Social Media Will Never Replace Media

One of my, usually, favourite blogs about the journalism profession got it all wrong yesterday. Amidst all the current talk about the changing face of the media, they posted a link on Twitter to their latest blog post. The new post said that media relations would soon be a thing of the past due to social media.

The social media is an addition to the media landscape. But, remember that it is not really media. It has much in common with media, with marketing, and even with advertising. But, it is not likely to outright replace any of those.

Like media coverage and marketing, a presence in the social media is communicating messages. Like advertising, and unlike media coverage, you can control your own message. Like advertising, your own message is less believable than that of a third-party writer. Like media coverage, the social media can also give you negative coverage when third parties decide to use it to write about you. The social media is a more powerful tool for making a topic or an idea go “viral”. It also allows readers to be more selective in the information they receive. Likewise, it allows organizations to reach a highly targeted audience. On the other hand, there are times when you need your message to reach as large an audience as possible. Reaching your followers on Twitter or your fans on Facebook is targeted, but it is a poor way to grow your audience.

A long, long time ago newspapers were the primary source of news for all citizens. Then came radio. Then came television. Then television became more segmented and offered targeted audiences with specialty channels. With each change, reaching an audience became a different task. Each change offered more opportunities and more choice. Social media is just another choice added to the media landscape.

The objectionable blog post that projected no future for the media relations profession supported the viewpoint by saying that P.R. people are now using social media instead of pitching stories to journalists. They are posting their news releases to Twitter and Facebook. That is probably true of some lazy P.R. people who are not media relations specialists. They can create billable hours by reaching out to a trendy, easy-to-use medium that may or may not suit their client’s needs. It is a good example of the reasons I have always made a clear distinction between media relations and P.R. — a topic that has appeared on this blog before. Will the P.R., or media relations, practitioners who are turning solely to social media reach the goals of traditional media relations? Will they get high visibility, gain new fans or members, achieve greater public awareness or public education, and increase corporate sponsorship and other funding? Those have been the goals of media relations in my career. Social media can contribute to those goals. But Facebook and Twitter, or any other social “media”, will never achieve all those goals alone.

Timeliness and the Media – News Travels Fast or Not at All

I’ve been a tardy blogger lately. I apologize to all you regular readers for going so long without a post. It’s a good thing I don’t treat news releases and writing for publication in the same manner. My blogging habits are, admittedly, a bad example for those to whom I emphasize the importance of timeliness when reaching out to the media. If I have any excuse it’s that I’ve been working on projects for which timeliness is more important than blogging.

There are simply no excuses for not being timely when looking for publicity. Whether you are issuing a news release, meeting a journalist for an interview, or returning a call to a journalist, being prompt is critically important. Journalists live their lives against a deadline. If you respect that, you can prevent negative publicity. You may also increase the publicity you get because they know you are accessible and won’t cause them frustration.

The relationship between tardiness and negative publicity is rarely understood by the subjects who do interviews. If you are late or hard to track down, you are pushing the journalist’s deadline. You make their deadline tighter and tighter. The end result is that they write a story about you in a rush. The writing task comes on the heels of a period of frustration. They may not intend to give the story a less than positive tone, but human nature is that they are not feeling positive about you at the time. It can easily come through in the tone of the story.

I often receive a news release the day after news has happened. Some organizations believe this is not a problem. Their response is “It’s okay with us if it goes in the paper a couple days later”.  What they fail to understand is that a late news release does not result in news being published or broadcast later. It results in it not being published or broadcast at all. Media organizations that handle daily news will not allow themselves to appear to be late. They don’t want their readers and viewers to think they are using old news. They would appear unprofessional. Unless it is very big news, they will simply ignore it.

If you are issuing new releases or doing interviews, have a similar position on appearing professional. Even if you are targeting weekly newspapers or trade publications and you know they their deadline is not the day of your news, issue your news release immediately when the news happens. It makes you look professional. They don’t know who else is on your mailing list. But they are journalists and they understand the importance of timeliness in news.

How Should You Be Charged for Media Relations Services?

If you decide you need professional help to embark on a media relations campaign, how should you expect to be charged? Firstly, there are several ways that media relations consultants work.

