Tag Archives: newspaper

Press relations tip from a person I loathe

There is an activist that I loathe, a spokesperson for causes that go against everything I believe in. When I would hear or see him speak, my blood would boil. I’m not going to say his name because I do not want to give what he stands for any spotlight whatsoever.

Before he passed away, he was everywhere in the media here in the USA: in newspaper articles, in TV programs, on the radio. Some days, I saw him multiple times across networks. And I would seethe and wonder: why do reporters and producers call this man all the time to comment on, well, anything at all? Why do they give him so much attention?

At some point, I heard a press person be asked this very question. And he said something along these lines, “Because he will always, always return our calls, within minutes of our calling. He places a priority on talking to us. Whether it’s national network or a tiny newspaper in a small town, he always talks almost immediately to any press person that asks for an interview or comment.”

It immediately made me think of all the times I told the Executive Director of wherever I was working that some reporter was on the phone, or had emailed, and wanted an interview or comment, and the agency head telling me “I don’t have time” or “I don’t want to” or “Yeah, just give me the info, I’ll call” but she or he never did. I thought of how often I have had to BEG a senior staff member to do a requested interview, how I’ve offered to sit in on the interview and answer any questions the director may not know. And I thought about how, later, after not doing these interview requests, these same people will complain about lack of coverage from the press.

I worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival for two summers, the second time as the head of publicity, both times pre-Internet, and I got a lot of compliments about how much press coverage I was able to land for the shows. Someone asked me for my “secret”. And it was easy to answer: I treated the press as my customers. I would knock myself to get them absolutely anything they needed, no matter how tight the deadline. I also made sure, before the interview with the famous person, that the reporter had everything about the upcoming show that person would be in, with the key information – what, when, where and how to buy tickets – right up front. Whether it was Entertainment Tonight, the entertainment reporters from CNN, or a tiny community newspaper in Vermont, everyone got immediate callbacks, everyone got complete info, everyone got some kind of access, even if it wasn’t precisely, exactly the access they wanted. And I have to give kudos to the two Executive Directors I worked under, first Nikos Psacharopoulos and then Peter Hunt, both of whom would do absolutely any interview with the press they were asked to do, no matter how crazed they were with final rehearsals, no matter the absolutely horrid mood they were in.

Sure, some reporters were still hostile and wrote the negative stories they had every intention of writing before they ever called me. But for the most part, I really enjoyed working with the media at Williamstown, and I think they really enjoyed working with me, because they saw me as on their side – and never knew all the many things I was hoping they wouldn’t find out about and want to do a story on… I remain grateful that digital cameras nor camera phones existed at that time.

I realize this was more than 20 years ago, but I think it’s still the key to getting press coverage: treating the press as customers and making calling them back quickly a priority. Also, keep sending those “old fashioned” press releases: I still use them for nonprofits I work with, and they still work in getting coverage – or, at least, a mention.

One more lesson: the man I loathed also always had a message, always had something to say. He knew what his central message was for whatever media moment was offered. Some speakers get that naturally, but very often, communications managers have to brief and prep someone before an interview regarding such a central message. Executive Directors: listen to your communications manager, meet with them, work with them, and craft that central message well! The payoff for doing so is enormous.

Also see:

        • Basic Press Outreach for Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organizations
          Like fundraising, press relations is an ongoing cultivation process. These are basic, low-cost/no-cost things you can do to generate positive attention from the media.
        • Daily, Mandatory, Minimal Tasks for Nonprofits on Facebook & Twitter
          There are a lot of nonprofits using Facebook and Twitter just to post to press releases. And if that’s how your nonprofit, NGO or government agency is using social media, then your organization is missing out on most of the benefits you could gain from such. Facebook, Twitter and other social media are all about engagement. This is a list of must-do social media tasks – these tasks take minutes, not hours.
        • Outreach Via the Internet for Mission-Based Organizations
          It’s more than just putting up a Web site; it involves finding and posting to appropriate Internet discussion groups, sending emails to current and potential customers, using online social networking… it’s pro-active, interactive and ongoing. Here’s how.
        • Your initiative should exploit UN days
          International days, weeks, years and decades, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly, offer excellent outreach opportunities for nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, charities, government initiatives and other agencies focused on improving and enriching communities and individuals, as well as protecting the environment.
        • For Schools: You Should Be Using Social Media. Here’s How.
          This advice talks not only about exactly what your school should be posting to social media, but the consequences of not doing so, as well how to handle tough questions and criticism. It also links to legal advice.
        • Getting More Viewers for Your Organization’s Online Videos 
          Videos are a great way to represent your organization’s work, to show you make a difference, to promote a message or action that relates to your mission, etc. But just uploading a video isn’t enough to attract an audience. This page on my site offers specific steps that will get more views for your organization’s videos on YouTube.
        • Where Are Your Organization’s FAQs?
          Reporters love FAQs – frequently asked questions and their answers. Are yours on your web site?
        • Handling Online Criticism
          Online criticism of a nonprofit organization, even by its own supporters, is inevitable. It may be about an organization’s new logo or new mission statement, the lack of parking, or that the volunteer orientation being too long. It may be substantial questions regarding an organization’s business practices and perceived lack of transparency. How a nonprofit organization handles online criticism speaks volumes about that organization, for weeks, months, and maybe even years to come. There’s no way to avoid it, but there are ways to address criticism that can help an organization to be perceived as even more trustworthy and worth supporting.
        • Lessons for online outreach to nonprofits, NGOs & charities
          From working with the nonprofit Knowbility in 2017 & 2018.
        • Frank description of what it’s like to work in communications in the UN
        • My consulting services regarding communications and community engagement

Goodbye newspaper, goodbye community?

