Cipr - Media Relations 2008

Working With The Media
Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Leeds Metropolitan University

Robert Minton-Taylor
(Associate Senior Lecturer)
Leeds Business School
Friday, 15 February 2008
Tutor: Robert Minton-Taylor FCIPR E-mail: robert@minton-taylor.com Tel: 01535 634 634
Timetable – Friday, 15 February
2008
• 09.00 hrs Coffee
• 09.15 hrs Media Relations
• 10.45 Coffee
• 11.00 hrs Media Relations (contd)
• 12.30 hrs Lunch
• 13.30 hrs PR Writing
• 15.00 hrs Tea
• 15.15 hrs PR Writing (contd)
• 16.15 hrs Close
The Media Menu
Starter
-- Survey of Business Journalists
-- Review of Press, Broadcast and New Media
Intermediate Course
-- Role of the Media
-- News Awareness - What Is News? & What Makes a Good Story
-- News Release Distribution
-- News Release Hints and Tips
Main Course
-- Creating Media Opportunities
-- Media Relations Techniques
-- How to Improve Your Media Targeting – News Releases
-- Executive Interviews
-- News/Press Conferences & Editor Briefings
-- Photo Calls and Photo Stories
Dessert
-- 10 Things About Journalists
How Good Are We At

Communicating With The Media?
Survey of Business Journalists In Yorkshire
Survey: What Was Done?
• 15 business journalists working for daily papers and

key radio stations in Yorkshire surveyed via email
questionnaire
• Asked their views on how effective organisations are
at communicating with them
• Survey conducted in January-February 2008
• 65% response rate from journalists
Survey: Questions Asked
Business journalists were asked four questions

2. How well do PR executives know your media?
3. Do PR executives understand the media’s editorial
needs?
4. Are PR executives effective in supplying you with
newsworthy information
5. What % of press releases produce a story?
1 Survey: Answers
• How well do PR executives know your

media?
59% said they knew the media well
2 Survey: Answers
• Do public relations executives understand

the media’s editorial needs?
Only 35% said Yes
3 Survey: Answers
• Are PR executives effective in supplying you

with newsworthy information?
Just 62% said Yes
4 Survey: Answers
• What % of press releases produce a story?
(Remember we were not asking here whether a

press release submitted to the media was used in
part, or in its entirety, but simply whether it provided
‘food for thought’ for the journalist to write a story or
feature!)
Only 15% of press releases were used!
Press, Broadcast and New Media

Yes I know you have done this before, but this is a
reprise for those of you who have a memory lapses –
like me! (Mine’s like a sieve, but no doubt yours is miles better!)
UK Print Media
The UK is one of the world’s biggest and most

diverse media markets
• 10 national dailies and 10 Sunday papers
• 3,253 regional dailies and weeklies
• 7,568 magazines - consumer and business
• 1,577 directories and annuals
• 500 foreign correspondents registered with the
Foreign Press Association in London
• 105 news agencies - national and regional
State of the UK Media
Top 10 media events in 2006
• ITV share price plummets, Greg Dyke launches failed takeover
bid, chief executive resigns, Michael Grade poached from BBC
• Sky launches broadband
• Google Buys You Tube
• Newspapers go “web fist” with news
• Daily and Sunday Telegraph editors are both replaced
• Capital Radio (London) drops to no 3 in London from no 1
• Telegraph group cuts 130 jobs
• BBC plans to cuts another 4,000 jobs
• Both the London Evening Standard and News
International launch free London newspapers to
complete with Metro
• Internet revue advertising revenue reach $5.8 billion
for the first half of the year
UK Print Media
• 66% of the British public read a daily paper regularly

• Circulation ranges from The Sun with a daily
circulation of around 3.16 million to The
Independent with just 0.25 million a day
• While national newspaper sales are generally falling,
regional and local papers are seeing a revival
UK Print Media
National newspaper ownership
Group Share Titles
News International 34.4% Sun, Times, Sunday Times,
News of the World
Daily Mail & General Trust 20.5% Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday
Trinity Mirror 15.1% Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, People
Northern and Shell 13.5% Daily Express, Daily Star,
Sunday Express, Daily Star Sunday
Telegram Group 7.5% Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph
Guardian Media Group 3.4% Guardian, Observer
Pearson 3.3% Financial Times
Independent Newspapers 2.2% Independent, Independent on
Sunday
UK Broadcast Media
The UK is one of Europe’s biggest and most
diverse television markets
• 474 TV and radio stations - national and regional
including cable & satellite TV, BBC and independent
stations. (There were just three in 1982)
• Continuing popularity of local radio especially in the
growth of local radio stations
• Over 40 television correspondents registered with
the Foreign Press Association in London
New Media
What Is New Media?
• New Media is the latest form of mass
communication
• In years past it was radio, television, cable TV,
satellite TV, etc.
• It tends to be used primarily to talk about emerging
digital/electronic communications forms, particularly
the internet and the web.
New Media
• It now includes all forms of computer-enhanced
communication.
• In addition to digital video, examples of New Media
are web sites, emails, CD-ROMs, DVDs, streaming
audio & video, interactive multimedia presentations,
and computer animation.
• New Media is a convergence of the older styles of
communicating with the new, computer-enhanced
styles.
• Digital information service management and delivery
systems e.g. America On Line (AOL)
New Media
• Electronically digital interactive & e-commerce TV
broadcast websites, internet broadcasters, internet
kiosks and booking services etc
• Issues no of hits, pages seen, site traffic etc
• Best place to look for New Media is
http://media.guardian.co.uk
• Is big business – e.g. in Leeds there are reputed to
be over 1,000 companies involved in New Media
• Rapid growth of online sources since 1993
Role Of The Media
Media Roles
• In a consumer democracy, the media is not there to
communicate on behalf of government or
commercial interests
• The media is there to inform, entertain, and to
champion the people by acting as a filter on
commercial messages or government spin
Media Roles
• ‘Gatekeeper’ of public information

