Sunday, January 6, 2008

E-mail, don't call journalists

Nearly 80 percent of journalists said they prefer to receive information “via press releases sent to me by email,” according to a recent survey of over 2000 working journalists by Bulldog Reporter and TEKgroup Internationa

As a former journalist who now teaches college journalism and runs a media relations firm, I concur.

Journalists don't want to be bothered with phone calls from PR flacks. They will invariably brush you off saying, "I'm on deadline." E-mail is less intrusive and allows them to read what you have to say when they have a free moment.

An approach that works for me is to send a very brief e-mail pitch -- no more than five sentences. Below that, I include my "press release," which is more of a news story. This way, if they want more info, it's there.

Many smaller and specialty publications will borrow liberally from my story or even run it verbatim.

-Professor Mark Grabowski

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Saturday, January 5, 2008

The mythical art of pitching bloggers

If you work in PR, you probably hear this over and over: You can't pitch a blogger the same way you would a traditional journalist.

What exactly does that mean? Most PR people don't know how to pitch to the traditional media, either. So, it's funny to hear these same self-anointed social media experts pontificating about the new rules of engaging the new media, when they never really mastered the ropes of pitching traditional media.

Look, the rules haven't changed. Very little blog content is original. The vast majority of bloggers -- even the well-known ones -- just regurgitate what's on the websites of traditional media outlets (e.g. the New York Times, trade magazines, broadcast stations). So, if you get noticed by the traditional media that's going to trickle down to the social media.

-Professor Mark Grabowski

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Friday, January 4, 2008

Media relations tip of the week

The first inclination for many people under fire is to wait and see what happens. But, as President Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, liked to say, "Bad news is a lot like fish. It doesn't get better with age." Tell the truth, tell it all and tell it fast!

-Professor Mark Grabowski

For more media relations help, visit mediaunspun.net

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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Media relations help in 2008

Happy new year. For help with media relations, crisis communication, social media development or any other public relations need, visit MediaUnspun.net. The Philadelphia PR firm offers an initial free consultation.

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