Flooding in the Midwest. Wild fires in California. Snow in the Northwest. Scorching heat on the East Coast. And it’s still only spring. This is the time to pitch weather stories. If you sell or give away a product or service to help people cope with the weather, let the media know. They’re hungry for… Read More
TV & Radio
NPR Books Watch Contest goal: Get more authors on NPR
When National Public Radio interviews an author, it’s almost a ticket to the top of the Amazon.com lists. But the way book publicist Yen Cheong calculates it, the chances of an author landing an interview on National Public Radio is 15 times harder than getting into Harvard. Cheong, the assistant director of publicity for Viking and Penguin Books in… Read More
Teleseminars will teach radio, TV publicity tips
If you’re aching to get onto radio and TV, check out the five free teleseminars offered the last week in May by Web Business Ownership, devoted to teaching small business owners and entrepreneurs how to set up an Internet business. You can register here for Media Week 2008: Sunday, May 25: “Small Business Meets Big Media.” J. Roger Powe of NBC… Read More
‘The Takeaway’ competes with ‘Morning Edition’ on NPR
Publicity Hounds, you have a new program on National Public Radio to add to your publicity toolbox. It’s called “The Takeaway,” a rival to “The Morning Edition.” It’s a chatty, less-formal, more interactive program that launched yesterday on PBS in New York, Boston, Baltimore and several smaller cities. Hosted by John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji, the… Read More
TV interview tip: Don’t use the anchor’s name
The next time you do a TV interview, follow this tip from TV producer Shawne Duperon’s newsletter. Only use the anchor’s or reporter’s name when you’re saying hello. Never repeat it when you’re answering a question. “Your goal, as an interviewee, is to have the audience feel like you’re talking to them. Repeating the anchor’s name can make… Read More
Reality TV shows: How to sell your idea to Hollywood
Everybody, it seems, wants their own reality TV show like American Idol, The Apprentice or Project Runway. But how do you break into the lucrative world of reality TV, whether you’ve got an idea for a multi-million-dollar series or a low-budget niche show on cable? Be in West Hollywood from 7 to 10 p.m. on Monday, March 3. That’s when Media Bistro… Read More
Top 10 ways authors can make radio interviews pay
Joe Sabah, author of the book “How to Get the Job You Really Want—and Get Employers to Call You” brags that he’s sold $357,000 worth of books by doing 682 radio interviews “and 680 of them by phone.” He’s one of the masters of radio interviewing and he shares these 10 tips on how to make… Read More
Embarrassing a reporter during an interview can backfire
When you’re doing a media interview and the reporter asks you a question you’d rather not answer, never say “no comment.” The only thing that’s worse than that response is trying to embarrass the reporter by asking an unrelated question so preposterous that it’s designed to throw him off guard. People who do that usually end up… Read More
Dirty hotel glasses story on D.C. radio show today
Thanks to Publicity Hound Natasha Henry, a writer for the Tower Federal Credit Union in Laurel, Maryland, for letting me know that the story on dirty hotel glasses, which I wrote about several weeks ago, was featured this morning on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” on 96.3 WHUR-FM in Washington, D.C. “It’s interesting to see how fast this story is getting… Read More
Newspaper, radio layoffs, buyouts can work to your advantage
It’s time to say buh-bye to some of your favorite reporters. Right now, all over the U.S., there’s an exodus of experienced, high-profile, high-priced journalists taking early retirement. To boost profits, newspapers are offering buy-outs to some of their veteran staff members who will be replaced with cheaper, less experienced reporters and editors. Here in… Read More