• Challenger of those in authority
• Impartial observer
• Teller of truths
Media Roles – and also
• Trade in stories - in words, pictures and sound

• Are businesses
• Balance profit against loss
• Are corporate concerns
• Have company structures
Media Roles – and also
Are not primarily an information or education

service. Their job is to:
• Attain
• Retain
• Increase
– readers, viewers, listeners
News Awareness
What Is News?
What Is News?
• “Essentially journalism is a matter of instinct, the

expression of primitive curiosity and an instinctive
urge to cause trouble, to be difficult, coupled with a
distrust of anyone in authority.”
Jeremy Paxman, author and BBC Newsnight presenter
What Is News?
• “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because

it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is
news.”
Quote from John A Bogart in F.M O’Brien’s book
Story of the [New York] Sun (1918), Chapter 10
• “What somebody, somewhere wants to suppress.

All the rest is advertising.”
Lord Northcliffe, one of Britain’s foremost press barons
What Is News?
• “I read the newspapers avidly. It is my one form of
continuous fiction.”
Aneurin Bevan, The Times, 29 March 1960
• “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to

itself.”
Arthur Miller, The Observer, 26 November 1961
• "...news is history in its first and best form, its vivid

and fascinating form, and...history is the pale and
tranquil reflection of it.“
Mark Twain's Autobiography
What Is News?
• “Yesterday’s newspaper is used to wrap fish and

yesterday’s broadcast does not exist at all.”
Martin Mayer, Broadcast journalist, Focus Press, 1994
• “News is important, helpful, informative, relevant,

interesting, new and unusual.”
Gaven Morris, News Editor, CNN
(London)
What Is News?
• “A significant new development, event or trend
which will have an important impact on our viewers,
or be of interest to them.”
Peter Barrow, deputy news editor, Channel 4 News, ITN
• “It is people talking and people doing. Committees

and cabinets and courts are people. So are fires,
accidents and planning decisions. They are only
news because they involve and affect people.”
Harold Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times
and now a senior American newspaper executive
What Is News?
• “Conflict makes good copy for journalists – war,

strikes, even disputes between neighbours. So do
sleaze, corruption, scandals, sex, the royals, abuses
of power & lottery winners. They all involve people.”
Martin Deller in the UNISON Press Office
• “News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about

anything wants to read. And it’s only news until he’s
read it. After that it’s dead.”
Evelyn Waugh, Scoop Book 1, Chapter 5, 1938
What Is News?
• “Some news is hard to see, generally because the
clues are hidden or disguised. By accident, or on
purpose. Other news hits you in the face. Like
Watergate, for instance. It began with five guys in
business suits, wearing dark glasses, surgical
gloves, carrying tear-gas fountain pens, and
cameras entering the headquarters of the
Democratic National Committee in Washington. It
ended with the jailing of 40 people, including the
Attorney General of the United States, and the
White House chief of staff. You would have to be
Richard Nixon himself to say that this was not
news.“
Ben Bradlee, former executive editor, The Washington Post
News is ... (or should be)
• Different, unusual, unique, novel
• New - “News Is Only News While It Is New”, Andrew
Boyd, writer and TV journalist
• Controversial
• Dramatic
• Impactful (in TV terms it must also be very visual)
• Relevant to many
• Extreme - very sad, very happy, very serious, very
silly
• Conflict - “a row was brewing last night ...”
What really makes a story newsworthy?
• “The unusual and unexpected often make
interesting news.
• “Newsworthiness is critical – a story that has an
impact on 'everyone.'
• “E.g. the global outpouring of sympathy when Pope
John Paul II died. Those that went to St. Peter's
Square and tuned in on television were not all
members of the Catholic faith. They mourned a man
that had managed to reach out to people of many
faiths.”
• Entertainment or celebrity often garner instant
newsworthiness.
• Viewers were glued to their television sets as OJ
Simpson led a squad of police cars down an L.A.
highway in a white Ford Bronco.
• A few months ago just as many people are following
the daily reports of the case against Michael
Jackson.
• And yesterday we watched Pete Doherty, front man
of the group Babyshambles sentenced to 12 months
of community service Wednesday for possessing
drugs.
• The words that seem to repeat over and over again

