At the turn of the decade, you couldn’t open a newspaper without reading a story about some high-flying dot-com or tech company. The coverage of these companies bled from the business pages to the feature sections to the front-page. And when the dot-com bust came, the coverage faded back in the opposite direction — the downfall of a tech company went from the front-page to a small mention in the business section. Coverage of the technology sector has stabilized, but it has also shrunk. Some newspapers eliminated entire sections or supplements. The media is still a bottom-line business; fewer ads mean less editorial space. Which makes public relations for tech companies that much more difficult. (Read more…)

If you’ve ever been on a blind date, you know it can be a harrowing experience. You’re thrust into a situation — one you may not even want to be in — and the only information you usually have is second hand. You want to make a good impression — unless you’re trying to get home early — so you have to be prepared. A face-to-face media interview or in-person meeting with a journalist is a lot like a blind date. (Read more…)

It’s easy for public relations firms to overestimate the impact of media coverage. Unless you land your client on the cover of Time or the front page of the New York Times, it can be disheartening to see how little impact a single piece of media coverage brings. My own history with media coverage is an example of how difficult it is to quantify the benefits of media coverage in the public relations world. (Read more…)

It’s perhaps one of the longest running questions in public relations: How do you deal with a journalist who has an agenda? Some journalists do have agendas; columnists are paid to comment on the news and provide opinion, not just report the news. Even in traditional reporting, sometimes a personal agenda seeps into a story. Just as every public relations consultant has their own style, background, level of intelligence, gifts, resources, etc., so does every journalist. (Read more…)

For a public relations firm, Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson was keeping quiet. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based outfit had found itself embroiled in a scandal in a town of less 5,000 on the shores of Lake Michigan. Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson’s client was Meijer Inc., a family-owned grocery and goods retailer that is one of America’s largest privately owned companies. Together they faced a public relations crisis that questioned the ethical standards of the public relations industry. (Read more…)

In my career as a journalist, I’ve dealt with hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who work in the  public relations industry in one capacity or another. Unfortunately, not many of those public relations professionals stick out in my mind. There is one PR rep who I’ve had the pleasure to know for the past few years, engaging in regular and long discussions about public relations, the media, and other issues of interest to PR Fuel readers. (Read more…)

PR giant Edelman and market research firm Inteliseek released a white paper entitled “Trust MEdia: How Real People Are Finally Being Heard — The 1.0 Guide to the Blogosphere for Marketers & Company Stakeholders” (Read more…)

In the world of modern TV talk shows, civility is a forgotten art. The term “talk show” is probably not even apt; these shows are basically televised confrontations. It’s odd how many talk show guests still expect to be treated with a certain sense of decorum. That’s why PR firms should be wary about booking clients for talk show appearances; seated in front of a combative host, what you thought would be an opportunity for easy publicity can quickly turn into a public relations nightmare. (Read more…)