Media Relations

Communicators take pride in the messages they craft. They consider their work important. For Dr. Jennifer Mieres, a cardiologist and the keynote speaker at PRNEWS’ Top Women in Healthcare Communications awards luncheon later this month, communicating health information to the public is vital. Her goal is to ensure people have a sound understanding of their role in preventing disease. From there, they can become empowered partners in their healthcare, she says.

If you want to capture the attention of Baltimore Sun investigative reporter Doug Donovan as he navigates hundreds of emails daily, you’d better keep the topic relevant to the areas he covers—and try to make him laugh!  A funny subject line is pretty much a guarantee that he will open your message. Donovan shared with PRNEWS some tips for success with reaching a busy reporter with your pitch, and examples of some subject lines that actually won his click.

We rarely cover live events in this publication. PRNEWS senior content manager Sophie Maerowitz gave us a reason to make an exception. She attended a PRSA session featuring former Hearst executive Joanna Coles, who offered so many interesting tips and tactics that we had to share them with you. Here are some gems from the sharp yet blunt mind of Coles.

There are few areas more talked about than healthcare. Just look at the recent presidential debates. So, you might think healthcare communicators have it easy. The truth is they need to deal with life and death issues as well as explaining the high cost of healthcare. And what about all that medical mumbo jumbo? Ahead of next month’s PRNEWS Top Women in Healthcare Communications awards, we asked several finalists and honorees about communicating some of the industry’s pain points.

We all face two big challenges: a flood of information at our fingertips, and less and less time to make any sense of it. So if your online newsroom isn’t visually appealing, easy to quickly navigate and useful, it’s likely you won’t reach the audience and media you’re targeting. Here are some quick tips from experts to ensure your brand newsroom isn’t costing you any opportunities.

Putting Facebook’s problems with inconsistent messaging aside, the “platform vs. publisher” debate has considerable relevance for PR pros, whose success in Media Relations largely depends on building out some variation of a PESO strategy that involves a traditional ad spend, an earned media component, solid SEO and robust owned content delivery channels. Communicators are in a position to become influencers of Facebook’s policy, not just through their partnerships with marketing and ad spends, but by treating the ubiquitous social network as a “publication” and not a “platform.” Here’s why.

On July 16 PRNEWS will honor some of the best female communicators in healthcare during its Top Women in Healthcare Communications awards luncheon. NY’s Yale Club will be the venue. Ahead of that gala event, we asked a trio of healthcare communicators, who also will help us present the awards, about how to break through the noise of the internet and maintain the human touch.

Right or wrong, many executives think the only media that matters is the Wall St. Journal and the NY Times. OK, so how do PR pros get their brands a mention in one of those papers? We turn to someone who’s climbed that mountain. Frederik Bjørndal, who heads press relations for N. America and Europe for Novozymes, a Danish biotech firm, provides his checklist for getting major media coverage.

To celebrate Father’s Day it seemed fitting to revisit the history of the man dubbed the “Father of PR,” Edward Louis Bernays. Like any father, Bernays was not without his successes and failures, and controversial debates. For 103 years, this master of public opinion helped shape some of the cornerstones of PR.

There are few fields more compelling than healthcare. And with the stress and regulation involved in healthcare, communicators in this field are some of the most creative, strategic and versatile in the business. It is fitting that PRNEWS is presenting the Top Women in Healthcare Communication Awards in NY during a gala luncheon July 16th at The Yale Club. Communicators from key healthcare practice areas will gather to celebrate, learn and network.