As PR practitioners, we want to cultivate relationships with journalists and other gatekeepers, whether you work in an agency or for corporation, it's always a good idea to have friends at media outlets. Media is one of our key stakeholders as PR practitioners, Journalists can help us be successful at our jobs, and may be more inclined to write a positive story about our client or our organization. Journalists have a lot of responsibility in the work that they do, as do we, as PR practitioners, even though we are advocating on behalf of our client or our corporation, we still want to be ethical and to be perceived as an effective professional who plays by the rules. Remember the PRSA ethical guidelines, even a perceived conflict of interest does not reflect well on you and should be avoided. Journalists are extremely busy and are driven by deadlines, It is important that you understand the journalist media outlet, when is it published, how a story is chosen, what type of gatekeeper is there, etc. Do your research, think about what media outlet, what journalist could be beneficial to your client or organization. So let's talk about this and getting no weeds for a minute, let's say that I worked for Patagonia or REI, or the North Face, some kind of outdoor brand. I want to think about my consumers who buys online, who buys in the store, then I think about what journalists are my consumers listening to, what media outlets are they consuming? Those are the journalists you want to get to know, to develop relationships with, those are the journalists who you'll be working with to pitch stories, and to obtain coverage for your client or organization. You want to interact with those journalists on social media, maybe retweet their work which helps them to reach a broader audience or comment on their Facebook share, make an effort to be seen, be interested in what they are working on, time and experience build relationships. So be patient, you should be avid consumers of media, you also want to interact with journalists. You may want to reach out and introduce yourself, or you can wait until you are pitching a story. You want to understand how the journalist works and what the journalists expects from the relationship. In public relations, we strive to be mutually beneficial and so we want to develop the relationship into one that is effective for both parties. In today's interconnected world, it's often not possible to meet in person, but meeting through video is a way to connect. Of course, I will say the world might be burned out a bit on Zoom, the point here is to connect beyond email. You want to show the journalists that you are putting in the work into the relationship, you want to be positive, offer resources when available. Journalists are leaning on you to do some of the legwork, and once you prove that your leg work is trustworthy and high quality, you will begin to develop that relationship with the journalist. We already talked about news values and we'll revisit them again, when we talk about the press release in the next course, we must think like a journalist and gather information like a journalist would. In addition to the pitch and the press release, you want to have other resources available, fact sheet, backgrounder, investor report, executive bios, etc. This is called a media kit, this media kit is full of information for journalists, this is all the research in one place. So as an example, a local brand from Boulder is Bobo's Bars. These bars are like an artesian protein bar, like a homemade Clif Bar. Bobo's media kit would include a backgrounder, and this is the background of the company, the history of the brand. A fact sheet would be included, which is a list of facts about the brand, this could be about the leadership of the brand, ingredients of the bars, locations of distribution and so on. Then if applicable, the media kid also includes investor reports, the media kit may also include bios about the company's executives. All of this combined is the background research, a journalist would have to do on his own. Then your press release suggests a story I did to the journalist with a certain frame, the journalist then decides how to tell the story. Sometimes the journalists will tell the story the way the PR practitioner pitched it, other times the journalists will do his own thing and that's okay, that's earned media, we lose control after the pitch. We want to think through the pitching process, once you pitch the story, you need to be ready. That means if you pitched an interview with Bobo's financial officer, you need to be ready to produce that person when the journalist is ready, you also need to be near your email, ready to respond. Journalists often complain about PR practitioners, that we pitched the story and then go on vacation, that's not a good look. So the more you think and behave like a journalist, the more likely you will be able to foster a mutually beneficial relationship. Journalists write an associated Press style, you should order an Associated Press stylebook today, every PR practitioner should have one nearby. This is a style guide for all things writing and grammar, we want to use the style of writing when we craft a press release. If we do so, journalists are more apt to respond, remember we want to do some of their work for them. We talked about news values, but we want to ensure that what we are pitching to journalists is actually news, sometimes maybe more often than should be, PR practitioners pitch news that is not news. Ask yourself, who is going to care about this news, ensure that what you are pitching is meaningful to the journalist and his audience. We talk through a media kit and these pieces backgrounder, fact sheet and press release will hone in on the press release in the next course. Make sure that your source is ready to go, whether the journalist wants an interview or just a quote, don't pitch someone you can't follow through with, that will immediately ruin any hopes of building a relationship with a journalist. Lastly, some journalists might be interested in photos or videos, so if you can provide those types of resources, say so, that may peak the journalists interest. Over time as you work with journalists, you will naturally develop a relationship with them. Put in special care, think about your own personal brand and the purpose of the work you are doing. Think about what your client wants from the exchange, what the journalist wants, be strategic in your approach.
