Archive for the Media Relations Category
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Heart racing, palms sweating… no, you’re not having a heart attack. You’re pitching your first story as an intern or entry-level pro. Whew! it can be nerve wracking, for sure. Through a good process, you can feel prepared and confident in your delivery. Know “why.” What’s the point of the media relations effort? What’s the big picture? How does this release, this pitch fit into what the client/company wants to accomplish? It’s ok to ask. You’re not just “smiling and dialing,” asking why can help you craft a better pitch, but also helps you understand the business of public relations and the media relations function. Know the story. Understand not only the primary story, but all the potential angles. You may not be able to pitch the primary story to every editor (in fact, you probably can’t). Create, refine and refine again your media list. An awesomely targeted and strategically... Continue Reading
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Ah, April Fool’s. I have to say I’m not a fan. In 9th grade, I was voted “most gullible” by my classmates, if that tells you anything about my April Fool’s history. From a public relations perspective, pulling a prank on an audience – whether it’s your customers, the media or colleagues can be dangerous. The ones that work, in my opinion, are in good fun and have no victim.Year after year, organizations try jokes that just don’t work – they confuse, offend, humiliate or worse. Today, the Eugene Emeralds, our local minor league baseball team, put out a release claiming that Jeremiah Masoli would be pitching for the Ems in the 2010 season. I heard it this morning on the news as a real story and frankly, just didn’t give it much thought. Throughout the day, though, I picked up through Twitter that the story was a hoax, a... Continue Reading
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Stuff like this irks me. According to a study of Australian newspapers, more than 50 percent of the content was “driven by some sort of public relations.” This isn’t the first time I’ve heard stats like this, and it’s not even the largest percent I’ve seen. What irks me is the tone. Oh dear God… PR might have an influence on media coverage? Oh the humanity! Those PR people are evil! I am shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Let’s be real. Without public relations people most organizations, nonprofits, government agencies (even little ones like parks and recreation, human right commissions or your public library), entrepreneurs, start-up companies, etc. would not have a voice in the marketplace of ideas. They wouldn’t be able to tell their stories. If it weren’t for PR people, how would that work? So, yeah, sometimes that takes a press release or a pitch. And sometimes those... Continue Reading
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This is a guest post from Jamie Szwiec, a PR colleague I connected with on Twitter. More about Jamie at the bottom of the post. I can remember when I went client-side and my boss gave me the task of personally monitoring the news, daily, through Google news alerts and RSS feeds. Something along the lines of … “Spend an hour a day, first thing. I’m not talking about those third-party monitors that charge an arm and a leg. Do it diligently, for competitive analysis, tracking trends and sharing ideas with the team. Most importantly, media relations.” The internal dialogue in my head was along the lines of … “Dude, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Fine, I’m client-side and don’t have to worry about the lingering 0.25’s and billing my time now.” At first, it was daunting. More than a dozen Google alerts to sift through every morning followed by... Continue Reading
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Public relations professionals are, I would argue, faced with ethical decisions every day. They might be small or they might be life or death. In this business, the “product” we have is our integrity and credibility. Doing things that breech either can damage your reputation and your ability to be effective and just do your job. My best all-purpose advice is to develop a decision making process for yourself and to think through in advance, how you’ll handle difficult situations. One of the trickiest areas of practice for PR professionals is dealing with the media. Spin, control and manipulation can not be part of your repertoire. Period. Some specific (and basic) tips for behaving ethically in a media relations function. Don’t lie. People will find out. And in this day-and-age, they will find out more quickly and the backlash will be broader and more far reaching than ever before. You’d... Continue Reading
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In class this week, we were talking about where we’d send a PSA and media kit as part of a campaign to increase voter registration in our local community (Eugene, Oregon). It was a pretty casual discussion, but it brought up an important topic: Regardless of your “market,” you must be an avid media consumer. You must know and understand how the media work. You must consume local media, the key national media and relevant trade and consumer media. You must be able to name, off the top of your head, the media that matter to you and your work. There are two points I’d like to make about this. The first is that even if you don’t enjoy reading the local paper or catching the evening news or (gasp!) listening to NPR – it’s your job in PR to know that the media’s agenda is and how your client... Continue Reading
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Last week at our faculty retreat, Jill Davis, the deputy editor for Portland Monthly magazine talked about an exercise that the publication does with their interns to help them reframe and rethink a story for pitching as a freelance writer. She said they often get “tips” from Portlanders revealing the shocking phenomenon of people who have chickens in their backyard. In Portland! In the CITY! It’s so often that Jill said they call it the “backyard chicken story.” Interns must think of 15 ways to tell this story. What if you were pitching … A business editor or publication An entree/food section at a major daily paper or a food-focused outlet The features editor at a major daily paper “Front of Book” sections (typically news briefs or “what’s hot”) The health and wellness section or publication With a home & garden focus (think: Sunset Magazine) A technology publication (this might... Continue Reading
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The annual U.S. News & World Report College Ranking Guide always seems to create controversy. This year is no exception. In the version sent to bookstores, Portland State University’s electrical engineering program was ranked #9 in the guide with such heavies as M.I.T., Stanford and UC-Berkley. In press release: “We are proud that PSU represents Oregon in this prestigious national ranking,” said President Daniel O. Bernstine. “It illustrates how state investments in higher education can increase programmatic capacity and excellence.” “It is very exciting to have our Electrical Engineering program and faculty recognized by national engineering peers,” said Robert Dryden, dean of the college. “This acknowledges the fundamental transformation of the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science into a national and international academic and research institution.” Malgorzata Chrzanowska-Jeske, department chair, leads the Electrical and Computer Engineering program. It turns out Portland State didn’t make the top 10, or even... Continue Reading
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Marie Clarke Brill of AfricaAction.org recently conducted a workshop on media relations with the Oregon Peace Institute and social activists with the Portland Genocide Awareness Coalition in May 2006. For “non PR” or entry-level PR or students of PR… or even veterans who may need a media relations refresher that’s specific for social justice issues, I thought this was clear and pretty interesting. The video is 45 minutes long, so hang tight.... Permalink
20 Jun 2010, Kelli Matthews