Archive for the 'Journalist' Category

21
Jun
11

5 Ways to Get the Media to Pick Up Your Story – Part 1 of 3

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Communications, Health care marketing, healthcare, healthcare marketing, Healthcare reform, Journalist, PR, PR Tactics, Press Release, Public Relations and Publicity
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Please welcome guest blogger, healthcare communications professional Rachel Brand who will bring The Side Note a series of three blogs for the next three weeks on health care public relations.

Do you want to write more compelling press releases and earn more coverage?

You should. Health care is ripe with dramatic medical rescues, fascinating technology, unsung heroes and stirring ethical debates. But these stories often don’t get told. That’s because pr pros are writing leads like this:

IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR INSURANCE AGENTS, BROKERS, HEALTH-RELATED ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

The new health insurance plan, authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is designed to provide coverage to uninsured individuals who have been denied health insurance or been offered only unaffordable options.

Sure, it’s important. But is it interesting? And – will it drive coverage?

1. Lead with the impact

For your next lede, ask yourself out loud, “what does it mean to the man in the green pick-up truck?” You can see him, across the park under the tree, sitting in his rusty forest green truck.

In other words, how does your news benefit, effect or change the lives of real people?

How about:

Thousands of uninsured Americans, desperate for healthcare coverage because they are chronically ill, can now see a doctor thanks to a new federally funded health insurance plan.

But what if your program doesn’t have any direct impact on people, at least not yet? Then…

2. Lead with people

Whether you are promoting a walk to fight cancer, a rally for homelessness, or the appointment of new CEO of your hospital, find a person and tell his or her story. Better, yet, tell the story of an important person in an unusual way.

Typical CEO appointment releases have headlines/first paragraphs like this:

LARRY LEADER APPOINTED CEO OF ST. ELIZABETH’S REGIONAL HOSPITAL

(Anytown, USA) Lawrence Leader, currently the COO of St. Elizabeth’s Regional Hospital, has been appointed CEO of the hospital. He takes over as current CEO Marcy Mercy retires after a long and distinguished career.

But what if you took a half hour to find out Larry’s story?

The results might be:

MEDIC, HOSPITAL PORTER, NOW CEO – ST. ELIZABETH’S NEW CEO HAS SEEN HEALTHCARE FROM THE BOTTOM UP

(Anytown, USA) Larry Leader’s mother, a first-grade schoolteacher in Moline, IL, used to count out coins from her wallet each Saturday morning before grocery shopping. Rarely was there extra to buy candy.

Poor but strong-willed Florence Leader pushed her children to go to college. Larry, the youngest of five, enrolled as an Army medic to pay for it. …

The moral of the story? Writing a compelling press release that leads with the impact or leads with people is a better way to get the media to notice your press release.

(Continued next week)

Rachel Brand is a healthcare communications professional who can teach writing over brown bag lunches at your company. Contact her at rachel (at) brandcommunicationsllc.com.


28
May
10

Is Social Media our Industrial Revolution?

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Blogger, Blogs, Business Strategies, Communications, Crisis Communications, Journalism, Journalist, Marketing, Media, Social Media, TV, Twitter and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , ,

Yesterday, I was watching a report about the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  I was surprised to learn that the spill was larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster. I was even more surprised to see how many reporters and analysts were ready to offer opinions on how to clean up the spill, how the U.S. government should be involved and the restitution BP should pay to the American people.  There was instant reaction by bloggers, Twitter and through other types of social media.

I was struck by how social media journalism has become mainstream.  I wasn’t watching objective journalism reporting the events of the day; I was on a roller-coaster of emotion.

The media industry used to be shaped by journalists. Today, enthusiasts, analysts and zealots masquerading as experts join them. Social discussion, opinion and advocacy journalists are filtering the news I see today.  This is a transformative time as we are able to participate in the news and information being disseminated. We are no longer only consumers of information.

Social media has evolved to influence the information we obtain. It is increasingly becoming the preferred method for the acquisition and spread of knowledge among common people.  Is social media our generations’ version of the Industrial Revolution?

