This week’s “Get to Know Boston’s Healthcare Media” panel event proved as popular as ever. The sold out event was moderated by Solomon McCown & Co.’s Michal Regunberg and included panelists from print, television and new media. They shared their insights, tips, thoughts on Twitter, etc. The Pub Club wanted to share some nuggets from the night.
WBZ-TV’s (CBS Boston) Medical Producer Debbie Kim is responsible for a story every day and mentioned that with resources tight, if she goes out with a camera, she is expected to return with a story. Her focus is always on people – people are what make her stories. She says she’s signed up for a Twitter account but hasn’t posted so the best way to communicate with her is over email. She reads them all! She advises PR people not to call her five minutes before the newscast.
Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech’s Julie Donnelly says she likes a good underdog story. She covers life science and the business of healthcare for the BBJ, and biotech for MHT. She shared insight from the BBJ/MHT merger and how it is to write and post to the web for both publications. She says that with MHT’s two week publishing schedule, it’s a great outlet for features. As with the entire panel, Donnelly isn’t using Twitter. With her Wednesday noon deadlines, she advises that PR people refrain from calling her on Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings, while late Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays are good times to contact her.
Boston Herald’s Healthcare Reporter Christine McConville covers healthcare as a business and life science. She says that the economic downturn has made her be more proactive since PR people have less good news to share. Recently she’s been using video to support her online stories. She turns in one to two stories a day and finds it a relief to have interviews scheduled a few days ahead of time. She says she’s responsive to emails and calls and is interested in spokespeople who are forthcoming with their background, their financial arrangements with companies and who get to the point quickly.
Xconomy’s Ryan McBride covers life sciences for Xconomy from Vermont. The founder of Xconomy has established relationships with “Xconomists” in each of their three markets. He thinks that Twitter should be used less as a newsfeed and more as a way to get insight from thought leaders saying things that matter. McBride reiterated the importance of PR people knowing the publication they’re pitching. He feels it's important to establish a relationship with him; the sender is the first thing he notices on email pitches.
MassDevice.com’s Co-founder and Executive Editor Brad Perriello shared information about the site’s launch last year. Its content management system feeds Facebook and Twitter (@massdevice). They run CEO Q&As and he likes when these executives speak candidly rather than just spitting out canned remarks. The publication focuses purely on medical devices, and it’s important that PR people have read it before contacting him or Editor Brian Johnson. He likes emails but not a lot of follow up, or asking if he received the email.
Dow Jones Newswire’s Jon Kamp commented that the newswire and the Wall Street Journal have been experiencing increasing crossover lately. He’s interested in interviewing people with real news, unencumbered by conflicts and who want to talk to him, just not “too” much. Kamp recognizes the need to report on news but that people can be hurt if he over-hypes something still in development. He says there are lots of things PR people can do to kill a good pitch but nothing we can do to save a bad one. In those cases, it’s best to point out what makes the source unique. He prefers contact via email.
Links:
Michael Regunberg: http://www.solomonmccown.com/about-regunberg.html
WBZ-TV: http://wbztv.com/
Boston Business Journal: http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/
Mass High Tech: http://www.masshightech.com/
http://www.bostonherald.com/
http://www.xconomy.com/author/rmcbride/
http://www.dowjones.com/
By Liza Heapes, Senior Account Supervisor at MS&L Worldwide
