341 lines
9.5 KiB
HTML
341 lines
9.5 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
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<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>Making the Pitch</TITLE
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><META
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NAME="GENERATOR"
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
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REL="HOME"
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TITLE="Guide to Managing Media and Public Relations in the Linux Community
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"
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HREF="index.html"><LINK
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REL="UP"
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TITLE="Contacting the News Media"
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HREF="contacting_media.html"><LINK
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REL="PREVIOUS"
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TITLE="Contacting the Editors"
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HREF="contacting_editors.html"><LINK
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REL="NEXT"
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TITLE="Pitching for Different Media"
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HREF="pitching_media.html"></HEAD
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><BODY
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CLASS="section"
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BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
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TEXT="#000000"
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LINK="#0000FF"
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VLINK="#840084"
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ALINK="#0000FF"
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVHEADER"
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><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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><TR
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><TH
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COLSPAN="3"
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ALIGN="center"
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>Guide to Managing Media and Public Relations in the Linux Community</TH
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="contacting_editors.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="80%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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>Chapter 3. Contacting the News Media</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="pitching_media.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="section"
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><H1
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CLASS="section"
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><A
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NAME="making_pitch"
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></A
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>3.4. Making the Pitch</H1
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><P
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><SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"The Pitch"</SPAN
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> (that is,
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"selling"</SPAN
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> your story) has changed
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over the years. Pitching is often not done just by regular mail,
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telephone, or even fax anymore. These days, most contacts are
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made through email.</P
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><P
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>Before sending anything, you should try to find out how a
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particular editor or journalist likes to receive pitches and in
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what format the pitch should be presented. In-depth database
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research on numerous publications and reporters is available from
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companies like LexisNexis and Dow Jones and can be a real asset
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to public relations professionals looking for contact
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preferences.</P
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><P
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>Every editor or journalist has their own preferences for
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receiving news releases and pitches. Knowing whether to call,
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fax, or email makes a world of difference—and
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may even be the difference between getting your news read and
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covered, and not. While sending the same email to 20 editors is
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quick, easy, and painless, your pitch may not get the attention
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your organization deserves.</P
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><P
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>Though e-mail has simplified and certainly quickened the
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transfer of information between public relations professionals
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and their media contacts, email has some drawbacks. Email is not
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as personal as a phone call, as quick as glancing over a fax, or
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as formal as a letter sent by post. The ease and ubiquity of
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email can sometimes make building a working relationship with
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certain editors or journalists more difficult.</P
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><P
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>For example, a particular Bloomberg reporter (who shall
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remain anonymous) does not like receiving pitches by email. In
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her words: <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"Email tells a one-sided story in
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its pitch. It makes it impossible to ask questions regarding some
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uncertain aspects."</SPAN
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> Because of this, this reporter
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prefers to be contacted by phone. She will only read and accept
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email if the email relates to her beat and covers all the points
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she wants covered.</P
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><P
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>David Andelman of the New York Daily News prefers receiving
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pitches and news releases by fax, which he can read instantly
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without having to print them out. <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"I am
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[always] getting an abundance of press news,"</SPAN
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> he
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says. <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"But at least with faxes, I can filter
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through them easier and quicker than I can with emails, deciding
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what is trash and what I can use. Don't waste
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my time. We are a daily paper."</SPAN
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></P
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><P
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>Samuel Brittan, an economic commentator with the Financial
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Times in London, likes old-fashioned snail mail.