In business terms, it is redefining how marketers respond to the marketplace.  It is increasingly important for businesses to have a social media strategy.  Without it, companies are missing important customers, stakeholders and influential opinion makers.  There are conversations taking place about your industry, your company and your market. You need to participate in those conversations to ensure the most accurate information is being disseminated. You need to listen to those conversations to understand consumer perception.

Most importantly, if you are active in social media, your influence in those conversations increases.  This has additional business value:

  • Improved search engine rankings (SEO)
  • More traffic to your company website
  • Ability to quickly respond to crisis situations

Participate in the conversation, by posting a reply to this blog. If you need to improve your social media prominence, contact us at Weise Communications. Check out Weise Communications on Facebook and “Like” it for future updates.

30
Apr
10

Meeting with the media

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Communications, healthcare, healthcare marketing, Journalist, Media, Media Relations, Newspapers, PR, Social Networking, TV and Uncategorized
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At the Wednesday, May 26, Colorado Healthcare Communicators breakfast, Denver-area media members shared tips, tricks and thoughts on how best to communicate with them. Media members at the breakfast included:

  • Justin Jimenez – Examiner.com
  • Misty Montano – CBS 4
  • Tim Ryan – 9News
  • John Romero – Fox 31
  • Daniel Smith – Your Hub
  • Clayton Woullard – Your Hub
  • Natasha Gardner – 5280 Magazine
  • Jill West – Entercom Radio: KOSI, Alice, 99.9, KEZW
  • Amber Johnson – Denver Post’s Mile High Mamas
  • Mike Cote – ColoradoBiz Magazine

Meeting with the mediaThough these exchanges happen on a fairly regular basis with many different organizations, there is always something for attendees to take away. From this meeting, the media panel emphasized that increased workload and multiple platforms are keeping them very busy. With shrinking staff and increasing content to be created (several outlets talked about new newscasts that are being added and increased frequency of newsletters), media need to do their jobs faster and better. To cut through the clutter and get coverage in a crowded space communicators have to understand the media and help them get the content they need when and how they need it.

By crafting a story to a specific media outlet and showing the contact why this story matters, communicators can help the media to cut time reading through information not pertaining to their outlet or audience. Once the media expresses interest in a story, communicators can further assist by telling the story in the same way that the media tells it. If you are trying to get a story covered by:

  • Television – explain the compelling visual images that could accompany the story.
  • Radio – describe how the story translates to sound including what sound bites are available.
  • Print – identify the most important facts and make clear why the readers of that specific publication would be interested.

At the end of the day, trying to get the media to cover a story means you have to think like the person on the other side of that email, phone call, conversation, Facebook message or Tweet. Why do they care and why will this story interest readers, viewers or listeners?

17
Jun
09

does your franchise have what it takes to be published in Franchise Times?

By Joshua Woolery Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Business growth, Business Strategies, Communications, Franchise, Franchising, how-to, Journalism, Journalist, Marketing, Media Relations, PR and Tips
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting published

What franchisor wouldn’t like to have their story published in a trade magazine like Franchise Times? Seemingly everyone would like to have their story published but few stories are ever chosen for publication. How can you set your franchise apart and make your story more appealing to an editor?

Franchise Marketing’s Sean Kelley interviewed the managing editor of the Franchise Times, Nancy Weingartner, in March. The interview was primarily focused on answering the question: How can franchisors improve their chances of getting their story published in trade magazines like the Franchise Times?

Three useful tips from the interview:

•    Editors are attracted to companies that are engaged in innovative activities.

•    Ease up. Avoid being pushy in your attempts to create a relationship.

•    When you have a story idea, send a short e-mail with attached background information.

Below I have included one question and answer from the interview. I found Nancy’s response to be very helpful. I hope you enjoy it as well.

“SK:  What’s the best way for a franchise company to “pitch” their story to Franchise Times?  What format and method should they use to submit their information (Email?  Fax?  Mail?)  Should they follow up?  How often?  What can they do to increase their chances of success?

