Like many of us in business, reporters and editors for the print and broadcast media have little time. In fact, give them their due credit; most of them have less time. It’s common knowledge that the staffs in newsrooms are shrinking. What that means for you is that fewer media people are willing to spend their shortened time reviewing your media pitch.
So, when contacting the media, you need to know what you are going to say and say it succinctly and quickly. Whether you are sending a news release or media advisory, or calling an editor, stay focused on your message.
One of my favorite examples of a poor news release is the typical release about a new employee. Sometimes the first name in the release is the CEO’s because he is named as the one making the announcement the new employee was hired. But, what is the point of the release? Is it to put the CEO’s name out there or to announce the new hire? Media outlets don’t care who made the announcement. They care about who has the new job and what that person’s background is.
Too often, news releases are drafted, reviewed by many public relations staff, marketing staff, managers and other stakeholders and revised to include fluffed-up language. Sometimes, company politics get involved in the wording and prioritization of information.
The result, however, is that editors need to sift through extraneous information to understand what the news is. If editors need to find the story in your release, you have wasted their time and the time of everyone who was involved.
Know strong release structure
And, even worse, if editors start reading a release and realize they need to look deeply for the news, they may not bother to read on. They simply don’t have the time. Your message will be lost. No story in a newspaper. No television or radio interview.
Editors are used to reading in the same style that most newspapers are written: The most important news information is at the top and the least important information is at the bottom. Your news releases need to reflect that thinking.
How do you do that? Go back to the basics:
Take a hard look at your company’s messaging. Is your news getting published or broadcast? It just may be that your messages are not visible because they are not focused. Keep it simple.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.
