Story Proposals: Customizing A Press Release For Reporters

Who says a press release is the only way to court the media? Story proposals can sometimes be more effective when approaching your personal “A list” of journalists, presenting customized pitches that match their sensibilities and the news beat they cover. (Read more…)

Public Relations Basics: Taking the Mystery Out of Community Relations

Of all the subsets of public relations, community relations is perhaps the most perplexing. That’s because the term encompasses so many different types of activities. When budgeting for public relations, how should you decide where to focus your community relations dollars and energies? By going back to the basic steps of planning any public relations effort. (Read more…)

Four Media Outlets Offering Unexpected Public Relations Opportunities

Clients often have lofty expectations, pushing for “big hits” instead of a steady stream of solid media exposure. In doing so, they may miss out on important public relations opportunities by ignoring the possibility that a magazine with a circulation of 30,000 can do as much for them as an article in a national newspaper. With this mind, here are four media opportunities–two specific media outlets and two types of media outlets–that I believe should be on the pitch list of anyone who works in public relations. (Read more…)

Gossip at Your Own Risk

Another week, and another fun journalism scandal. This one, however, contains an interesting public relations element.

Late last week, news broke that Jared Paul Stern, a freelancer for the New York Post’s infamous Page Six gossip column, has been accused of trying to extort money from billionaire Ron Burkle. According to press reports, Stern promised Burkle “protection” from scurrilous gossip items in exchange for cold, hard cash. (Read more…)

Martha Stuck By Her Guns

Watching the culmination of the Martha Stewart trial is something I won’t soon forget. (Read more…)