I don’t just come from a city in Kentucky; I come from a community. And I believe that one of the things that has made Henderson a community has been our local newspaper, The Gleaner.

I started reading The Gleaner as soon as I started to read. Everyone in my family read The Gleaner. Every neighbor read The Gleaner. Every adult I knew referenced the newspaper regularly. We all knew what city and county ordinances were up for debate, who had died, who was running for what office, what was happening in the state legislature, who was getting married, who had gotten divorced, local team sports scores, what Spring musical the high school was doing, and all the other things a community should know. The news from our paper crossed lines of culture, ethnicity, religion, political belief and neighborhood. The news was about us, for us. In so many ways, The Gleaner was the best representative of our community, as a whole.

I worked at The Gleaner when I was in high school. I worked there again as a summer intern in 1986. More than 25 years later, when I’m back in Henderson, people recall some of the stories I wrote, some I don’t remember myself. When I left Kentucky, my parents bought me a subscription to my hometown paper, and I would get the newspapers in bundles in the mail. I was long gone from Henderson, but I knew what was going on there. I used what I learned from my time working at this paper in my press relations career, which I chose over a journalism career. More than once, I had a reporter tell me, “I can so tell you worked at newspapers. You always have the info I need!”

In the 1990s, what I dreaded for so long happened: the local owner of The Gleaner sold the newspaper. It came under the management of a newspaper in another state. I got a taste of the identity and news Henderson was losing when I went to The Gleaner‘s web site but couldn’t access the front page story about the death of Dr. Donald Cantley, a beloved member of the Henderson community, a former president of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics who devoted his life to improving the physical and mental health of children. He established seven school-based clinics to provide care for children with inadequate health coverage of other barriers to care, and was a pioneer in his approach to caring for children with behavioral disorders. It was huge news in Henderson when he died, but the web site had been revamped in such a way that anyone with a Mac OS just a year out of date couldn’t access it. Furious, I called The Gleaner, and a staff member and friend told me, sorry, but the web site is managed by the Evansville, Indiana Courier Press. So I called that other office, asked that the front-page story be emailed to me, told them why, and they sent me… the obituary from page 2. Because they didn’t know who Dr. Cantley was. They didn’t know he was on the front page of the newspaper in Henderson, Kentucky.

When I was last in Kentucky, I was stunned at the skimpiness of my hometown paper. The cuts in reporting staff have been devasting on local coverage. And the Internet has not replaced this information; I just tried to find some of the information I used to find in my hometown paper, by spending time on various organization’s social media and web sites – funeral home web sites, school social media accounts, government social media sites, etc. I think I know less than a quarter of what I would have known in the same amount of time with a version of the newspaper produced in the way it was in the 1980s.

I remember when I was studying for my journalism degree at Western Kentucky University. One of my professors said that, if you are ever out of story ideas in your local community, just look at the newspaper’s classified ads – there will be something there that will lead you to a story. Classified ads in newspapers now barely exist, replaced by Craigslist. Honestly, I feel like most Craigslist ads are either scams or from creepy people I really don’t ever want to meet face-to-face.

I long ago accepted that my hometown newspaper is going away, slowly but surely. I know this is happening all over the USA. 105 newspapers closed in 2009 alone. In 2007, there were 55,000 full-time journalists working at nearly 1,400 daily papers; in 2015, there were 32,900, according to a census by the American Society of News Editors and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University, and that number doesn’t include the big buyouts and layoffs last fall, like those at the Los Angeles TimesThe Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Daily News, among others, and weeklies and magazines like National Geographic.

But what is the cost of this loss? “You know who loves this new day of the lack of journalism? Politicians. Businessmen. Nobody’s watching them anymore,” said Russ Kendall, quoted in this blog on the Bill Moyers site. Kendall was a long-time photojournalist and editor who is now self-employed as a pizza maker. Indeed, I’ve wondered often if state legislatures have been so prolific in some of their legislation that rolls back civil rights legislation, women’s access to health care, environmental laws and more because they know they aren’t being scrutinized by the public the way they were 30 years ago, because of the demise of newspapers.

But the loss is also the loss of community. What city and county ordinances are up for debate? What is happening in the state legislature? What Spring musical is the high school doing? I ask – and people aren’t sure, they can’t remember… not in Henderson, not in the small town where I live now, in Oregon. Local information is slowly disappearing – along with local connections. And social media ain’t so social.

Update December 10, 2018:

“When a city loses its newspaper, there aren’t reporters around to keep municipal spending in check. When a city spends money irresponsibly, it becomes less trustworthy. Then it loses its chance to get loans with low interest rates. This study found that taxpayers pay more in loan rate increases than they would have if they subscribed to a local paper.” From NPR.