are story and interest.
• Ultimately, it's all about the story and how you
package it.
• An awareness of the components of what makes a
story newsworthy will help your CIPR workshop
participants become successful in getting their key
messages to the right audiences.
However, there's news and news.
• Great news stories begin with a single line of copy:
"Ferry with 1400 people on board is reported to have
sunk in the Red Sea".
• That news is added to bit by bit to keep initial
readers watching, and fresh readers keen to find out.
"Egyptian ferry believed to have caught fire before it
capsized and sank."
• The best news is when the agency's own reporter is
there on scene bringing fresh insight: "Fairplay has
been told the Al Salam 98, which sank with the loss
of 1,000 lives, failed to send out a mayday
message".
Richard Clayton, News Editor, Fairplay International Shipping Weekly
Bear in mind
• news must be fast and first and, as far as possible,
accurate.
• If you wait for confirmation, rivals will get the story
out and hook the reader.
• News should always be fresh, and make the reader
think they haven't read this piece of information
anywhere else.
• The Internet has meant that bits of news and
comment are lifted and inserted into news reports
across the globe without any obligation to check,
source correctly or add value.
Richard Clayton, News Editor, Fairplay International Shipping Weekly
News Involves
Events Science Sex

Crime RelationshipsRoyalty
Business Personalities Travel
Gossip Education Art
Money Environment Scandal
Religion Food and Drink Sport
Politics Showbiz ?
News is
… a manufactured product
• Disasters, elections, strikes, scandals
HAPPEN.
• News is MADE.
Features Are ...
• Features are longer stories
But unlike hard news stories they are ...

• Usually planned in advance
• Deeper and broader
• Backgrounders, analyses and commentaries
• Interpretive
• Anecdotal
News and Feature Sources
Other media + Websites + Newspaper cuttings
+ PR Consultants + Freelancers + Stringers +
News Agencies + Companies + Government
bodies + Emergency services + Experts +
Academics + Politicians + Members of the
public + Trade unions/professional bodies +
Pressure groups + Employees + Local
authorities + Competitors + Parents + The General
Public on Mobile Phones, Digital Cameras
News and Features Are ...
• Picked - selected from a range

• Processed - moved through a
production system
• Packaged - targeted and marketed
for an audience
News Awareness
What Makes A Good Story?
Defining News
• Defining news is a difficult task.
• However many of the journalists I have spoken to
agree on roughly the following eight elements as to
What Is News?
1. Immediacy
• Reporting something that has just happened or is
about to happen. Time is a strong ingredient i.e.
today, yesterday, early this morning, tomorrow. The
newness of the occurrence makes-up the
"immediacy" element of news.
2. Proximity
• Facts and occurrences that are important to the
reader, listener or viewer e.g. car accident close to
your home, a fire in your neighbourhood etc.
• The question most asked by journalists is: "If this
happened outside my immediate town/city, county,
would I be interested in reading about it?"
• You must "take off the I love this organisation hat"
and examine your story to see if indeed it would
interest other readers.
3. Prominence
• Prominence as a news element is well-known to
most of us.
• Holders of public office, people of renown or those
who stimulate our curiosity, people in positions of
influence all enjoy news prominence e.g. Kate
Moss, David Cameron.
• To qualify for news prominence, the person must
be well enough known to command the attention of
readers either by reputation or by the nature of the
topic to be discussed.
4. Oddity
• Oddity is often news. The bizarre, the unusual, the
unexpected often make news.
• Generally those people who perform striking feats in
emergency situations are news e.g. lifting an
automobile off her child, travelling around the world
in a yacht, your council using unusual recycling
methods etc
• In journalism, oddity is defined as the "man bites
dog" formula.
5. Conflict
• Conflict is one element most observed in today with
the clash of ideologies making headlines worldwide
e.g. between Christians and Moslems.
• However, remember that most businesses and
organisations shy away from the reporting of
conflict, but you need to remember that this
element is firmly based in the news formula.
6. Suspense
• Suspense creates and expands news appeal. The
outcome of the Iraq hostage situation is suspenseful
news.
• For the most part, organizations would rarely
experience this type of circumstance. It is helpful to
remember that news suspense is not the same as
mystery suspense.
• However, mystery suspense in news does occur
when a crime has been committed and the search is
on for a suspect.
7. Emotions
• Emotions are a news element commonly called
"human interest" stories that stir our recognition of
the basic needs both psychological and physical.
• Organisations should be alert to the possibilities of
"human interest" stories e.g. the employees that has
raised thousands of pounds for charity etc.
8. Consequence
• The last element of news, consequence, is more
difficult to explain, but generally for a story to have
consequence
– It must be important to a great number of readers, viewers
and listeners.
– It must have some impact for the public.
• Such news will affect the public in some personal
way e.g. safety of a bus after an accident; dumping
of toxic chemicals in a river affecting the water
supply etc.
• How it affects the public – the consequence of it
now and in the future.
 Impact - Facts and events that have the greatest
effect/impact.
 Weight - The significance of a particular fact/event
with respect to other facts or events.
 Controversy - Arguments, debates, increase the
value of news.
 Emotion – Human interest that touch emotions.
 The Unusual - When a dog bites a man it's not
news. But when a man bites a dog, it is news.
 Prominence - More prominent individuals get
more attention.
 Proximity - Concentrate on news that is of local
interest; the closer to your home and/or place of
work the better.
8. Timeliness - Emphasize what is new.
9. Currency (of information) - Take into account
what is on people's minds at the particular time.
10. Usefulness - Help people answer questions,
resolve problems.
11. Educational Value - Make readers, viewers and/or
listeners more knowledgeable rather than merely
informed.
In Conclusion
• Bear these guidelines in mind when you're deciding
if your storyline for your press release or news
announcement.
• Whether it is a feature or an item of limited public
interest e.g. a short news press release e.g.
appointment of a new company director etc.
Differences Between Media
Print vis a vis Broadcast
• Primary difference – the visual appeal of TV news
allow it to take on a personal nature.
• The intimacy of the broadcast medium is enhanced
by the images of reporters.
• Unless print journalists appear on television they
remain faceless to the public.
• Viewers become familiar with the
newscasters/reporters' faces. They develop a
‘relationship’ with these reporters, which in turn
builds trust in the news being delivered e.g. Nick
Robinson, chief political correspondent, BBC.