 

Some publicists charge a retainer and provide continuous representation. Their retainer will be based on an estimated number of hours they expect to devote you or your organization. This is a good method because you have representation when a sudden need arises. You also have someone to consult with, without making prior arrangements. Be careful, however, that you don’t waste the publicist’s time. If you do, that estimated number of hours will go up when the contract is re-negotiated. This is probably the best arrangement for individuals and for some organizations.

 

It is also possible to have on-going, continuous representation without paying a flat monthly fee. The publicist simply bills you each month for the hours devoted to you. This works well for those who are just starting a media relations campaign. It may cost less than a retainer. But, once things get busier, the problem is that you never know how big a bill to expect. Then, going to a flat retainer is better for most.

 

Some publicists will work on an as-needed basis and charge by individual projects. This works well for special events, where a flat fee for the pre-event and event period is fairly common. Some publicists will work on a pay-per-news-release basis. I do not recommend this for several reasons. Developing a good relationship with the media is more than issuing news releases. If you are paying by the news release, then who takes calls and requests for you between releases? Remember that not all media stories result from a news release. Who advises you when problems with the media arise? Depending on how much you pay for a single news release, there is probably little or no follow-up covered. And, if the publicist is not representing you or your organization, on an on-going basis, how much information will they have at their fingertips when a journalist calls with a question? Probably not enough. That is, of course, if they are even willing to take the call in-between paid news releases.

 

A newer idea in the media relations business is for the publicist to charge by the interview or by the article/television feature that results from the media campaign. This is not yet a common way to do business. The publicist can be motivated by the money to go after publicity that may not be in your best interests.

 

If you are an organization, with some staff, you may want to consider media relations training for all your staff. This can be more cost effective than paying for representation. Media training with some follow-up consulting can put your staff on the road to handling a media relations campaign on their own. That will cost much less than on-going consulting and representation fees.

 

Don’t Miss a “Newspeg”

When I give presentations about media relations there is one term I use with which, not suprisingly, none of the participants are familiar. But most go away with the idea, use it and get results.

The term is “newspeg”. A newspeg is a story that is in the news and getting significant coverage. If you can link it somehow to your organization’s interests, you can create an opportunity to piggyback on it. Savvy politicians do this regularly. If they have something to say about a current topic, they have an easy time getting access to the media to say it. Other organizations can do the same with basic media relations skills. for example, if a famous person has a health condition, it is a golden opportunity for the organization that represents that condition to seize a public education opportunity. The same is true for an organization that represents a social cause. Organizations of almost any type, as well as individuals with varying expertise, can utilize these publicity opportunities.

Recognizing and capitalizing on newspegs takes the same basic skills as other media relations function. But, first, you must watch and read local, national and international news. You must have the ability to recognize a “hook” for a story that can link your organization to the news story. And you must know which reporter to whom it should be “pitched” and how to do so. In some cases, a news release will be appropriate instead of a one-on-one pitch. In any case, you must act quickly to capitalize on newspeg opportunities.

Who Really Owns That Photo You Purchased?

Who owns a photo of you, or one of your organization’s activities? The answer may surprise you. In all but a few cases, the photographer owns the photo and all rights associated with it.

 

One exception would be if the photographer were commissioned by a third party (possibly a magazine or corporate sponsor) at the time it was shot. Even in this case, it would have to be specified in the agreement between the photographer and the third party in order for the third party to retain any copyright. Another exception would be, if the photographer were trespassing on private property when he took the photo. That could enable you to stop the use of it and override the photographer’s right to sell it.

 

If you purchase a photo from a photographer who has taken one of you, all you own is the paper on which that photo is printed. Or, if you purchase it electronically, all you own is the right to print it once for a specific use, unless otherwise specified. Any other use, such as publication, posting on the internet, or use in advertising requires another purchase from the photographer. What you are purchasing is the “right” to use copyrighted material, for a particular use. The photographer sets the fee.

 

This becomes a factor in media relations in several ways. Small publications, such as specialty media and community newspapers, will often entice you to break copyright law. After an interview, or after they receive a news release from you, they will ask, “Do you have any photos we could use?” Yes, you have photos, but you do not own publication rights to them. Legally, it is between the publication and the photographer to establish those rights. Yet, too often, the subject of an article just hands over their favourite photo for illegal reproduction.

