I had the opportunity to visit the Newseum (www.Newseum.com), in Washington, DC, a 250,000-square-foot museum of news that offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. As a self-professed ‘news junkie’, I spent hours wandering through exhibits, learning how the business of gathering news has moved pen and paper to online blogs and live video feeds. We live in a society of “instant news” – a story that used to take days to write now takes just a few hours. And as newsrooms shrink, reporters are covering multiple assignments, often struggling to make a deadline.
We spend time educating clients about how to tell a story, which is obviously more of a challenge than ever before. We “pitch” stories about our clients to newspapers, journals and other online/offline publications to build goodwill with their clients, position them as industry experts, and create credibility. Many professionals think throwing a story at a reporter will automatically result in a few precious column inches of coverage. Not so. It’s critical to identify the ‘news values’ for a story, a few of which can include:
· Timeliness. Is the story about a recent event or an occurrence?
· Solving a problem. Does the story explain how you solved a business challenge or a problem for a client?
· Relevancy. Is the story relevant to the publication’s readers? Will they care?
· Locality. Is there a local connection to the story?
· Fame. A well known professional who takes on a new challenge or accomplishes something big like a CPA partner in town who took on an acting part playing an accountant in a stage play.
· Businesses helping other businesses. The old ‘underdog’ angle. Did your firm help a business survive a financial crisis or help another company accomplish their goals? As an example, a firm created a joint venture with a firm in another state to bring services to their clients that they were unable to provide locally.
· Human interest. Is there a professional in your firm who recently received a huge honor or an achievement? Someone who accomplished something really special outside of the office?
· Visual relevancy. Is there a visual aspect to the story? An interesting product or client site that would make for a great photo or video?
· Access. Editors want to talk to the highest ranking person at the company….and they need to answer the phone or an email when the editor calls.
Bottom line: As public relations professionals, our job is to work with reporters to help them find relevant and interesting stories. Unfortunately, even if we can satisfy any or all of these values, there are no guarantees as the timing maybe, a breaking story could move the pitch to the bottom of the pile. That’s why public relations, like business development, must be an ongoing commitment.