• The first element in any news story is the lead. The
lead hangs on a ‘peg’ serving as a hook to draw in
the audience and make the story more relevant to
them.
• In print journalism the ‘peg’ is composed of the most
"newsworthy" fact.
• But in a television broadcast the visual element is
essential to the story's construction.

• The lead tends to be structured around the most
compelling TV footage available.
• Newspapers' limited space does not allow for many
visuals, the majority of space is required for text.
• Newspapers are limited by space restrictions, in TV
time is of the essence.
• However, timeliness remains an important value in
both mediums.

• TV has the visual advantage.
• Audiences can be transported through time and
space to the scene of the news.
• Newspapers can only reproduce an image through
the text and ‘still’ photographs.
• Once a newspaper is printed it cannot be updated
until the next edition.
• TV news can be broadcast several times during the
day and emergency updates can be aired when
deemed necessary.
Online Journalism
• Online journalism presents a new challenge.
• Largest difference between online news and
traditional print and broadcast mediums, is the
readers' ability in online journalism to define and
redefine the structure of the news.
• News can be retrieved from the Guardian website
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ in several different ways.
• It is labelled as in the print version.
• But, in Guardian Unlimited the reader is also invited
to read sections such as Life & Health, Jobs,
Money, Politics, Science, Shopping, etc
Online Journalism
• The nature of the Internet increases the value of
timeliness.
• Due to production costs, print newspapers face
severe time restrictions; once an edition is printed it
cannot be updated until the next edition.
• Television is more flexible. News broadcasts are
made at several times throughout the day and
updates e.g. ‘breaking’ news can be made during
regularly scheduled programmes when news
dictates e.g. London 7/7.
Online Journalism
• Online communication allows the news to be
updated at a moments notice continually throughout
the day without interrupting other communication.
• The Guardian Unlimited and more famously the
BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk utilise the
dynamic capabilities of the internet medium to
reflect the most timely news during the day.
Online Journalism
• While the function of online newspapers remains the
same - to disseminate news to the public, the
unlimited space available to online sites means that
items that are less newsworthy can be included.
• These additional items tend to stress the traditional
values of news as well fun stories e.g. Guardian
Unlimited site includes News blogs and fun items
such as ‘Been there’, ‘Soulmates dating’ and ‘Style
guide’.
Online Journalism
• These forums allow readers to contribute their own
ideas to the site.
• They give minority opinions a voice in the media and
expose readers to ideas, values, and beliefs that
may differ from their own.
• While the user may not choose to accept other
users' views, they can make people revaluate their
own set of beliefs and how the news fits in to them.
• Often forums are directly linked to the news stories.
The Nature Of Television
News
• “It’s dramatic, because you have got to work hard
for an audience. When you buy a newspaper you
have made a conscious decision to read it. You
have to listen to radio to hear it. With television you
can be doing a million and one other things. TV is
chewing gum for the eyes.”
Mr Jonathan Boddy MCIPR, Director,
Positive Impact Comms & Training Ltd
The Nature Of Television
• “It’s fast moving. An episode of ‘Coronation Street’

lasts for 23 minutes - minus the advertisements.
There are around 30 scenes an episode and many
more camera angles. Less than a minute is devoted
to each scene.”
Mr Jonathan Boddy MCIPR, Director,
Positive Impact Comms & Training Ltd
News Release Hints and Tips
News Release – Dos
• “Contact news desk in advance of issuing your story
– for broadcast media you need to give them the
essence of your story 10 days in advance - having
made sure first that you have their right names and
numbers .”
• “Know the press deadlines and fix the issue of the
news release to suit them.”
• “Stick to those times otherwise coverage will be
affected.”
News Release – Dos
• Make sure your story has wide interest – check the
profile of the paper, magazines, radio or TV station.”
• Adapt your press release for different media and
different audiences.
CONSUMER MEDIA – TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENTS UK NATIONALS
15 February 2008
SWEDEN’S LARGEST ECO-FRIENDLY CAR CARRIER SETS SAIL
15 February 2008, Stockholm, Sweden - At 71,583 gross tons, twice the length of a
premiership football pitch, and the height of a 10 storey building, Sweden’s largest car
carrying
ship, MV Fidelio cuts an impressive figure at sea.
Carrying 8,000 cars, and with a deck capacity the size of nine football pitches, MV Fidelio is
also being billed as the world’s largest car carrying ship. She is also one of the ‘greenest’.
Built with a focus on environmental protection, MV Fidelio boasts a “Green Passport” from
the International Maritime Organisation* for her green credentials. Her cutting-edge design
cuts harmful emissions into the atmosphere by 15 per cent per unit of cargo transported.
Creature comforts have not been forgotten either. A two-storey glass atrium ensures
maximum
daylight into the crew's quarters and when off-duty the crew make use of a digital satellite TV
room, gymnasium, sauna and outdoor swimming pool.
Safety at sea is crucial, and apart from the latest state of the art navigation system, the ship
boasts anti-collision computers and each crew member has their own survival suit in addition
to an all enclosed free-falling life boat and a high speed rescue boat.
SHIPPING MEDIA
15 February 2008
MV FIDELIO - SWEDEN’S LARGEST CAR CARRIER ENTERS SERVICE