 

People, organizations and businesses have websites. Reproduction of a photo on a website is equivalent to publication. It is NOT like hanging it on your wall. It is in the public domain. Websites are also, in some cases, considered advertising. Use of photos in advertising is more expensive than editorial use, because the user is expecting to make money from the use of this photo.

 

The digital age has created another thorny issue in photo copyright. Scanners with home computers make reproducing anything easy. If a magazine publishes a photo (that they had all legal rights to use) it does not give you the right to reproduce it. That is the case, even if it was used in association with an article about you or your organization. Read the small print in the front of any magazine and it will say something like “Reproduction of any kind in whole or in part is strictly prohibited by copyright”.  Reproducing such a photo layout and putting it in the public domain, such as on a website or in an advertisement, will give you two possible opponents in court. In most cases, the publisher and the photographer would both have copyright violation cases against you.

 

The question of who owns an individual’s image is different than who owns a photo of an individual. That is a topic for another post. Obviously, there are non-editorial uses of photos where your permission is required to use your image. Even in those cases, the rights to the photo belong to the photographer. Let’s suppose you make a deal with a sponsor who wants to use your image. The right to use the image is between you and the sponsor. The right to use the photo is between the sponsor and the photographer.

 

The only time you would have copyright to a photo of yourself would be if you commissioned the photographer to take it and had a provision in the agreement giving you copyright. Copyright law is so sweeping that the exclusive rights to photos (unless otherwise contracted) remain with the photographer, or his estate, for fifty years following the photographer’s death. 

 

Consulting vs. Insulting — Media Consulting is About Making Change

I was on an internet forum for consultants recently and saw a thread with a great title. It was called “Consulting or Insulting?”. It was started by a consultant whose clients were insulted every time he tried to promote change within their organization. This experience is not new to anyone in the consulting business.

 

As a media relations consultant, my job is to increase and enhance publicity and visibility, on behalf of my clients. A client once told me abruptly, “I don’t need media training”. The comment came when I tried to initiate change in the way her organization conducted its media relations. In other words, when I did what she had hired me to do.

 

If a particular function is going well, then why do organizations or individuals hire a consultant who specializes in that function?  They must feel they are lacking success in this area to even approach a consultant.

 

Journalism and media relations are professions that few people, who have not worked in the field, understand well. Many make the mistake of hiring a broad-based public relations firm rather than a publicist or true media relations specialist.

 

So, if you are admitting you need help, be prepared to make change. You are not being insulted if your consultant wants you to stop certain activities and implement new ones. If I hired an engineering consultant, I wouldn’t be insulted if I learned that I know little, if anything, about engineering.

 

The bottom line is that if you hire, or consult with, a media consultant, you have probably already realized that your media relations program needs work. It isn’t as effective as it could be. Therefore, be ready for change. You’ve already told yourself your present program isn’t working. Don’t be insulted when they tell you that you were right.

Media Relations Training

A client said to me recently “We need media training on how to deal with bad publicity”. The remark came on a day when one of his associates had received some high-profile negative publicity. Other media was following-up by hounding my client for a comment. But what this client doesn’t understand is that media training is a pre-emptive action, not a reactive one. The media training should have come before the bad publicity. It probably would have prevented it.

Media training can be delivered in several different ways. One-on-one media coaching is for individuals who will be faced with interview opportunities. It will focus on interview skills as well as understanding how the media works, why they do what they do, and how to develop a successful relationship with them. Group media training is beneficial to organizations. Volunteers, staff and members can all have a different role in the media relations function. In addition to the above skills for spokespeople, others can be taught how to recognize a potential story; how to pitch a story to a journalist; how to prepare and issue news releases and other written media material; and research skills to equip themselves with the facts and figures they need to help a journalist do a story.

Media training can help an organization raise it’s profile, which will contribute to reaching its fund-raising and membership goals. It helps prevent bad publicity by preventing the mistakes that sometimes cause it. Bad publicity is also prevented simply by having the skills to develop good long-term relationships with the media.

Yes, in accordance with my client’s thoughts, the best way to react to bad publicity would be covered in any media training. But, the training would, in many cases, prevent the need to have to resort to those skills.

