Why do I call them boring news conferences? Because during my 22 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, I can’t remember attending one news conference that wasn’t a waste of time. Once, when I worked as an editor, I remember getting a call from a PR guy who screamed at me over the phone… Read More
How an author/therapist piggybacked onto runaway bride
As I was writing last week’s tip about how to piggyback off the runaway bride story, my friend Barbara Bartlein was doing just that. Barbara, a professional speaker and author of the book “Why Did I Marry You Anyway? –12.5 Strategies for a Happy Marriage,” saw all the attention the Runaway Bride was getting and… Read More
Child Safety Stories
The happy ending to the story of the 9-year-old girl who escaped from her kidnapper in San Jose, California begs for follow-up story pitches on anything dealing with child safety. Schools, law enforcement agencies, non-profits, and companies that make safety equipment should pitch anything related to: –Technology that keeps children safe –Statistics on missing children… Read More
Interview Journalists
When a reporter calls me for a telephone interview, I seldom drop what I’m doing and start answering questions immediately. I always try to buy time, even if it’s just 5 or 10 minutes, and I ask if I can return the call if they’re not on deadline. Not one reporter has ever refused. The… Read More
PR pros still far behind with blogging
When I attended the Media Relations 2005 conference in San Francisco April 10-12, one the things that surprised me most was that the PR profession doesn’t take blogging as seriously as it should. There was only one panel devoted to blogging and RSS feeds. And I sat at a table with PR people who told… Read More
CEO Profiles
Every PR person dreams of his or her company’s top executive gracing the pages of the newspaper, the darling subject of a flattering profile. But that’s not the dream of the reporters doing the interviewing and writing these stories. At a panel discussion entitled, “Beyond Puff Profiling,” at this year’s Society of American Business Editors… Read More
Use Celebrities for Publicity
Celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse, Curtis Aikens, Wolfgang Puck and Martha Stewart caught my attention when I saw their smiling faces looking back at me in the June 2003 issue of Cooking Light magazine. Those four–and six other celebrity chefs–accompanied a brief on how your personality reveals the type of cook you are. A recent study… Read More
Build relationships with reporters
Get to know reporters who you want to cover you, and start building relationships. But how do you start building relationships with someone you don’t know, particularly a reporter who is pitched dozens of times a day? Take a tip from Jeffrey O’Brien, senior editor at Wired magazine. “We love to talk about our work,”… Read More
Runaway bride story begs for comment
People have been buzzing for a week about Jennifer Wilbanks, the 32-year-old runaway bride-to-be, who bolted from Atlanta four days before her wedding and set off a massive search by police and the FBI. This story screams for letters to the editor, opinion columns and expert opinion on radio and TV talk shows from authors,… Read More
Publisher starts speakers bureau
Today’s Wall Street Journal (Page B8) says HarperCollins Publishers Inc. is starting a speakers bureau in the U.S. to arrange speaking engagements for its authors. Its best-known authors are Michal Crichton, business author Jim Collins and children’s book writer Daniel Handler. The publisher says the bureau is expected to generate a “substantial” revenue stream for… Read More