Channeling PR Techniques this blog post
will be focusing on not only writing to
achieve news traction, but how to prepare for social media and interviews. This
I feel is an extremely valuable lesson and component I will take away from my
placement.
In the midst of all her work, Gemma Tognini
(Leading director of Gtmedia- and my boss lady) is often hired to present media
training to various companies. I was lucky enough to not only help in putting some of her power
point/information together, but to actually go along with her to the
presentations.
Throughout the presentations, I was able to
reflect upon my learning’s from uni and engage them with the examples and
activities Gemma was giving to the audience. Some key points I picked up on
were:
§ - To know what makes a story/ is this newsworthy and relevant?
§ - To have knowledge on how Journalist operate
§ - A bold and catchy headline
§ - Style, Tone and Pitch
This was something I found extremely beneficial, not only in the
sense of just applying what I have learnt at university into real life, but by
completing this placement, it provided me with a clear vision of what I want my
career path to look like- as now I can defiantly see that working in a
consultancy like Gtmedia is something I’m really interested in doing.
2 comments:
I agree with you Stef.
It is indeed hard to pitch a story to the media especially when they are bombarded with hundreds of media releases in a day!
It is indeed important to ensure that your story angle relates to their what they are specifically looking out for and that it is also relevant! It is especially tough also when drafting the media release because you have to make it as interesting as it can be, without overloading on too much information that might bore the reader.
A tip I have for you is that you might look at creating a database of editors/writers and group them according to specific news areas which they cover eg. health, automobiles, finance etc. This will aloow for easy reference in the future.
Also, journalists are usually busy all the time so it would be great if you could furnish an electronic media kit with fact sheets, backgrounders and images that are ready for use, so that it can lessen their burden in having to research or call you up to request for them. I used this method when I was pitching to the media and I found it extremely helpful in gaining coverage!
Hope my tips do help you and I'm sure you will excel in your future career! Keep the positive attitude up!
Nicholas Cross
Hi Stef,
Great tips! I definitely agree it is often difficult to achieve traction when pitching to the media.
If I may, I would add to that list developing relationships with the media. It is one thing to understand how they work and what they are interested in, but it is another to continuously have your work picked up. What I learnt over the course of my internship, was to pick up the phone. Like most people drawn to public relations, I'd like to think that I have a friendly disposition, so connecting with journalists can be fun and very rewarding. I found that the majority of my repeat successful publications came from those journalists that I had established a good working relationship with.
It sounds as though your internship was a great learning experience for, as was mine.
All the best for the future.
Lou
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