It’s easy to still get excited when the Caller ID flashes the name of a newspaper, magazine, or television network. Media opportunities are, after all, the whole point of public relations. Those in the public relations industry can easily fall in love with the attention that comes from an audience, but you still have to be careful when accepting an invitation for a media interview or television/radio appearance. Many public relations consultants refuse to believe it, but not all media opportunities are golden. (Read more…)

The public relations industry and the media have always enjoyed a curious relationship. Those in the public relations industry will tell you that the media can’t do its job without PR flacks. Media folk, meanwhile, will suggest that public relations departments are little more than mouthpieces for people who would still speak to the media if the public relations industry never existed. And both viewpoints are correct–to a point. (Read more…)

Every so often, I undertake what I call my “Email Dump.” This is where I go through the approximately 12,000 emails that have piled up in my inbox and decide what I can finally delete for all eternity. Unsurprisingly, there a lot of press releases and public relations communications among the emails now languishing in my “trash” folder. (Read more…)

For public relations professionals, preserving a client’s privacy can be difficult when you’re also trying to cater to the needs of your press contacts. Recently, my employer changed its guidelines regarding how much access clients will have to our products. (Read more…)

…but might be afraid to ask. Consider the following list a series of tips and tricks for dealing with intractable or just plain obnoxious journalists. Heeding them may make the public relations process that much easier. (Read more…)

Your press release did its job. A reporter calls and wants to talk about your business. Now what? You need to build a relationship with the reporter, and the primary way you’re going to do so is through  a media interview. (Read more…)

Once again it’s time to dip into the PR Fuel mailbag and answer some reader questions. This time around we look at how to climb the public relations ladder, corrections, unethical journalists, and more. (Read more…)

A few years ago, Wired magazine editor-in-chief caused a ruckus when he announced he was banning public relations consultants from his email inbox. “I get more than 300 emails a day and my problem isn’t spam, it’s PR people,” Anderson wrote. “Lazy flacks send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can’t be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they’re pitching.” And that was only the start of Anderson’s tirade against public relations professionals who keep sloppy, out-of-date lists of press contacts. (Read more…)

It took me a few months to figure out her modus operandi. For four years, she called me once a month. It was always on the last Friday of the month, and always before lunch. We would chat for a few minutes I would ask a few questions; she would skirt around the answers. She would pitch me a story or two; I would sigh and act disinterested. Maintaining relationships with journalists is critical to long-term success in public relations. The journalist/public relations relationship must be fostered with trust and then fueled with consistent communication. Here’s a case in point. (Read more…)

Surfing the web this morning, I came across an interesting interview on Talking Biz News with Hope Heyman, a senior vice president at Edelman (http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=2096). Heyman has been in the public relations business for more than 25 years and she also worked as a business journalist. The interview touches on a number of facets regarding the relationship between public relations practitioners and business journalists, and Heyman’s insights should be required reading for any PR department or newsroom. (Read more…)