Beware of “Citizen Journalism”

Everyone is a journalist in the 21st century. Of course, that depends on how you define a journalist. If you define it as someone who has a forum on which to publish or broadcast news and views, then everyone is a journalist. Thanks, mostly, to the internet. But, it’s not only on the world wide web that we are seeing “citizen journalism”. CNN and other news networks are using amateur video shot by anyone who happened to catch something interesting. The viewing public has no idea what kind of “vetting” process such videos go through before going to air.
 
But the internet still poses the greatest dangers, as well as some potential benefits, of citizen journalism. As long as the reader/viewer understands the difference between this and traditional journalism, there is less potential harm to result. Unfortunately, they often don’t.
 
Blogs and forums pose the greatest problems. Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are somewhat less problematic because they have settings to limit access to certain groups. Although, nothing posted on the web is ever completely private. On the other hand, most blogs and many forums are fully searchable on Google. Yet, often the content is provided by people (even children) who frequently use a pseudonym. They feel powerful while writiing anonymously and often make statements that would never be allowed in conventional journalism. Short of getting a lawyer to force the forum owner or blog host to reveal the true identity of the writer, the victim has little recourse.
 
“Real journalists” often get a bad rap and there are certainly bad ones in the profession. However, those who work for major media outlets have a set of guidelines to follow. Every organization has a journalistic standards and procedures manual with guidelines governing fact-checking, libelous or slanderous statements, identifying sources of information, and identifying the line between opinion and fact. In addition, each reporter has an editor overseeing what he or she creates. And, when in doubt, they have a legal department to consult.
 
“Citizen journalists” have no such guidelines, have no one to whom they report, no legal department, and have no policies and procedures manual to consult. They are free to make malicious and untrue statements. They are also free to make you a hero, even if you might actually be a bum.
 
My clients and I have both been victims of, and also benefited from, citizen journalism. If you are in the public eye today, even within a small niche market, you are a potential victim. There are some great bloggers out there and blogs are becoming a popular source of information, news and opinion. But, the internet is relatively new in terms of legal precedents being set. And it is a difficult medium to govern, whether legally or ethically.
 
A good publicist, combined with you practicing good media relations, can exert considerable positive influence on your image in traditional media. That’s a lot harder to do when every man, woman and child in the world has the right to publish their thoughts.

What Your Mother Taught You About Media Relations

I’ll bet your mother taught you some of the most important things you need to know about media relations. I’m not suggesting that she taught you how the media works and how journalists think. Those things are important to know. I also doubt that she taught you how to know what constitutes a story. That’s also important. Those things you will learn in media relations training, if you pursue it. Unless your mother was a journalist, I’m sure she didn’t teach you any of those skills. But, I still bet she taught you some very important basics, such as:

 

1.     Always be on time. Journalists are always working on a deadline. They will write nicer things about you if you don’t waste their time.

2.    Be polite. If you are nice to journalists, they are more likely to give you positive publicity.

3.    Treat others with respect. This includes respecting their deadlines and their needs, as well as treating them as if their work is as important as yours.

4.    Tell the truth. If you don’t tell the truth, it will catch up with you in the end. It may result in publicity, but not likely the kind you want.

5.    Do what you say you will do. If you can’t be there, or can’t be on time, don’t make the commitment. There are few things more dangerous to your public image than being a no-show.

6.    Have integrity.

 

These basic principles apply not only to direct dealings with journalists. Applying them to all your dealings with media outlets and others who impact your media image, such as publicists, will serve you well.

 

I’m willing to bet that your mother taught you at least some of those principles. Whether you are new to dealing with the media or have been doing it for years, those basics will serve you well.

Don’t Ask to See the Questions Before the Interview

If you want to appear media-savvy, don’t ask a reporter to see the questions in advance of an interview. Few professional reporters, with major publications or broadcast outlets, will comply with such a request. Good interviews result from spontaneous answers, not prepared statements or rehearsed, “canned” answers.

 

You do, however, have every right to ask questions of the reporter (or have your representative do so) before agreeing to an interview. You will want to feel out the angle he or she appears to be taking with the subject and their area of interest. If you have doubts about trusting the reporter, you have no obligation to oblige. If you feel  there is a lack of chemistry between you, you can turn the reporter down. Ask your own questions and go with your instinct. But, don’t ask to see their questions before the interview.