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Poynter’s Amy Gahran will delete any unsolicited news releases sent to her, labeling them as spam.
Techdirt also joins the discussion with reference to Valleywag’s snarky ire for Tech PR's approach to media relations. You should read the comments at all of these posts. That is, unless you haven't eaten breakfast yet.
Are these responses to PR people harsh or too general? Does it really matter? If you're trying to reach Amy Gahran with news, it's her preferences that matter. I'm willing to bet at least half of the news releases she receives are from people that never even read the media list they send to, much less her column or either one of her blogs.
Despite the ample opportunity to create a relationship with Gahran, folks are simply typing some general keywords into Bacon's database, coming up with a list, pasting a news release into an email and hitting send.
Enough Already
Repeat after me "A news release is NOT a pitch." A news release is background material that supports a pitch.
The above visual is from my presentation on Thursday where I noted:
Public relations relies too heavily on email, news releases and technology like Bacon's database and does not rely enough on critical thinking when conducting media relations campaigns.
Richard Laermer will tell you to spend less time building lists and more time reading the news. Think about it. If you're consuming current events on a steady and regular basis, you'll know the names and outlets that will appreciate your client’s news. You’re qualifying any list you might create in the process.
Your pitch should focus on telling a specific editor why the news is relevant to her readers. This eliminates the need for the editor to sift through the release to determine if there is a story hidden in there somewhere. There are other reasons to pull the release out of the email and, as necessary, link to it. But we’ll save those for another day.
Maybe you don't even need a news release. Kick the habit and consider other forms of content that could replace it. Check out 12 News Release Alternatives and rethink your approach to media relations.
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | Valleywag | Techdirt | Amy Gahran | news release
3 comments:
Yes, I agree. But, one point, I disagree:
"A news release is background material that supports a pitch."
I see a pitch primarily as contacting a reporter with reasons why he/she should do a story on what you are pitching. You are to demonstrate why a story should be done. Yes, what you demonstrate may be in a release, but you should be able to get your point across (generally speaking) in the body of the e-mail. Sometimes, if the media (like community weeklies) publish releases, then pitches are accompanied by releases. Not background, but the story is to save the media time from doing its own story.
News releases are self-contained stories. Intended to be printed; leaving little work that the reporter should have to do. Mostly, I see these as personnel announcements, new product announcements, case studies, etc. News.
Of course, news releases are typically (and should be) edited by media contacts 'cause a lot is fluff and BS (like the boilerplate).
Pitches and news releases are two different beasts. Sometimes, they can co-exist and are complementary.
Thoughts?
Mike
Mike: You make some great "points," and we encourage folks to speak up like this.
I should clarify that I'm focused more on larger stories involving an interview vs. recent hires or a new product brief in the back of the book.
No matter what the news release is speaking to, it should be covering the who, what, when, where, why and how as you note. Usually it is also written in inverted pyramid style. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid
In my opinion, a lot of the pitch is the customization. Pulling out the elements in the news story that make it relevant to a trade magazine vs. a national business publication vs. a local paper.
So I think we're on the same page. They are two different beasts and they do complement each other.
Thanks for joining the conversation.
Kevin,
The main downfall of blogging (i.e., comments) and other social media is the lack of immediate interaction -- for clarification purposes. I'm sure everyone could pick apart and/or draw other conclusions from what we write.
We need to make strong, concise points, but leave room for generalities. That's never easy.
Still, thanks for the clarification.
Happy presenting to you and Richard (and may neither of you come across any technical difficulties gremlins).
Mike
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