Media Relations

Earlier this month we asked questions of communicators who were honored as PR Professionals of the Year during 2018’s PRNEWS Platinum Awards luncheon in NY. We asked about improving relations with journalists, how brands can maintain a human touch in a tech-driven world and several other topics.

How does an airline that hasn’t sold a ticket since 2001 appeal to the public and resurrect a brand? We asked Sara Joseph, SVP, lifestyle & hospitality lead at BerlinRosen, TWA Hotel’s PR firm of record, about re-rolling out a brand that sparks fond memories and has an opportunity to tell its story to a new generation.

There’s no rule in media relations that says communicators need to answer a reporter’s question immediately, particularly during a crisis. Never lie to a reporter, but sometimes doing the best thing for a brand means deferring on a question until you’re ready with an answer that’s carefully crafted. Veteran communicator Arthur Solomon offers tips about how to do this well.

We can speculate about why Wells Fargo created bogus credit cards or the motivation other brands had for doing things they knew were wrong or even illegal. Tobacco giant Philip Morris International is trying to remake itself into a purveyor of smoke-less product. It says it wants to discourage teen smoking. Then why was it flouting its own rules and using young, attractive influencers to tout its cigarette alternative?

One of the key goals for communicators on both sides of the fence—public relations AND media—is to break through the noise and get your client, product or story noticed. It’s easy for someone to demand, “let’s make this go viral!” but there’s no magic wand to make relevance happen. Practitioners can start with the basics of good writing and constructive conversations, but where should they go from there?

Our regular roundtable feature includes honorees from the 2018 PRNEWS Platinum PR awards and speakers from The Social Shake-Up. Among the questions we put to them: What qualities does a successful communicator need? With the onslaught of technology, how can brands ensure customers have a human experience? And what social media trends are you eager to learn more about during the Social Shake-Up?

The disparity between the number of communicators and reporters is widening. The ratio stands at 6:1, meaning that journalists may feel even more besieged. This puts an emphasis on knowing how to do media pitching in the most successful ways. PRNEWS asked ClarityPR to survey journalists about what turns them on or off about PR pitches. We also asked how many journalists have Twitter shamed communicators. Their response was unfortunate.

Our regular Stealable Slide feature looks at a slide Kevin Elliott of Hill + Knowlton Strategies presented during PRNEWS’ Crisis Management Summit in Miami Beach last March. Interestingly, Elliott says the key lesson the slide illustrates is not seen on the slide itself.

Diversity is both good to do and good for business. That concept should apply to media in its use of sources. Unfortunately, data show media sourcing in western media favoring men 3 to 1 over women. Preliminary findings indicate media with a more representative source base may reap financial and other benefits. PR pros can help media by curating and promoting a diverse source base.

The opioid epidemic has touched one in three Americans, a new survey from NPR and Ipsos shows. In addition, pharma’s narrative about its role in the epidemic has failed to resonate with a significant majority of the American public. What steps should industry communicators take to rehabilitate pharma’s reputation with the public? Crisis communications provides a possible option.