 Arthur Solomon |
As a reporter and editor prior to joining Burson-Marsetller for almost 25 years, where, as senior VP and senior counselor I traveled the world as a media advisor to foreign clients and was responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in some significant national and international programs, I’m still amazed how little PR practitioners know regarding how to make certain their pitches result in home runs instead of strikeouts.
Over the years, I’ve given presentations at leading PR firms on the subject and now I’ve been requested to share my media relations philosophy on this site. Caveat: many go against the tired, pedestrian and outdated tenets of PR, but you should keep an open mind because they work.
Following are some long established faulty rules that result in failure and should be discarded in order to achieve assured media success:
PR tenet: When faxing or emailing a pitch, wait a reasonable amount of time before following up.
Should be: Times have changed. Editors and reporters are desperately looking for stories to feed the 24/7 media beast. So, follow-up immediately. Even if they don’t use your story, journalists will be thankful that you understand their needs and, in time, it will work in your favor.
PR tenet: Calling a journalist too often to follow-up on a pitch will make you persona non grata.
Should be: Journalists get hundreds of pitches each day. Following up twice a day, but not more often, will convince the journalist that you really believe in your pitch. Do so and more often than not it will result in a placement, sometime just to get you off their backs.
PR tenet: If you offer a journalist an “exclusive,” never offer the same story to another outlet.
Should be: If the journalist doesn’t get back to you in 48 hours to begin fleshing out your pitch, offer it to someone else. After all, you can’t wait forever, and it will teach the initial journalist a lesson that “exclusive” doesn’t mean forever.
PR tenet: If you send a pitch to several journalists at the same publication and more than one reporter says they are interested in the story you should let both reporters know of the other’s interest.
Should be: You’re not an editor. It’s an editor’s job to make certain who is covering what. Keep it a secret that you’re dealing with two reporters at the same publication. You never know if one of them will decide not to follow through.
PR tenet: Protecting a client from unfriendly reporters should always be at the top of an account executive’s “to do” list.
Should be: Setting up a client with reporters, especially from prestigious publications, will show the client that you have the contacts that clients want. It’s up to the client to be able to answer the tough questions. You’re only there to give clients turns at bats. It’s the client’s responsibility to turn a negative into a positive.
PR tenet: Never call a reporter during deadline time.
Should be: As both a reporter and editor before turning to PR, I can truthfully say that’s rubbish. Everyone at a news organization is stressed and irritable at deadline time. They welcome calls from PR pros so they can forget those looming deadlines for a few minutes. Also, the easiest way to reach a reporter is calling at deadline time. That’s because they have to answer calls in case new information emerges.
PR tenet: Never pitch a story unless it has a new news angle.
Should be: Nonsense. Editors and reporters must fill their news slots. The more pitches they receive the happier they are.
PR tenet: Never get into a shouting match with reporters.
Should be: White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s media briefings prove that confronting reporters on a regular basis will get them to cease writing negative stories.
PR tenet: Always make certain that facts in your news releases and pitches are correct.
Should be: That’s no longer true, especially if you’re pitching 24/7 cable news political shows. Those producers welcome releases with alternative facts because that provides story lines for days instead of just one news cycle. In fact, just yesterday a producer called and admonished me for sending information that was completely accurate. “Be creative,” he said. “We’re not interested in entirely truthful information because it doesn’t permit our pundits to kick it around. Accurate information should be sent to print pubs.”
PR tenet: Take a reporter to a fancy restaurant and pitch during the meal.
Should be: That’s luddite thinking. Journalists receive many dining invitations from PR people, so that doesn’t work. Instead, send your pitch via messenger and attach half of a $100 bill to a letter saying that once the story is used the other half of the C note will be given. For a major outlet raise the ante to $200. Want a positive editorial? It’s expensive. You’ll have to take care of the entire editorial board.
If all else fails, try the method that goes back to the days since PR was invented: keep your fingers crossed. And have a happy (early) April Fool’s Day.
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Arthur Solomon was a senior VP at Burson-Marsteller. He now is a contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on PR projects and was on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].
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