Contacts Schmontacts!
July 29, 2002
By Al Rothstein
"Do you have contacts with the news media in (name your city)?"
As a media relations professional, I get asked this question by prospective
clients quite a bit. My answer may surprise you. Relationships with reporters
are made and maintained by offering good story opportunities. That can only
be done if the media relations professional knows what reporters want, and
can match that with the client's needs. Knowing how to match the two is the
most important qualification your media relations professional, whether in-house
or outsourced, can bring. The media relations professional can have good contacts,
but if he or she does not know how to sell them on your needs nothing is gained.
Selling Your Story
As an example, I once had a client ask me to get the media out to a ceremony at which a check would be handed over to a charity. The instruction was, "Use your contacts to get us some good publicity." Knowing that reporters, many of whom I did not know, would probably not cover the ceremony by itself, I did some research to find out exactly who would benefit from the donated money. The next step was to secure an interview with one of the beneficiaries. This made the story personal. That was how the story was pitched. The reporters came out and the client received some well-deserved recognition.
It also helped that I had pre-selected the story angle and persons to be interviewed. This made it easier for the reporters to make the decision to cover the story. While pitching this story, if I had tried to sell the original check donation idea, no amount of contacts would have made the reporters come out. In fact, the reporters would have been wary of me the next time I called. The quality of the story made all of the difference.
Having contacts within certain markets can sometimes help, but they are not
everything. Reporters call back based on their interest in the story, not
on whether they know the person calling. There is too much deadline pressure
for them to call back everyone. They must be selective. They select the best
story ideas.
Al's advice:
- Contacts take a back seat to the quality of your story idea.
- Shape the story properly.
- Make the story easy for the reporters to cover.
- Bad story ideas make the media wary.
- Reporters must be selective because of deadlines and the desire to get the best possible story.
Al Rothstein is a media trainer and consultant with Al Rothstein Media Services,
Inc. For information, call (800) 453-6352, mediabrain@rothsteinmedia.com.
Visit our web site at www.rothsteinmedia.com.
