By: Mike Neilon, Vice President, Media Relations
For public relations practitioners, the news landscape is ever-changing. Media outlets across the country are working miracles to produce and generate content across multiple platforms with less staff and more deadlines for on-air shows, streaming programs, print publications, websites, and social media handles (both personal and professional).
The pressure to fill all these important media silos or buckets is staggering. Generated earned media is very difficult and valuable to secure — it builds authenticity and credibility for your client or organization.
Respect the relationship
Building the relationship between a media professional and a communications strategist is highly effective, and it takes a lot of work to build those relationships, so always respect the professional boundaries that come with it.
Assignment editors, producers, and print/broadcast reporters are busy juggling multiple stories and projects daily. Don’t over-promise – to your client or a journalist – that simply erodes trust between both parties.
Perfect your pitch
Newsrooms across the country get hundreds and thousands of emails each day, and most of the time, those emails are scanned by assignment editors and desks, who act as the air traffic controllers of local news.
So, what can we do as PR professionals to make it easier for journalists and broadcasters to produce and write their content with the goal of going home on time?
- Pitch timely and pertinent stories in your local market.
- Focus on the human/emotional side of the story.
- Keep the pitch short and relevant.
- Be ready to deliver when an outlet calls to follow up on your pitch.
- Be nimble with the client and journalist to reach the goal of publishing on-time and on-deadline.
- Avoid being overly aggressive or demanding – patience wins the day.
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About the author
Mike Neilon is a seasoned broadcast journalist and news decision-maker with decades of experience behind-the-scenes at “6ABC Action News” who joined Bellevue Communications as Vice President of Media Relations in January 2017. In this role, Mike is responsible for guiding the firm’s messaging efforts across all clients to produce newsworthy story placements throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.