists love consumers.

Journalists love being heard/read.

Journalists need our love.

Piggy-back

Wait for ‘love to hear what you

think about this…’

Connect with the individual

journalist.

Piggy-back

Journalists love you

Because you’re not…

Piggy-back

Invite them in.

“If you want to see how it really

works come and see me”

Remind them.

“If you ever need a *** call me”

Do…

Be Reliable

Be Available

Be Quotable

Do…

Phone at the right

time.

Do…

Send the press

HUGE PICTURE FILES

Do…

Take NO for an

answer

Don’t…

Send press releases with

large attachments to

Radio Stations

You’ve just crashed their desktop

and they now hate you, and they will

never forget it… EVER.

Don’t…

Write more than one

screen. No one likes

to scroll down to the

bottom of things that

frankly they would

prefer

Don’t…

just say yes.

If you’re not the right person, tell

them. There’s more reputational

damage by ‘busking it’.

Remember

You have 100%

control over what

comes out of your

mouth

www.jdoubler.co.uk

Helping you sound like a normal person

info@jdoubler.co.uk

@JohnRockley

07905 428905