Stay Connected



The Phelps Group on Twitter



Sign up for our Creative Strategies newsletter

 


June 2004 - Posts

  • How to get a journalist to

    Jun 04 2004

    Before you send out that next press release or pitch, think: "Is this interesting to anyone but me?" Often, PR professionals lose sight of what´s most important to journalists — "newsworthiness." So what, exactly, is newsworthy?

    • New products and/or services with widespread value
    • Corporate actions that affect a large number of people
    • New and innovative approaches to an industry

    What isn't newsworthy? Minor product changes or updates. The same thing said a different way. Equally important, if not more so, is how the message is delivered. It can mean the difference between becoming an editorial darling or being doomed to the e-mail "block" list.

    • Keep it short — Don´t pile on too much information.
    • Ditch the superlatives — Not everything is the "best," "greatest" and "ground-breaking." These adjectives simply end up on the cutting room floor, so save yourself the effort.
    • Get personal — It's advisable to personalize your pitch, as long as you spell the editor´s name correctly.
    • Offer exclusivity (and mean it) — If you play editors against one another, they´ll find out and you´ll lose.

    Editors need to deliver timely and important information. If what you have to say isn't worthy, you can bet it won´t be news.