NW:  The best way is to send a short e-mail message with a file attached with background information. Tell us why you’re different or how you’ve solved a problem others could learn from. While a follow-up phone call is good—it puts a real person behind the e-mail—be careful not to bug too much. Sometimes the lead time on stories is immediate, other times it may take a couple of months for an editor to decide to follow up on something. Always be polite and respectful of the editors’ time and acknowledge that you know he or she receives a lot of requests. One thing to definitely not do is to get snippy with editors or demanding. Remember people like doing business with people they like, and that goes for editors, too—we like writing stories about people we like. So be yourself.  Don’t try to force a relationship.  I’ve had people call me every month with an update on their pitch, and, in many cases, I got around to doing the story because they captured my imagination.”

To read the full interview, click here.

13
Mar
09

best British television commercial

By Joshua Woolery 1 Comment
Categories: Ad Agency, Advertising, Best of, commercials, Marketing and TV

hovis The British television advertising awards (btaa) were recently held in London.  Hovis, a bread manufacturer that has been in business for 122 years, won the award for best television commercial.  The 122 second  ad, called “Go on Lad,” takes you through 122 years of Britain’s history. I really liked this commercial because it did such a great job of telling a story.  My favorite part was when the young lad was running past a window with a radio in it during WWII.  As he was doing so, Winston Churchill could be heard reciting part of his famous speech saying, “we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.”  It was components like that that made me feel apart of the boy’s journey.

I have posted the video below for your enjoyment.  Click here for a full list of winners. (Courtesy of Brand Republic News.)

05
Mar
09

Top Five Reasons Journalists Visit Your Web Site

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Journalist, PR, Public Relations and Web sites

When creating new and improved Web sites for clients, we’re always thinking about the viewer when it comes to usability. One viewer that must always be taken into consideration is the journalist.

Journalists visit Web sites in order to gather information for stories. They are often on deadline and need that information fast. Is your Web site journalist-friendly?

Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen, “the guru of Web page usability” according to The New York Times, reviewed PR sections of corporate sites and found that most “fail to support journalists in their quest for the facts, information, and contacts they can use to write stories about companies and their products.”

We took the time to check out the PR sections of some high profile corporations, and unfortunately we got the same results. According to Nielsen, “Journalists repeatedly said that poor website usability could reduce or completely eliminate their press coverage of a company.”

So what are journalists looking for when they visit your site? Nielsen’s findings revealed five things:

1) A PR contact (name and telephone number)

2) Basic facts about the company (spelling of an executive’s name, his/her age, headquarters location, and so on)

3) The company’s spin on events

4) Financial information

5) Images to use as illustrations in stories

This may seem obvious to you, but Nielsen’s studies clearly show that not enough organizations include these five items in an easy to access and read PR section. Luckily, updating your news area shouldn’t take much time or effort and can make a big impact on your PR campaign results.

Do you have any experiences – good or bad – with journalists and Web site usability? Share your story here.

Tomorrow on The Side Note: RGM, a Chicago-based top tiered ad agency specializing in campaigns that push boundaries – and buttons.

04
Mar
09

Rocky lives on?

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Journalism, Journalist, Newspaper, Reporter and Rocky Mountain News

picture-15In the event you haven’t seen or heard, several former Rocky Mountain News reporters and cartoonists are continuing to post stories on I Want My Rocky. Well-known names like Sam Adams, Kevin Flynn and Mary Voelz Chandler are still sharing sports, arts and entertainment, and general news with us on a daily basis.

I’m not sure how long they can keep this up, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

What do you think about this continuation of the Rocky? Share your thoughts here.

03
Feb
09

Super Bowl Fake Out

By Tracy Weise 1 Comment
Categories: Celebrities, PR and TV

I’m not mad at Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill or even Whitney Houston, at least not for lip-syncing at the Super Bowl. The NFL, however, does not receive my good graces.

