Mark Crowley, Staples Inc.
On October 13th, the Publicity Club of New England hosted the second installment of Securing TV and Radio Coverage in a Major Market. Moderated by Sean Martin of Regan Communications, the evening featured a panel of the top assignment editors and managers from around the region, including:
- Linda Olson, News Assignment Manager, New England Cable News
- Jason Laverty, News Assignment Editor, WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV
- Mark Degon, Managing Editor, WBUR
- Joe Roche, News Assignment Manager, WCVB-TV
The panel shared candid insights on how PR professionals can best work with assignment editors on a day-to-day basis, as well as their personal perspectives on trends in the news industry and where things are heading.
Below is a sampling of highlights from the evening's discussion:
On timing and content of PR pitches...
Mark Degon: Timing is key; the best times to reach the newsroom are often late morning and early afternoon. For "day of" news, an 8:00 a.m. press release may hit a half hour after assignments have already been addressed for the day - so it's important to be ahead of the curve.
Joe Roche: A quick, attention grabbing headline is key (on a given morning Joe has 800 new emails!). On certain days there may be a lot of hard news being reported on, so assignment managers look for feature stories to add balance.
On how PR professionals can be most helpful...
Linda Olson: New England Cable News devotes more space for feature content than traditional news stations, but a pitch still needs to have an element that most readers can identify with. If there's a hot story like H1N1 and you have a pitch that addresses the topic and is relevant, you're probably in luck.
On the role of the Internet...
Jason Laverty: If you decide not to break into live TV to cover a story, the next step becomes how to break the news on the station's website. There's always a need for added content for the web versions of stories, since TV provides a more limited window to report the story.
Linda Olson: The website has to come first in terms of the immediacy of a story; it poses new challenges for delivering information that is timely.
Joe Roche: News ideas are often vetted through the use of polls on the website; sources and interviews on particular topics are also vetted this way. Polls can provide insight into news ideas being worked on for a given day.
On how news content in changing...
Jason Laverty: The morning news is becoming increasingly less about rehashing the previous evening's 11:00 newscast. There's a growing focus on content for the morning news, the 11:00 news and the website.
Joe Roche: Viewers are often the first person on the scene of a news story now, so it has become more common for viewer-submitted photos and videos to make the news.
On pitching reporters vs. assignment editors...
Mark Degon: It depends on the story and the relationship that a PR person has with a reporter. In most cases, it is always good to pitch both the assignment manager and the beat reporter.
On the "don'ts" of PR...
Joe Roche: Don't push to have a story covered because the competition is covering the story.
Mark Degon: Don't call and explain how worthwhile your cause is; there has to be more to a pitch than helping a good cause.
Linda Olson: Don't limit your contact info to your Monday-Friday phone number. Often times there are opportunities for media coverage that come up unexpectedly on a weekend, such as a recent New England Cable News Sunday story about Restaurant Week.
Thanks to our panelists and moderators for providing a great evening of valuable tips and insights!
Below is a sampling of highlights from the evening's discussion:
On timing and content of PR pitches...
Mark Degon: Timing is key; the best times to reach the newsroom are often late morning and early afternoon. For "day of" news, an 8:00 a.m. press release may hit a half hour after assignments have already been addressed for the day - so it's important to be ahead of the curve.
Joe Roche: A quick, attention grabbing headline is key (on a given morning Joe has 800 new emails!). On certain days there may be a lot of hard news being reported on, so assignment managers look for feature stories to add balance.
On how PR professionals can be most helpful...
Linda Olson: New England Cable News devotes more space for feature content than traditional news stations, but a pitch still needs to have an element that most readers can identify with. If there's a hot story like H1N1 and you have a pitch that addresses the topic and is relevant, you're probably in luck.
On the role of the Internet...
Jason Laverty: If you decide not to break into live TV to cover a story, the next step becomes how to break the news on the station's website. There's always a need for added content for the web versions of stories, since TV provides a more limited window to report the story.
Linda Olson: The website has to come first in terms of the immediacy of a story; it poses new challenges for delivering information that is timely.
Joe Roche: News ideas are often vetted through the use of polls on the website; sources and interviews on particular topics are also vetted this way. Polls can provide insight into news ideas being worked on for a given day.
On how news content in changing...
Jason Laverty: The morning news is becoming increasingly less about rehashing the previous evening's 11:00 newscast. There's a growing focus on content for the morning news, the 11:00 news and the website.
Joe Roche: Viewers are often the first person on the scene of a news story now, so it has become more common for viewer-submitted photos and videos to make the news.
On pitching reporters vs. assignment editors...
Mark Degon: It depends on the story and the relationship that a PR person has with a reporter. In most cases, it is always good to pitch both the assignment manager and the beat reporter.
On the "don'ts" of PR...
Joe Roche: Don't push to have a story covered because the competition is covering the story.
Mark Degon: Don't call and explain how worthwhile your cause is; there has to be more to a pitch than helping a good cause.
Linda Olson: Don't limit your contact info to your Monday-Friday phone number. Often times there are opportunities for media coverage that come up unexpectedly on a weekend, such as a recent New England Cable News Sunday story about Restaurant Week.
Thanks to our panelists and moderators for providing a great evening of valuable tips and insights!
