I wrote three pages of notes for the session titled “Evergreen Magic for PR: Media Masters Show How to Make News When There’s No News” and reviewed them on Monday with the three other guest experts who will be on the panel with me. During the call, I learned something fascinating.
Always-cynical journalists are becoming increasingly suspicious of story ideas tied to the green movement. That could be because PR people are bombarding the media with them.
“Everybody wants to be the next Al Gore,” said one panelist, a corporate PR person who says she’s been meeting increasing resistance from journalists when pitching green stories.
If you’re pitching them, too, you’d better know what you’re talking about, have facts to back up your claim, and make the angle unusual enough.
We’ll discuss this topic in more depth next week. We’ll also explain how to get into the news, front and center, when there’s absolutely nothing happening at your business that’s remotely exciting.
We’ll talk, for example, about editorial hot buttons: pegging your story to rumors, future trends, features, divisive issues, dramatic hooks and other sure-fire ways to supercharge your hit ratio, even when you’re not breaking news.
I agree that phoney green stories never work. Not only journalists but everyone else can tell when an organization is putting on an act.
It’s no good talking the talk unless your story fits with your actions. It’s better to keep quiet and let your actions speak for themselves than to try to attach yourself to a green cause simply because it’s fashionable to do so.
I think this emphasizes the need to be your own publisher. In my media training manual, “Keeping the Wolves at Bay,” I actually have a section called “Interviewing Yourself” which addresses this concept. Websites and blogs (like this one!) means that even if traditional media doesn’t want to cover a story, you can publish it yourself. With good Search Engine Optimization, your story can show up prominently, perhaps higher in a Google search than that disdainful newspaper or magazine!
Jonathan Bernstein
President
Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.