Missing The Boat. Panelists speaking at PR Newswire's media exchange in Cleveland agreed, the major dilemma facing PR professionals is meeting the deadlines of
different media. The speakers, all television professionals from major affiliates in Cincinnati, said it's PR's job to figure out the angle of a story before it's pitched. The
panelists also provided some hints on who should receive a pitch and how it should be formatted.
- Write up a one-page fact sheet of the press release and send it with the full release.
- Know your target and tailor the pitch tothe beat they cover.
- Releases should be sent via fax or email; if you're calling make it brief.
- Know the deadlines of your targets and know when its safe to call them.
- Pitch reporters first, then assignment editors, then blanket everyone.
- If a story breaks in a newspaper first, take a different angle when pitching it to other media.
- Give a heads-up when you know something is about to break, even if you may not be able to give out much information. (http://www.prnewswire.com.)
Hitting the Mark. If you're looking for reviews of new technology, InfoWorld and PC Week are the best bets, according to Sam Whitmore's Media Survey
(SWMS), an online publication focusing on media trends. Between Jan. 10 and Feb. 14, PC Week offered 26 reviews and InfoWorld presented 25.
If you're not after a review, but still have a high-tech topic worth pitching,
almost half of Fortune's editorial pages per issue were dedicated to
technical subjects in 1999. By comparison, Business Week offered a third
of its pages to the topic. (http://www.mediasurvey.com/public/archive.)
Gone Fishin'. A spiffy redesign is one of the lures Salt Water Sportsman magazine is using to reel in new readers as it attempts to build its paid circulation
base to 160,000from 150,000 in 1999. The publication focuses heavily on products, like new electronics, but welcomes PR pitches for resort pieces. Send queries snail mail to
Barry Gibson, editor, Salt Water Sportsman, 263 Summer St., Boston, MA 02210.