When you listen to your favorite radio talk show, do you listen with only one ear, oblivious to all the little clues the hosts or the drive-time deejays are dropping about their likes and dislikes, hobbies, friends and family members, and other topics that will catch their attention in your pitch letters and phone calls? Publicity Hound Carol … [Read more...]
These email faux pas show you’re clueless
Some time ago I wrote about nerdy websites. If you email anything to the media, make sure you aren't guilty of these nerdy email blunders: --A subject line that says "News Release" with no clue what the release is about. --A generic greeting such as "Dear Editor." Always use the editor's name. If you don't know it, don't send it. --Subject lines … [Read more...]
12 worst mistakes PR people make
It was difficult to pare them down to a dozen, but we did. Of all the mistakes PR people make when working with the media, Jon Greer of Bulldog Reporter's PR University and Liz Miklya of Weber Shandwick joined me in whittling down the list to 12. We presented them the Media Relations 2005 conference earlier this month in San Francisco. Here's our … [Read more...]
Don’t blame the reporter for inaccuracies; check first
Reporters get blamed enough for inaccuracies in news stories--sometimes rightly so.
Most Publicity Hounds don't know, however, that mistakes in print and broadcast stories are often caused by other people in the newsroom. So if you don't like what you see, don't call the reporter and start screaming into the phone. Find out who committed … [Read more...]
Photos on CD help TV reporters illustrate your story
Publicity Hound Brad Wilson of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, passes along a handy tip on how to make TV reporters love you. Give them a CD of photos they can flash on the screen during news or feature stories, even if they already have the film footage they need. Nineteen-year-old Brad recently returned from a 2,650-mile hike on the Pacific Crest … [Read more...]
How to avoid being misquoted in media interviews
The next time you think a reporter misquoted you, ask yourself if you were indeed misquoted. Or did you say something dumb to the reporter that found its way into print? And now you regret it?
Jill Henry, a contributing writer at the Springfield Business Journal in Springfield, Missouri, wrote to me about how sources who claim reporters … [Read more...]
Piggyback off the weather
The spring's unseasonably cold weather here in Wisconsin--complete with wool socks, furnaces at full blast and hot soup for lunch--is a good reminder about one of the easiest ways to gerate publcity--by piggybacking your story idea off the weather. After sweating through a week of 100-degree temperatures a few summers ago, Publicity Hound John … [Read more...]
How to find magazines’ special issues
Here's another resource for trade magazines and special sections being planned by consumer and business publications. Check out Special Issues, an online database of editorial calendars, special issues and content "mined" from trade and industrial magazine websites. Examples of special … [Read more...]
How to complain if you suspect media bias
What should you do if you suspect that a journalist is giving your story unfair or biased treatment?
If you think a reporter is ignoring your story or giving it unfair treatment because it appeals to a conservative audience, and the reporter is a liberal, or vice versa, don't just sit by and accept it. Here are five ways to … [Read more...]
Ask for corrections as soon as errors appear
If you don't correct errors in the newspaper, they have a way of reapperaing. For example, last summer, my morning newspaper included a correction, buried at the bottom of Page 2. It took up less than 2 inches of space. CORRECTION An article Aug. 14 about residents of Haven greeting visitors arriving for the PGA Championship misstated the surname … [Read more...]
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