15 February 2008, Stockholm, Sweden - MV Fidelio, a 8,000 units Large Car and Truck
Carrier
(LCTC), is the latest addition to the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) fleet.
She was christened today (Friday, February 15) by Ms Chisato Nagatani wife of the managing
director of Toyota at a naming ceremony in Yokohama, Japan.
The vessel is the second in a series of five LCTCs ordered by WWL and built at Daewoo
Shipyard and Marine Engineering in Korea. The first, MV Faust was delivered in May this year
and the remaining three vessels will be delivered in February, August and October 2008.
MV Fidelio is equipped with a state of the art technology regarding ship design and
environmentally friendly alternatives. Due regard has been paid to safety issues,
communication equipment and the reduction of environmental impact from the vessel. She is
is equipped with PureBallast, the world’s first IMO approved Ballast Water Treatment system.
PureBallast has been developed in a joint venture between Wallenius Marine subsidiary
Wallenius Water and AlfaLaval.
The new ship has also been equipped with a “Green Passport”, a "declaration of contents", in
which all materials and substances used onboard are listed.
News Release Distribution
News Release Distribution -
Dos
• I favour news distribution via email, but ensure copy
is contained on one screen i.e. so you don't have to
scroll down the page
• Put punchy headline in Subject box
• Personalise email to the particular journalist
• Don’t rely solely on media distribution lists – they
are usually out of date, devise your own
• Don’t mass mail, target your communications to the
media you think you have a hope of getting
coverage in
• Ensure you put contact details on top of release and
have an out-of-office hours number too
News Release Distribution –
Don’ts
• “Think you know all about a newspaper just because
you read it or TV just because you have seen the
BBC’s Ten O‘Clock News”
• “Not try to ‘sell’ a boring or ‘un-newsworthy’ story.
It’s a turn-off.
• “Just send out blanket press releases and expect to
get decent results. Target your approach.”
• “Send pictures and video DVDs with qualification.”
• Contact instead with ideas.”
Creating Media Opportunities
Creating Media
Opportunities
Hard Stories
• Terrorist outrage
• Factory fire
• R&D come up with a new invention
• General Election
……. All these are likely to get more press coverage
than you could possible cope with
Creating Media
Opportunities
Soft News
• PR News e.g. new improved gizmo, that’s not so
different from last year’s model can be hard to ‘sell’
in comparison
• So How Do You ‘Sell’ Soft News i.e. PR News?
Creating Media
Opportunities
Discover the Difference
• What is it that makes you, your product or service
different from others in the field
• Your ‘story’ has got to make a difference
Institute of Public Relations
Media Relations Techniques
Media Relations Techniques
• News releases
• Executive Interviews
• News/press conferences
• Photo calls, photo stories
But what works?
What Works? - 2003 Press Survey
Press Survey
• In one day, the average consumer journalist sees:
– 26 junk emails
– 22 emailed press releases
– 20 other emails
– 18 faxed releases
– 14 mailed releases
– 8 phone calls from PR consultants
– 27 other phone calls
Source: Communicating with Journalists (2003 study)
• Which techniques are most effective,

according to journalists (10=useful; 0= waste of time):
• Media event (6.9)
• Survey results (6.5)
• Case studies (6.1)
• Personality profile (5.8)
• Feature ideas (5.3)

• Doing lunch (4.9)
• Free samples (4.7)
• Celebrity party (4.5)
• Foreign trip (4.3)
• National day / week (3.9)

• Sporting event (hospitality) (3.8)
• PR stunts (3.6)
• Glossy press pack (3.6)
• Competitions (3.5)
• Novelty mail-outs (3.5)
How To Improve Your Media

Targeting – News Releases
Effective Targeting
How to improve your media targeting
• “Reporters are attracted to friction - two competing
agendas; two people facing off over a contentious
issue, two groups that are at odds with each other.
• “Friction tends to lead to interest, and that's what
reporters and editors want.
• Ultimately, they want a story that will cause their
readers, listeners, or viewers to sit up and pay
attention.
• “If the story isn't out of the ordinary -- if it's just
every-day stuff -- it will not be read, heard or seen.”
Effective Targeting
Stick to the simple formula -- the five W's
• “We are taught to use the formula of who, what,
where, when, why and how from secondary school
media studies.
• That’s just as important today as it was when we
first learned to write a story.
• However, there is one significant difference when
dealing with the media.
• “There's a sixth W: Why should anyone care?
• “This is, perhaps, the most important W -- as every
editor will ask it before letting a story see the light of
day.
What Is News?
• “Good news rarely attracts readers and is
overlooked, more often than not, by news editors.
It's why nobody gives a stuff about shipping until a
ferry sinks with the loss of a thousand people. Bad
news is always attractive, if only for the ‘That could
have been me!’ value.”
Richard Clayton, News Editor,

