Filed under: newspapers, PR Tips | Tags: community, contact, Detroit, editor, Help a Reporter Out, Media, Michigan, newspaper, Peter Shankman, public relations, publicity, reporter
This post was going to be about the mind of an editor. I used to be one, so I know a little more about the topic than your average Jane.
But this morning, I got an e-mail from a friend and former office mate who is looking for work. Until today, she was a reporter working for Hometown Newspapers, a Gannett-owned chain in the Detroit, Michigan area. You may remember that in December, the Detroit Media Partnership (Detroit Free Press, owned by Gannett, and Detroit News, owned by MediaNews Group) announced it would be cutting back home delivery of both dailies to three days a week. At the time, Hometown employees were told it would be business as usual for them. Now Hometown’s entertainment section, Filter, and it’s fashion page, Pink, are gone, along with my friend’s job.
When I got the latest news, I thought, if this is “business as usual,” somebody’s got a strange sense of humor. But for today’s newspapers, lay-offs, cutbacks and economies of scale will likely be just that, at least in the forseeable future. The editors and reporters I know say they are literally white-knuckling through this, just hoping to keep their jobs.
Here’s where we come in, those of us who are promoting clients or our own businesses. With limited resources, offices consolidating and a general sense of fear gripping the industry, our hometown newspapers need help, and we can do them a huge favor, by becoming news hounds. I’m not talking about wearing a faux reporter hat, you haven’t got that kind of time. But you could be a kind of community “Deep Throat.”
As your neighbors are chatting about how the latest local tax increase has affected their lives, recruit some who are willing to be interviewed – then pass along those contacts to the local editor. Pay attention to the conversation among parents at your child’s school, to what your pastor talks about from the pulpit and what your favorite local coffee shop owner or regulars are talking about. Share those thoughts the next time you’re pitching a story or calling to request a back copy for your files.
What’s in it for you? Every contact leads to a more nuanced relationship, and that’s the kind of relationship you want with media. You’ll create a reputation for being helpful, informative and – this is the important part – an authority about your community.
Don’t be a pest about it. And, of course, don’t forget to first share interesting stories about your business or your clients. But you can become an editor’s or a reporter’s best friend.
And trust me, these days, those folks need all the friends they can find.
P.S. Another FANTASTIC way to help reporters all around the country is by signing up for Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out emails. They show up a few times a day with requests filed by reporters looking for sources. It’s great exposure for your business or clients, Peter writers very entertaining e-mails and believe me, the reporters are more than grateful for the help. Check out the HARO Web site.
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