Every morning from 6 a.m. to 10a.m., nearly half of the entire country is listening to the radio (in some clogged metropolitan areas, the concentration of listeners is higher
as people sit trapped in their idling cars). So while getting your company on the radio can be a PR bonanza, journalists who rule the airwaves are not easily wooed. The following
strategic points to follow when pitching radio journalists come from media-relations guru Lisa Kovitz of Burson-Marsteller. She hosted a recent Publicity Club of New York
luncheon featuring a panel discussion of radio producers and reporters, from network and local radio organizations around the country.
Know the organization you are pitching. As always, reporters are frustrated when publicists pitch ideas that are irrelevant to their station. Also, keep in mind the
idiosyncrasies of radio organizations. For example, National Public Radio (NPR) never covers self-help books, but frequently covers political books. And the popular show
"Marketplace," which airs on NPR, is actually produced by another organization, Public Radio International.
Great "sound" makes a great story. Visuals are to TV what great sound is to radio. If you've got an eloquent and engaging story told by a person with the same
attributes, producers' ears may perk up. And it's also important to spin a good yarn - these are people who have a way with speech, after all. For example, when one publicist
invited radio personality Margot Adler to a play about the death penalty, she almost shrugged it off. That is, until she heard that six former death-row inmates would be
attending.
Build relationships, Break the News. Check on whether reporters have written any books, or look into their previous beats to see what they might be interested in. You'll
have better luck hooking reporters if you link your pitch to the news of the day. For example, if you represent a doctor who specializes in treating skin cancer, you might offer
him as a source when news breaks about skin cancer research. Radio producers have rolodexes full of expert contacts who may be called at a moment's notice.
Practice good phone etiquette. Maybe this is PR 101, but radio journalists still like it when publicists ask first if they are on deadline before they launch into a
pitch. Also, don't rule out snail mail. Journalists are so flooded with email and voice mail that getting an analog letter is fast becoming a novelty and they just might
open it.