Fairplay International Shipping Weekly
Effective Targeting
Last but not least
• “Entertainment or celebrities often gain instant
newsworthiness.
• “Some 10 years ago, viewers were glued to their
television sets as OJ Simpson led a squad of police
cars down an L.A. highway in a white Ford Bronco.
• “Just as many people are following the daily reports
of the case against Michael Jackson.
Effective Targeting
• “Ultimately, it's all about the story and how you
package it.
• “An awareness of the components of what makes a
story newsworthy helps in getting your key
messages to the right audiences
• “In short, make sure what you have to say is
newsworthy and has relevance.
• “The bottom line is, that we as PR executives have
to make the stories we tell newsworthy.
Effective Targeting

• “The more that we strive to hit the right buttons with
the media, the better the chances of success”.
• “Make sure what you have to say is newsworthy and
has relevance.”
• “Acknowledge that people make news not products
or services.” (Think about that one).
• “Target your stories to the programme. Each news
programme has a slightly different feel and flavour.”
Effective Targeting

• “Remember we are making a positive effort to
broadcast regional stories.”
• “Cut the purple prose and tell it like it is.”
• “Be truthful, honest and transparent with your
information. Don't put a gloss on it.”
• “Remember we (journalists) work to tight deadlines.”
• “We always need lots and lots of notice.”
Effective Targeting
• “Refrain from dictating when, how and where stories
should appear - we do not live in a dictatorship in
the United Kingdom”
• “Take the time and trouble to get to know what we
are about and how we operate - we’ll think better of
you if you do.
• Maintain relationships, maintain contact, be
accessible.”
Effective Targeting
• Make your news releases punchy, and pertinent. I
only read the first sentence. If it doesn’t grab me in
10 seconds it goes into the bin.”
• “Remember most of our news comes from other
journalists. I always read the nationals –
qualities/broadsheets and Red Tops (tabloids).
• I get radio transcripts of morning programmes and
especially BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme.”
Creating Media
Opportunities
How to improve your working relationship
with journalists:
• “Target releases - circulation/coverage area”
• “Make sure your news has relevance”
• “Tell the truth, be honest and transparent with your
information”
• “Ensure you have an out-of-hours telephone
number”
Creating Media
Opportunities
How to improve your working relationship
with journalists:
• “Acknowledge that your employees DO want to see
stories about their organisation in their local
paper/radio station”
• “See us and learn how the media operates”
Executive Interviews
Handling Face-To-Face
Interview
Before The Interview
• Don’t agree to an interview unless you know what
the journalist wants to discuss and you have
something to say on the subject
• Prepare yourself for the interview
• Get the most important point across first and repeat
it at the end
• Aim to get across not more than three key points
Interview
• Remember a journalist has a job to do:
- to get a news story or to get an angle for a
feature that interests their audience
• When the interview is first requested, ask what the
reporter’s deadline is and try your best to respect it.
If that is not possible you should say so
Interview
• Imagine the worst possible question, prepare your
response before the interview begins
• Assume the journalist is an expert in journalistic
skills - so don’t try and tell them how they should do
their job
Interview
During The Interview
• Ask what the interviewer wants exactly, storyline or
story angle, context of proposed story and/or article
who else he or she is interviewing
• Don’t’ say anything “off the record”
• Don’t let words be put into your mouth
• Don’t guess or speculate. You know what you
know. (If you don’t know - say so, and say that you will find
out the information for them).
Interview
• If unsure of a question - ask for clarification
• Don’t answer the “nasty” question you’re expecting,
but isn’t asked
• Don’t lie
• Don’t argue or attack the media - it distracts from
your main message and you won’t win anyway
• Say it simply. Use short sentences
Interview
• Don’t use jargon
• Support statements with anecdotes or third party
evidence
• Never give opinions on other organisations or
people
• Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security
Interview
• No comment = Guilty. There are ways of responding which
are in essence a ‘no comment’, but more acceptable to the press.
• If there are issues that you don’t want to, or can’t comment on:
– List them before the interview takes place
– Tell the journalist up front
– Discuss with your colleagues how best these should be
handled.
• You are the one with the knowledge, news or views
(Do not fall into the trap of answering questions outside your
experience and responsibility)
Interview By Telephone
Key Points
• When a call comes in:
– Always tell the journalist that you will phone them
right back rather than jumping into the interview
at once.
– Ask who they are and whom they work for
– This gives you the opportunity to
(a) collect your thoughts
(b) make sure the caller is genuine
(c) be more in control of the call because you
are initiating it, rather than the journalist.
Key Points
• Write down key points you wish to make
• Ask what the interviewer wants
• Get an idea of:
– The storyline or story angle
– Context of proposed story and/or article
– Who else he or she is interviewing
• Focus your mind on the task
• Stop any disturbances. (People wandering by your desk, switch
your mobile phone off etc)
• If you are in an open plan office consider going to a
quiet room
Key Points
• Keep relevant information by the phone
• Remember the phone is sensitive to mood swings
