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.

A Press Release Has Three Chances to Be Read

Many people who embark on a media relations campaign are overly concerned with the volume of news releases they issue. On the receiving end, many journalists are also concerned with the overwhelming volume they receive — the majority of which don’t suit their needs or don’t provide useful information. A significant percentage of news releases are deleted without ever being opened.

 

If you are sending news releases, you have three chances to be sure that recipients read them.

 

1. The sender’s address – Whoever is making contact with the media on your behalf needs to guard their reputation among journalists carefully. If journalists feel they are “spammed” or feel that the information provided is not of use to them, they may hit delete upon seeing the return address. On the other hand, if they have had useful information from that address in the past, they might jump in an open it quickly, eager to find another story.

 

2. The headline – Now you are depending on the receiver having gotten past the return address or maybe the sender’s address was unfamiliar to them but you were lucky and they choose to read further anyway. Now, the headline, which will be the subject line in the e-mail, has to tell them that this news is for them. If it doesn’t sound like news at this point, it’s unlikely to become news.

 

3. The lead – The lead is the first line of the body of your release. To get to this, the recipient has to have opened it. But, opening an e-mail does not come with an obligation to read the whole thing. The lead in a news release has to grab attention. It should be the most important nugget of your news in a nutshell. Keeping the most important part in a succinct nutshell is important. This is one of the many areas of media relations where journalism training and experience, or at least an understanding of the craft, is critical. If a news release is written in a newspaper style, the reader is more likely to see a story emerging. If the lead is strong and newsworthy, they will read the entire release.

Media Relations is Like Going on a Diet

Developing a media relations campaign can be a long, slow process. But the payoff can be worth it. The word “relations” in media relations is key to the meaning of the term. It’s about developing relationships. Like any other relationship, it takes time.

Some people who start a new event or organization, or some athletes who have one big win, immediately expect to be a popular media commodity. But, in most cases, it’s a matter of making the right moves and having realistic expectations over time. Even established events and organizations have to constantly make appropriate changes to remain media-friendly in an ever-changing media marketplace. Most of the athletes or other public figures who have strong name recognition, achieved that over a long period of time.

If you have to lose 20 pounds it won’t happen overnight. It will happen one pound at a time, over a long period of time. But the payoff will be worth it. The same is true of the most successful media relations campaigns. High visibility usually doesn’t happen suddenly. On the rare occasion when it does, it is often not sustainable. 

Think Outside the Box

A client of mine was enquiring about one of my media relations seminars for her staff. She recognizes the challenges that her organization faces in getting their message out to their target audience, through the media. As I outlined the subject areas that my seminar covers, she queried, “Are these widely accepted practices in media relations?”.

I had never been asked that before, but this client’s question made me realize something important. The true answer to her question is “Not necessarily, but that’s why they work.”

I don’t mean to suggest that gimmicks or off-the-wall stunts are the way to get publicity. But most public relations firms, who practice media relations, use a corporate public relations formula. They use a standard set of practices that has become the status quo of the business.

In practicing true media relations, successfully, you use standards that are widely accepted practices in journalism. That may not always be the same as the widely accepted practices of the public relations or media relations practitioner.  But if you are trying to appeal to journalists, understanding their craft is key.

What is Media Relations?

So, we’ve examined the difference between media relations and public relations; why a person or an organization would undertake a media relations campaign; and advised you that the first step is to learn how the media works.

But just what is media relations? I define it as a proactive, planned process through which an individual or organization develops a relationship with the media that makes them more likely to get coverage. It also makes them easier to cover. If you are easy to cover because of your cooperation, accessibility and interview skills, the media will think of you more often.

The process of developing this relationship can be provided by a professional or can be simply a matter of learning about the needs of the media and working on your interviewing skills. Equipped with those skills, you can make a successful plan.

Public Relations or Media Relations?

A lot of people and organizations looking to raise visibility or enhance their relationship with the media retain a public relations firm. However, it is worth examining exactly what your goals are to see if that will really help you reach them. Many PR firms include media relations among their services, but I feel that media relations is a very narrow specialty, best performed by someone with a lot of journalism experience.

As I journalist, if I’m chasing down an important story, the last words I wanted to hear are, “We’ll put you through to our PR department”. I want cold, hard facts. While some PR professionals practice media relations very well, media relations is really a narrow specialty within the PR field. To a journalist “PR” has a negative connotation often associated with spin and damage control.

A good media relations representative understands the journalist’s needs; presents the journalist with legitimate story ideas that suit their beat and that will please their editor; and helps the journalist to understand the subject and find the appropriate interviews. In general, they help the journalist to do their job and look good to their boss and their readers or viewers. As a result, the clients benefit because appropriate stories get to the appropriate reporters and the reporters learn that they will be treated fairly and efficiently when covering that client.

I always say “The PR person can be a journalist’s worst nightmare while a good media relations representative can be a journalist’s best friend.”