The Public Relations Blog

COVID-19 has radically changed the habits of most journalists

With 94% of journalists stating that some, most, or all of their reporting has taken a COVID-19-related pivot, their work, habits and preferences have adjusted to the circumstances created by the pandemic. 

Let’s examine Muck Rack’s recent study on the current state of journalism:

Learn why following up is your most powerful tool when pitching news reporters with our guest, Marjorie Comer.

Guest:

Our episode guest is Marjorie Comer, news consultant for Axia Public Relations. Marjorie is an award-winning public relations professional. Clients love Marjorie’s work ethic, speed, and diligence.

PR people are well aware that cold emailing is part of the media relations cycle. Being a regular practice, however, doesn’t mean that it should be done tactlessly. These tactics demands that you be masterful with your approach. Otherwise, you might end up in the bad books of a reporter or editor.

Even worse, your email might end up in the trash. Here are some tactics and openings you should avoid when pitching reporters:

Know the seven steps for better media pitching from Muck Rack’s State of Journalism.

Pitching isn’t just a skill needed in baseball; it’s an important part of public relations. It’s the skill that helps your company or client get positive news coverage. 

As PR professionals, it’s important to know how to successfully pitch to journalists. Here are seven actions to help excel in that skill.

Is it possible to guarantee your story will get covered in earned media?

One key aspect of public relations is getting your story told in the media. This is called earned media, and it’s the one thing everyone wants from public relations plans. However, getting an earned media story is a long process that requires successful pitching, finding the right journalist(s) to pitch to, and allowing them to transform your story into theirs. The reward is well worth it, but the process is difficult.

An addiction to appearing in the media can throw your public relations efforts into disarray.

Everyone loves media appearances. Heck, one of the goals of public relations is to get your company in the media via positive appearances to increase awareness of your company or brand. Getting positive media appearances is never a bad thing, right? Not always.

Learn how to improve your company’s online reputation with our host, Jason Mudd. Jason is the managing partner of Axia Public Relations.

Learn HARO and ProfNet best practices and how to give your query the best chance at a response with our guest Allison Richard of Cision.

Guest:

Our episode guest is Allison Richard, opportunities manager of members and content at Cision. Allison has been in the industry since 2003 and started as the media research supervisor for Cision.

Four key reasons why media monitoring is essential for your company

If you had the chance to read everything that was ever said about you or your company, negative or positive, would you do it? It’s probably in the best interest of your company to stay in touch with what the media is saying about your company.

With media monitoring, you can keep an eye on the public’s perception of you and your company.

Earned media coverage should be important to your company

Pitching the media can be daunting, especially if it isn’t something your employees do regularly as part of their job. As a PR firm, this is something our team does daily for companies. The dirty little secret that no one in corporate america – no one in your company – wants to talk about is how much corporate marketers hate pitching to the media. It’s a combination of fear, of rejection, of insecurity, of making a cold call, and of not having newsworthy content to share. 

Earned media coverage should be important to your company because it builds a brand while advertising supports it. As a company executive, it’s not your job to micromanage, but it is your job to ensure your company sees success by building credibility and awareness. Give your marketing team the resources it needs to be as successful as possible.