Giving the media what they want

I previously noted that when you are trying to earn media coverage you really have two audiences. First, the media outlet itself. Only after you convince them to broadcast or publish your message are you faced with controlling what message is sent to your second audience, the public.

Persuading your first audience is easy if you keep in mind a few simple guidelines.

1) Keep your ego in check. Be realistic. Admit that hiring a new associate is not newsworthy to the TV station in your city of 2 million. Would your neighbor care about your "news?" Would your brother-in-law? If not then it is likely not news at all.

If you pester the big TV station with such annoying non-news notices you are wasting your time. Worse, you are very likely to annoy the producers and journalists sufficiently that they may unofficially blacklist you and go elsewhere when real news is afoot.

2) The media is a business not a public service or your personal bulletin board. They pay their bills largely by selling ads. If no one is interested in their stories, their advertisers flee and they go out of business. Your job then is to convince the media that your story is something that will interest their target audience. Help editors and journalists do their jobs. Give them news. [See item #1]

3) Know your media outlets. The local weekly community paper is not going to publish your academic sounding article on the public policy implications of restricting punitive damage awards [So save that for the legal trade press if you are trying to build a reputation as the go-to attorney on punitive damage awards]. But the local community shopper paper might publish a notice of your firm's golf outing with the local Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce.

4) Take time to find the "hook." A "hook" is the perspective on the information that makes it news. A major market TV station is not going to broadcast that new-associate-hired notice. But they might be interested in more well-developed story about how your law firm is the fastest growing firm in the area and how your new hires contribute to the local economy.

Beware! Do not be tempted to employ "spin" or dishonesty to create a news hook. Make certain of your facts. Never, ever invent or exaggerate to make your information more interesting. Your deception will revealed and you will embarrass yourself and sully your reputation. Just take a minute to brainstorm and find the most interesting angle on the facts. Look at the paper. Listen to the evening news. What is topical? How can you tie into that?

5) Think in terms of relationships. Creating a media presence as part of your firm's overall public relations strategy is a long term goal based on credibility and your relationship with journalists and editors. Help the editors and journalists do their jobs.

In the long run you'll accomplish much more if you exercise some self-restraint and stop yourself from faxing that clumsy News Release about your remodeled boardroom to every TV station in the state.