Media Relations

After the spread of misinformation on Facebook prior leading up to the 2016 presidential election, the social giant began a partnership with journalists to factcheck and flag false news stories on the platform. Now, two years after the program began, some participating reporters are calling for its discontinuation, alleging that the partnership is little more than a crisis PR stunt and that Facebook has compromised their journalistic integrity.

When it comes to developing a sound PESO strategy, building out audience personas creates a smart roadmap for honing your media relations strategy. Audience personas don’t need to come exclusively through fictional characters. In Lockheed Martin’s case, they actually first came through a writer.

It’s hard to attract the attention of a mass-media journalist at a time when most of the media is absorbed with covering gossipy daily distraction stories, two top-flight D.C. reporters told PR News’ Media Relations conference December 6. Still, there are ways to pitch substantive stories to journalists, including finding a person to profile who’s been touched by a policy decision.

It’s an oft-asked question in PR: How do I get media to listen to my pitch and perhaps gain some coverage? A panel of journalists and PR pros offered answers to this query during a session on media pitching at PR News’ Media Relations conference Dec. 6 in Washington, D.C.

It comes up in most conversations and lingers, unresolved: how can I find and then retain great talent? During a panel I moderated recently on the future of PR, this topic was discussed at length,… Continued

We caught up with Muck Rack COO Natan Edelsburg ahead of his panel appearance at PR News’ Media Relations Conference, going down Dec. 6 at D.C.’s National Press Club, to hear what communicators can learn to better interact with journalists on social.

Transparency is important in all areas of communication, but particularly in health care. The need for transparency has focused on consumer communications, yet a transparent internal culture is necessary to provide safe, effective care. Google’s decision to hire Dr. David Feinberg to lead its health care effort is a vote in favor of transparency.

For all the sometimes contentious back-and-forth between PR pros and journalists, both types of communicator share some similar goals when it comes to getting a story published. Similarly, both roles share a need to master artful pitching, and knowing what an artful pitch looks like. When it comes to media pitching, staying mindful of your audience means that the PR pros getting the highest return on their pitches know what it means to think like a journalist.

Just prior to PR News’ Healthcare Social Media Summit in Baltimore, PR News and partner Crisp held a Communications Leadership Roundtable that explored integration, investment choices and best practices for getting staff to embrace digital communications, among other topics.

PayPal’s director of corporate communications, Amanda Miller, shares how PayPal packages its data to easily leads journalists to a story. “I believe that the relationship between a publicist and a reporter is a partnership, a collaboration,” she says. “We both have a job to do, and it’s my job to give you the information you need to tell the story that I want you to tell, then work with you to help make sure that the facts are accurate.”