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"There are problems which occur with email, be
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it privacy issues, bounce-backs, or just an
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over-abundance,"</SPAN
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> he says. <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"I simply
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prefer to be mailed directly through the postal
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service."</SPAN
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></P
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><P
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>Carrie Donovan, an editorial assistant for The Washington
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Post, states: <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"Initially, I prefer postal mail
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pitches, since I receive artwork and photos for stories. Images
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sent via email tends to be problematic, either too small for us
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to run or it may look bit-mapped (jagged-looking)."</SPAN
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>
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She also observes that emailed releases are more likely to have
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missing information, something as seemingly obvious as an address
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to an event. Like most media professionals, Ms. Donovan wants all
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the facts delivered coherently and comprehensively. Failure of a
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public relations representative to do this is enough to turn her
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off completely.</P
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><P
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>Whatever method you use to correspond with an editor or
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reporter, always remember that media people are
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<EM
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>extremely</EM
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>
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busy. After all, they live and die by deadlines. Although you may
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want to know if your contact has received your pitch or news
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release, phoning them is generally not recommended. Most editors
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don't have the time to answer follow-up calls
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or engage in lengthy conversation. This again underscores the
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importance of giving them all the information in one
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"neat and clean"</SPAN
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> delivery. As Mr.
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Andelman bluntly states, <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"We aren't idiots. If you faxed it to us and you
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didn't get an error message back, you know we
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received it just fine. And if we decide to use it, chances are we
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will contact you for more information."</SPAN
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></P
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><P
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>First impressions count. The best advice we can give when
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you are dealing with a news editor for the first time is to
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tailor the pitch specifically to that editor's
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beat. Then sit back and hope for the best. Although this approach
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sounds unpredictable, this is the nature of public
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relations.</P
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><P
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>By corresponding with editors in the way they prefer (which
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may not be the easiest or most convenient way for you), you will
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set a good impression for your organization. With persistence and
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good manners, you may eventually become an authority to whom
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journalists and editors willingly turn for commentary.</P
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><DIV
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CLASS="section"
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><H2
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CLASS="section"
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><A
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NAME="getting_editor_attention"
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></A
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>3.4.1. Getting the Editor's Attention</H2
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><P
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>Editors pride themselves on keeping current with the latest
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developments in their field. Indeed, being current is a central
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aspect of their jobs and practically inescapable, considering the
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mountains of information delivered to their desktops. Since they
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take this responsibility very seriously, most editors
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read—or at least scan—every
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single release that comes in.</P
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><P
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>The big read usually begins as an accompaniment to the
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morning cup of coffee. Editors will read the
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release's headline, perhaps scan a paragraph
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or two, and decide whether the piece works for their
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publications. Since so much depends on passing this preliminary
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test, we will discuss in Chapter 4 how to give your release the
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best chance of being <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"picked up."</SPAN
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></P
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><P
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>Not every news release will contain earth-shattering news.
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In fact, many will be written mainly to keep the
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organization's name in front of the editors.
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Nonetheless there will be times when an item will be particularly
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newsworthy, timely, or significant to at least one editor. That
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is the time to pick up the phone and bring the item to their
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attention. Editors are sensitive to significant announcements and
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do not want to miss them any more than you want them missed, so
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calling is appropriate on these occasions. However, there are a
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few caveats.</P
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><P
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>First, remember <EM
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>never</EM
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> to call during the editor's
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"deadline time"</SPAN
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> of the day, week,
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or month. Note these periods in your contact database. Secondly,
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use the phone strategically. Do not phone too often or for
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trivial news—that is equivalent to
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<SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"crying wolf."</SPAN
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> If you will be
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making several important announcements within a short period, let
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the editor know you will be doing this instead of calling
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separately about each item. Only pick up the phone when all of
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your ducks are in a row; that is, when the information is ready
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to be released, and you are prepped and primed to answer
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questions. Finally, remember that any phone call should be brief
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and to the point, with additional information sent by email (or
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whatever format the editor has stipulated).</P
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><P
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>Using the telephone intelligently and to maximum effect
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will demonstrate your public relations savvy and professionalism.
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This, in turn, will increase your
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organization's credibility, increasing the
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likelihood that your news will be picked up.</P
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></DIV
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="contacting_editors.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="index.html"
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ACCESSKEY="H"
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>Home</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="pitching_media.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
|
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>Contacting the Editors</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="contacting_media.html"
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ACCESSKEY="U"
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>Up</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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>Pitching for Different Media</TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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></DIV
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></BODY
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></HTML
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> |