This lecture focuses on how PR professionals work with the media.

1. Finding and
Generating News
Presented by
Brett Atwood

2. Dealing with Gatekeepers
• You may control the presentation of your
press campaign, but you can’t control how it is
used by journalists

3. Media Gatekeepers
• Journalists are flooding by PR reps
• How do you break through the clutter?

4. Trading Spaces
• Put yourself in the position of the journalist
• What will you respond to?
• What are the challenges you face?

5. Some challenges
• Limited space
• Limited time
• Pressure to be correct
• Pressure to be “fair and balanced”
• Desire to tell the “truth”
• Information overload
• Competitive pressure

6. What can you do?
• Target your campaigns intelligently
• Shape your pitch so that it conforms with
what the public and media will respond well
to
• Be a student of psychology and human
behavior

7. Helping the Writer
• By helping the writer/editor acquire the
information, the PR person is directly involved
in the research for the story
– In some cases, this can help “spin” the story in a
direction desired by the PR company

8. Inside the Mind of the Journalist
• Journalists look for the following criteria when
determining “what is news”

9. What is Newsworthy?
• Timeliness
• Prominence
• Proximity
• Significance
• Unusualness
• Human Interest
• Conflict
• Newness

10. Timeliness
• How recently did (or will) the event
happen?
• Live event?
• The more time that passes, the less
newsworthy a story is

11. Timeliness
• When your client makes an announcement,
you must make sure that the information
reaches the media immediately
– Sometimes, you can give the press information
early so that they can prepare the news story in
advance
• “Press Embargo”
• “Non-disclosure”

12. Timeliness
• Tap into current events and
holidays for possible news
coverage
• Find a hook that links your
campaign to the news
– Example:
• Entertainment streaming
service Netflix gets publicity
due to the media’s interest in
the timely topic of “cutting
the cord”

13. Prominence
• Celebrity adds credibility and news value to
a campaign
– A marginal pitch might get coverage when you
add a well-known spokesperson

14. Prominence
• “One” Campaign
• Enlisted celebrities to call
attention to the cause

15. Example
• Katie Couric went on a
media tour to discuss the
importance of getting
colonoscopy cancer-screening
tests
• 20% increase in the
procedure in the
following months after
the campaign

16. Proximity
• Does your pitch have a
local angle?

17. Proximity
• Statistic: About 70% of all news coverage in
business/financial sections focuses on LOCAL
businesses
• If you are doing a national campaign,
customize a local pitch for each regional
media outlet

18. Significance
• How does the information impact
the audience?
• Create a pitch that addresses a
concern or need of the audience

19. Significance
• Example:
– After 9/11 attacks, there
was public concern
about safety in high-rise
buildings
– “High-rise Office
Parachute” product got
tons of publicity

20. Unusualness
• An unusual event or PR
campaign might generate
some news interest
• Example:
– “World’s largest sandwich”
event sponsored by Bimbo
Bakery (Mexico City)

21. Unusualness
• Example:
– Amazon.com issues a press
release that promotes the
site’s “number one”
reviewer
– Harriet Klausner has
written over 12,000
reviews without pay for
the site

22. Human Interest
• Is there an
emotional
component to the
campaign?
• If it is “interesting,”
then it may be
newsworthy

23. Human Interest
• Example:
– World AIDS Day is Dec. 1
– Campaign to raise awareness
might include a personal story
of someone impacted by AIDS
– Media responds to the “human
interest” angle

24. Conflict
• Conflict and tension tends to get news
coverage
• A PR campaign can jump into the
discussion/debate
– Use caution in these situations

25. Conflict
• Example:
– Political PR campaign for pro-life vs. pro-choice
– Your candidate can gain publicity by aligning with
a particular side in the debate

26. Newness
• If it is perceived as “new,” then it is elevated
in news importance
• Many PR campaigns repackage or reinvent
something old into something “new” to gain
publicity

27. Newness
• Example:
– Tide detergent has
reinvented itself constantly
via product variations and
“new and improved”
messaging for decades

28. Applying the News Criteria
• As you strategize your PR campaign, you
should look internally and externally to
determine possible news angles to pitch

29. Internal
• Conduct a needs assessment with your client
• What activities/initiatives/products/services
might be considered relevant to the media

30. Some Things to Consider
• Is there anything new happening?
• Is there a high-profile personality involved
with a project?
• Is there anything unusual happening?
• Is there anything with human interest?

31. External
• Look outside the organization for events or
trends that you can tap into
• Be pro-active in pitching the media about your
initiative – within the framework of the larger
news/event phenomena

32. Example
• As a reporter, I often needed a legal
perspective for some of my stories
• One very media-savvy lawyer made a point to
“reach out” to me
– Gave me her cell number
– Willing to help me research legal info
– Willing to give a quote
– Her career benefited from the exposure
– I got my quote/credibility

33. Creating News
• A PR person can help to “create news” by
understanding what journalists respond to
• “Pseudoevents”
• Contests
• Polls and Surveys

34. Develop a Media Campaign Strategy
• On the following slides, you will see two
scenarios that require you to develop a media
campaign strategy
• Using the “news criteria” cited in the previous
slides, develop your thoughts on how you
would deal with the media on behalf of your
client in each scenario

35. Media Campaign Strategy
• Your findings should include:
– Who is/are the public(s) you are trying to reach?
– How will you reach them?
• Develop specific strategies
• Include a local angle, if possible
– What is your message?
• Include key “talking points”

36. Scenario No. 1
• Lavoris Mouthwash is a brand
that has been around for over
100 years!
• It was the first consumer
mouthwash
• However, it is perceived as
stodgy and old-fashioned
• Sales are down and the
product is no longer carried by
most retailers
• Develop a strategy that can
begin to revive this brand and
change public perception

37. Scenario No. 2
• Musician Robin Thicke is
having a career crisis
• He is getting negative press
due to his strange public
behavior and lackluster
interest in his newer songs
• Develop a strategy to help him
turn the public perception
around!