Here’s a quick timeline of how it went down:

Sunday: I missed the Super Bowl
Monday: I heard about Jennifer Hudson’s amazing performance and watched it on Youtube.
Tuesday: I read that it was lip-synced. GASP! What?

I get the NFL’s reasons for pressing the artists to lip-sync when singing the National Anthem and other patriotic songs. Rob Levine, executive editor of Billboard magazine, put it like this:

“If Bruce Springsteen flubs a line on ‘Born to Run’ only his fans will notice,” he said. “If Jennifer Hudson flubs on the national anthem, people are going to get upset. People want it to be technically perfect as well as emotionally inspiring.“

And you know what? It was emotionally inspiring…until this morning. There are a million analogies I could come up for this kind of disappointment: Going to bed after having a few drinks and waking up with a headache; thinking someone is waving at you on the street only to find they are waving at the person behind you; reaching for a grape in the fruit bowl only to discover it’s plastic…you get the picture.

For it to last, it has to be real. The fact that the NFL encourages lip-syncing makes me feel pandered too and like they are out to get me. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think anyone who tries to deceive me shouldn’t be trusted.
Is the game real? Or is it just a show too?

And why isn’t the NFL receiving the kind of bad PR that Ashlee Simpson suffered five years ago? I know you haven’t all forgotten that…or forgiven her for it.

27
Jan
09

Twitter – Bridging a Gap

By Beth Hardy 2 Comments
Categories: Blogger, Blogs, Journalism, Journalist, New Media, PR, Social Media and Twitter

twitter_logo_sI ran across a blog posting the other day titled “Will Twitter be the platform that unites journalists and PR pros?” authored by Heidi Sullivan.

I’ll let you read the post and develop your own conclusion. But I think, for now at least, that Twitter can certainly help bridge that gap between the two parties. It does, as Heidi points out, help weed out those folks who give PR a bad name by mass emailing a story idea to journalists and hoping for a hit (the ‘spray and pray’ method!). It forces PR people to research (or follow) journalists before pitching them, which should lead to more relevant pitches.

The comments on the post are interesting, too. One reader brought up #JournChat, a weekly online discussion via Twitter where journalists, bloggers and PR people come together to discuss the media and PR industries. I haven’t participated in #JournChat yet, but I’m reading the meeting recaps and they’re quite enlightening.

So, what do you think? Is Twitter bridging the gap between journalists and PR folks? Do you use a different platform that you think does a better job? Tell us about it.

15
Jan
09

Journalists Joining the “Dark Side”

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Economy, Jobs, Journalism, Journalist, New Media, Newspaper, PR, Radio, Social Media and TV

More and more journalists have been leaving newspapers, TV and radio over the last several years and heading to the “dark side” (a.k.a. public relations). And with the economy tanking and media outlets laying off, cutting back and even folding, journalists are seeking jobs as PR practitioners now more than ever.

These career moves haven’t only been seen on a local level. Even former MSNBC general manager, Dan Abrams, has gotten in on the action. Late last year he started Abrams Research, “a media strategy firm that connects business leaders with a global community of media professionals.”

So what does this influx of media folks mean for PR? The way I see it, a few different things:

•    Our industry is growing (see yesterday’s post) and the media industry is shrinking. Before too long we won’t have many traditional journalists to pitch stories to – the herd is thinning.
•    The use of social media as a promotional tool will rapidly and steadily continue to climb.
•    The PR job market will become more competitive.

Over the years journalist friends and colleagues of mine, who are looking to make the leap and want some advice, have contacted me. And recently – within the past three months – this correspondence has picked up considerably.

I’ve always welcomed former journalists into this industry, but I also wonder exactly what they’re thinking and experiencing when they make the change.

Are they reluctant?

Do their fellow journalists ostracize them?

And once they’re in PR, what do they experience?

Do they have a newfound respect for our work and for us?

Is it an easy transition for them?

Have you made a move like this? What were your experiences? We’d love to know.

Check here tomorrow for funny and thrilling PR stunts!

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