« Bouquets & Brickbats Brussels Style | Main | No health care information please, we’re Canadian »
October 10, 2006
Where has the "relations" gone in media relations??
by MaryEllen O'Donohue
The other day a colleague and I attended an event celebrating the centennial of the press release. One of the panelists argued that the first press release was more than 100 years ago and began with the Declaration of Independence. The document was disseminated to key "influencers" and the news then spread throughout the country. I would have to agree with that assessment. And since then, the press release has become a staple of public relations.
Well, perhaps it shouldn't be. More than 3,000 press releases are sent out across wire services every day! Reporters are inundated with press releases in their in-boxes and harassed by follow-up calls asking "Did you get my email?" And the majority of the time, the press release sent to the reporter has nothing to do with the beat they cover. No wonder reporters have a love/hate relationship with PR professionals.
Where has the "relations" gone in media relations?? All too often PR professionals focus on media and not relations. Yet developing solid relationships with reporters will accomplish much more than a press release ever will. There are some key “rules of engagement” for successful relationship building:
---Read. Watch. Listen: Know the media and the reporter you are pitching (deadlines, schedules, contact preferences, recent articles etc)
---Demonstrate your expertise: Understand marketplace, product details, major competitors etc.
---Relationships are a two-way street: Listen to reporters needs as well as expressing your own
---Build trust: Don’t over promise and under-deliver, meet deadlines, be responsive, always be truthful
---Establish yourself as a resource: send ideas unrelated to clients, feed trend information, respond to reporter requests, etc
---Look for opportunities to engage: media panels, networking events, lunch, etc.
And remember, relationships take time. Blasting your press release via email and placing follow-up calls asking "Did you get my email?" is not media relations.
Posted by maryellen_o'donohue at October 10, 2006 01:43 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/51