• Be friendly and polite in tone, but be firm if
necessary
• Finish your call when you have made your points
and don't want to make any more
News/Press Conferences
& Editor Briefings
Types of Media Event
• Press Conference – rather than issue a news
release, tell your story to an invited group of
journalists
• News Event – organise something newsworthy as
your angle, such as a launch of a new council
initiative
• Photo Opportunity – this will often merge with your
‘event’, e.g. celebrity cutting ribbon of a new store
• Facility Trips – invite a group to visit round a new
school
• Reception/breakfast/lunch briefing – background
briefing for journalists to meet a new director e.g.
CEO
News Conferences &
Briefings
Only hold a news conference if you can √
one or more of the following:
• It is big news and this is the only way for journalists to
get the information
• It is urgent
• It is complex or especially interesting and the chance
to ask questions or get on-the-spot quotes is
important
• Provides a cross-section of speakers who can provide
different perspectives on an issue e.g. environment
• There is a celebrity speaker or the chance of a good
photograph
News Conferences &
Briefings
• “Find something visual and relevant to illustrate your
story especially for TV - if moving pictures aren't
available, colour stills or transparency or black and
white picture are acceptable.”
• “If key media can't do the press conference e.g.
deadlines, ask if they would like to do an advance
interview.”
• “Allocate time before/after press confidence for
interviews and Qs & As.”
News Conferences &
Briefings
• “Provide facilities (especially for TV news) to take
relevant pictures in advance, particularly on a big or
compelling story.”
• “Remember that sometimes we like to interview the
person at the ‘sharp end’ - the soldier that has been
in the front line rather than the commanding officer.”
News Conferences &
Briefings
• “Pick the best speaker, not necessarily the highest-
ranking one, and make sure that he/she talks
economically.”
• “Media train the speaker.”
• “Key your key messages right – and rehearse,
rehearse.”
• Remember – on radio or TV you’re only going to get
up to 45 seconds of chat at best.”
Key Environmental Messages
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics’ environmental policy is:
2. Reduce the impact of any shipping activities that
affect the environment,
3. Work with customers to achieve common
environmental goals,
4. Be the best operator in the shipping business in
environmental matters.
News Conferences &
Briefings
• “Be brief and to the point in an interview. A whole
radio and/or TV bulletin is the same length as a
column in the Financial Times.”
• “Try and get away with a discreet
company/organisation logo e.g. on lapel badge,
hard hat for pictures or TV studio interviews.”
• “Expect awkward questions and have your answers
ready.”
News Conferences &
Briefings
News Briefing Check List
• Chose time and place that will get the best response
• Thoroughly check-out venue, especially for AV needs
• Date - check date for conflict that your selected date
doesn’t clash with another major launch (e.g. if organising
motor briefing check with Motor Industry Public Affairs Association
& Guild of Motoring Writers)
• Send named invitations a few weeks ahead, follow-up
a few days before. If possible, do a ‘ring round’ on the
day or day before if event is 1st thing in the morning
News Conferences &
Briefings
• Keep the event short (i.e. not more than 60 mins)
and well structured
• Content - ask a couple of friendly journalists what
would they like to hear on the day and tailor briefing
to suit
• Prepare key messages that you want to put across
• Discuss the issues likely to surface at the event
• Prepare question and Answer (Q&A) document
News Conferences &
Briefings
• Ensure you know what has appeared in that
morning’s papers – so that you can deal with any
issues that arise on the day
• Allow time for:
– Questions
– One-to-one intervening with key executive(s)
• Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse – to ensure that
the presentation is well delivered
• Press Kits – if the presentation is on PowerPoint
ensure a hard copy is included in press kits
News Conferences &
Briefings
• Put press pack online (but pdf presentation so it
cannot be cut and pasted and therefore taken out of
context your presentation)
• Ensure you have decent digital ‘head and shoulders’
images of key executives and company factory,
office etc images for the media available
• Be prepared for few turning up, and make
contingency plans
The Press Briefing From Hell
It will never get as bad as this…..!
• You will never have a worse event that the march
held in new York in 1971 by Italian-Americans.
• It culminated in a rally in Columbus Circle to protest
that they were being discriminated against because
everyone thought that all Americans with Italian
names were automatically members of the Mafia.
• Their main speaker rose to talk and was then shot –
by a Mafia gunman
Photo Calls & Photo Stories
Photo Calls & Photo Stories
Setting Up A Photo Call
• Send short bullet point text to picture editor ion
advance with who, why, what, when and how of
event and timings
• Give details of photo opportunity – e.g. opening new
store with a celebrity
• If you want product name or logo in shot think about
where you need to place it
• Ensure executives are in smart business attire or
uniform
Digital Photographs
Digital Photos
• Most used form of pictures by news desks
• Get a professional photographer to take shots –
those taken by an amateur are a turn-off
• Prepare a detailed brief for the photographer
• Send digital pictures separately from press release,
but include a caption
• Check the dpi of picture needed usually 72 dpi for
web used, 300 dpi for print use
• Send selection of low resolution pictures for
journalist to pick from, then send hi res pic
How To Get “Closer” To

