Posts Tagged with media+relations
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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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My former student, Missy, works for a publisher in NYC. She’s the online media manager for Harris Publications. She sent me this email yesterday – and with her permission I post it here. I would like to casually note the “At least not the way you taught me” line in paragraph 3. I think this is a nice summary of the major gripes about PR people. These are basic concepts, kids. Be a resource and build relationships.From Missy (4/7/08): I’ll make this short. I’m kind of pissed off right now and here’s why: PR IN THE FIREARMS/DEFENSE/TACTICAL/MILITARY INDUSTRY SUUUUCKS. I don’t get it? This is the biggest industry in the U.S…. bigger than porn, car manufacturing, telecomm, any of that crap. It’s the goddamn DEFENSE INDUSTRY. And the people in PR do NOT do their jobs. At least not the way you taught me. Here’s why: 1) I have to... Continue Reading
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September is Hispanic Heritage Month. September 8 is International Literacy Day. And the 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So what? National and international observance are a great way to help tell your organization’s story. It’s just a little hook on which you can hang your pitch or press release. As with all pitches, make it relevant and make it interesting. Just because the 22nd of September is Elephant Appreciation Day, doesn’t mean you have something valuable to add to the community conversation. Need some ideas?International Observances from WikipediaNational Health Observances Holiday Insights... Permalink
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The wide, wide world of social media is great. It’s a great way to build relationships, to have a conversation and to make new connections. However, it’s also uncharted territory for public relations and, well, some of us aren’t doing such a great job. There has been a lot of buzz in the blogosphere lately about the crap that PR people send to bloggers. You can read about it here, here and here (in the posts and in the comments). In fact, Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer have a whole blog dedicated to PR crap. In most cases, the heavy lamenting about PR is well-deserved, although not well-targeted. The problem is, that there are a lot of good PR people and they are doing really good work. But it’s the crap that seems to be dominating the conversation and creating and overall shift in attitude. You can find lots of... 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
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According to the Bad Pitch Blog (love them!), the answer is between and three and five pitches. And sometimes it can take up to a year to work a good story in a key media outlet. Based on Kevin Dugan’s anecdotal evidence, this post does a great job of giving you solid guidelines for managing client expectations for a media relations campaign. I suggest you save it, bookmark it, print it, tattoo it somewhere, print it, whatever. I have certainly had clients that, despite my best efforts to manage expectations, never understood why the ratio wasn’t 1:1 (pitches:stories). I love Kevin and the Bad Pitch Blog for laying this out so simply. The Bad Pitch Blog: The Math Behind Good Pitches... Permalink
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