How to Attract the Media

Media are never easy to get. Imagine how many press releases will a reporter and editor receive everyday?  Good media relations therefore can fine-tune your public relations efforts. 

In spite of the golden rules covered in chapter 6 of PR 2.0, here are some interesting thoughts I want to share with you guys:

1. Benefits. One of the first questions the media person may ask is "What's newsworthy about your story?". When it comes to finding a newsworthy angle, you really need to focus on benefits, for example, the benefit of a car can be the technology--the safest car in the world. By switching a product focus to benefits focus you have already made your story more trustworthy and of more interest of the media person.

2. Special event. Connecting your organization to a special event or an interview of newsworthy person is another way to hook up the media. Aligning your organization with charity events always benefits your more. Because the public is open to hear about charities from which media persons can easily get their audience appeal. Helping organizing charity events is one of the most appealing ways to  promote your organization. And from what I gained from my internship, arranging the media an interview of key persons of your company always gives you media attention. 

3. Personal contact. We also place an expectation on media that they will flock to us just because a press release was sent out. The reality is that your well-written release will get lost in the email shuffle of some reporter's laptop. So personal contact is highly recommended when pitch a story. First, make a phone call to the editorial department to notify them before you send your press releases. Brief your story over the phone till they hook on the idea you are proposing. Then make a follow-up call a week later after your press release outreach. This call helps you notify the media updated information of your story and most importantly remind them of your story. And keep contact information of media person and save it to your media list to prep for your next story.

Gaining media attention entails good story, how you promote it and the way you deal with media people.  It's a life-long project for every PR practitioner.

Resource: PR 2.0, On Deadline: The Media Relations