Journalists
Journalists
• Listen, see and read as much of the media as you
can (read particularly the Media Guardian supplement in
Monday’s The Guardian)
• Show them around your organisation and introduce
them to some of the senior members of your
organisation.
• Bear in mind journalists are busy people
• Ensure you have something of interest, each time
you make contact (Offering them a good lunch is simply
not good enough)
• Be sure of your facts
Journalists
• Never, never tell a lie (because whatever your morals,
you’ll eventually be found out)
• Be transparent with you information
• Once you have gained a reputation for providing:
valuable, accurate and fast information
• ....the media will approach you
• Try and find out what special features are planned -
perhaps you can contribute
Journalists
• If you spot a story with which you disagree or can
offer a follow-up - telephone the journalist and
explain your reaction or what you have to offer
(ensuring of course it puts you in a good light)
• Monitor the media
• Keep cuttings and broadcast transcripts for future
reference
Journalists
• Do not ask to see copy - its unprofessional and they
probably will not allow you to view anyway
• Ensure company executives sing from the same
hymn sheet
• Photographs - use a professional news
photographer (check with your paper’s picture desk editor
first as to who they would recommend)
• If you are not sure - seek your colleague's advice -
listen and act upon it!
Journalists
• Monitor the media
• Keep cuttings and broadcast transcripts for future
reference
• But, just don’t use the ‘press clips’ as a reference for
media monitoring and evaluation
– Use the press clips as a spur for follow-up stories
– Provide a new angle on an existing story
10 Things About Journalists
1. They are professional and objective - for their
medium
2. It’s a market: you’re selling, they’re buying
3. Deadlines are real. So they are busy – and like to
appear so even when they are not
4. They want a good story - not just a good lunch
5. Remember the pressure they face: publishers,
editors, time, competition, opposition, suspicion,
cynicism, cost-cutting accountants
6. Get to know their medium - read, watch, listen

7. Learn from them about their medium, current trends
etc
8. It is just as important to know the journalist as it is
the medium he or she writes for
9. Make it easy for them, phone numbers, full names,
full facts, easy access etc
10. Treat them as normal people, because they are -
smile down the phone
One Final Thought
• “Unless you read at least one newspaper, regularly

listen to radio news, watch television news, have an
interest in politics and current affairs, are inquisitive
in nature, and know what’s going on in this world,
then you haven’t got a hope in hell of feeding a story
to us.”
Craig Oliver, Editor, BBC ‘Ten 'O Clock News’
Contact Point
Robert Minton-Taylor
Associate Senior Lecturer
Leighton Hall
School Business & Law
Leeds Metropolitan University
Headingley Campus
Beckett Park, Leeds LS6 3QS
Website: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 113 283 2600 Ext 4808
E-mail: r.minton-taylor@leedsmet.ac.uk
OR
Tel: +44 (0) 1535 634 634
Fax: +44 (0) 1535 634 773
Mobile +44 (0) 7947 818 816
E-mail: robert@minton-taylor.com

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Working With The Media

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

Leeds Metropolitan University

How Good Are We At

• 15 business journalists working for daily papers and

Business journalists were asked four questions

• How well do PR executives know your

59% said they knew the media well

• Do public relations executives understand

Only 35% said Yes

• Are PR executives effective in supplying you

Just 62% said Yes

• What % of press releases produce a story?

(Remember we were not asking here whether a

Press, Broadcast and New Media

The UK is one of the world’s biggest and most

• 66% of the British public read a daily paper regularly

Role Of The Media

• ‘Gatekeeper’ of public information

• Trade in stories - in words, pictures and sound

Are not primarily an information or education

• “Essentially journalism is a matter of instinct, the

Jeremy Paxman, author and BBC Newsnight presenter

• “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because

• “What somebody, somewhere wants to suppress.

• “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to

• "...news is history in its first and best form, its vivid

• “Yesterday’s newspaper is used to wrap fish and

• “News is important, helpful, informative, relevant,

• “It is people talking and people doing. Committees

• “Conflict makes good copy for journalists – war,

• “News is what a chap who doesn’t care much about

• The words that seem to repeat over and over again

Martin Deller in the UNISON Press Office

Events Science Sex

But unlike hard news stories they are ...

• Picked - selected from a range

Print vis a vis Broadcast

Print vis a vis Broadcast

Print vis a vis Broadcast

• “It’s fast moving. An episode of ‘Coronation Street’

News Release Hints and Tips

SWEDEN’S LARGEST ECO-FRIENDLY CAR CARRIER SETS SAIL

MV FIDELIO - SWEDEN’S LARGEST CAR CARRIER ENTERS SERVICE

News Release Distribution

Creating Media Opportunities

Media Relations Techniques

But what works?

• Which techniques are most effective,

• Which techniques are most effective,

• Which techniques are most effective,

Source: Communicating with Journalists (2003 study)

How To Improve Your Media

Richard Clayton, News Editor,

How to improve your media targeting

How to improve your media targeting

Photo Calls & Photo Stories

How To Get “Closer” To

10 Things About Journalists

6. Get to know their medium - read, watch, listen

• “Unless you read at least one newspaper, regularly

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