PR Media Coverage

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 e… Read more

Public Relations Role Models: What You Can Learn From Pro Athletes

By now we all know it’s rarely worthwhile to hold up professional athletes as role models. While athletes still rank as popular heroes for kids, we’ve definitely seen a shift in the past decade to more traditional role models — teachers, doctors, etc. But one arena where it is worth loo… Read more

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Public Relations Industry

High energy prices, troubled industries, flatlining online advertising growth, and geopolitical concerns are just some of the headwinds the U.S. economy faces these days. One would think that these issues would also impact spending on public relations, but that does not appear to be the case. Good new… Read more

Turning the Tables: A Journalist Talks Public Relations

A while back, a friend who works in the public relations industry cornered me with a few questions. The following discussion about public relations and the media takes a little peek into how the two intertwined industries relate to each other.

Q: Would you ever consider moving to the dark side of public rel… Read more

Managing Public Relations Through the Strategic Press Leak

My forte as a journalist was reporting bad news. Whistleblowers, inside sources, gossip–I loved it all. I got a tip, tracked it down, and then the newspaper splashed a big, nasty headline on my story. Sometimes, even my editors would have been surprised about how I got my scoops.

The strategic press … Read more

Corporate Mottos and the PR Power of SIM

A corporate motto that says — in as few words as possible — a lot about your product or service is key to strategic image management (SIM). SIM demands that you choose a motto that telegraphs your values and prompts people to respond positively to whatever you sell. (And ultimately, to buy it.)… Read more

Public Relations Basics: There Is No Magic Press Release Bullet

The “magic bullet” theory of public relations — that one press release is all you need to grab the attention of journalists — is easily debunked. A single press release will rarely, if ever, do the trick. To quote a journalist friend, “familiarity breeds credibility.&#… Read more

Three Public Relations Pitfalls to Avoid

1. The Friday Afternoon Bad News Press Release

For decades, the White House has used Friday afternoon as a time to release bad news to the media. The rationale is that the media is wrapping up a busy week, Saturday newspaper circulation and readership is lower than any other day of the week, and the public is j… Read more

Embargoed Press Releases

Sometimes a public relations rep sends a journalist a press release that is “under embargo.” This means the reporter can’t publish a word regarding the contents of the press release until after a certain date and time. But in this day and age, journalists and public relations profess… Read more

Make Sure Your Press Release Contains “Just the Facts”

A press release is not an advertisement. A press release is a subtle piece of advertorial: a combination of advertising and editorial content. The point of advertising is to bring a product, service, or cause to the attention of a consumer, voter, volunteer, or contributor. It involves matching the righ… Read more