Posts Tagged ‘journalism’
Monday, April 15th, 2013
I believe as a reporter it was my responsibility to ask tough questions or at least ones that viewers at home were mumbling to themselves while watching the news. Some people thought these questions reflected my personal views. The fact that my last reporting job was at a Fox station compounded some people’s perceptions.
In today’s environment of partisan journalism, some questions actually reflect the journalist’s personal views. (I hesitate to use the word journalist in the previous sentence because a journalist in reality should be objective.) However I want to believe most partisan journalism is confined to the cable news networks with some exceptions outside that arena. I want to believe most journalists are just asking tough questions because that is their legitimate job.
Don’t take it personally when reporters ask tough questions. Few reporters want anyone to mistake them as a member of a public relations team. Some reporters go overboard and feel obligated to ask tough questions, to dig deeper into a story, even if they’re covering a bake sale.
First, try to learn what reporter will be interviewing you, limiting the chances someone will catch you off guard. Second, understand most journalists are covering news, not conducting an interview for the yearbook. Expect tough questioning and practice for it. Don’t let them see you sweat. Don’t say something sarcastic about the questions. Some journalists are looking for such a reaction. Don’t give it to them. It’s not personal. It’s business, the business of journalism.
Tags: cable news networks, journalism, journalists, media, media training, news, news network, PR, Public Relations, reporters
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Monday, January 14th, 2013
I was eating chips and salsa preparing to play Wii when the DVR began recording “Big Miracle.” Real life events of people collaborating to free trapped whales inspired the movie. I didn’t expect the movie to depict a series of interesting media and public relations scenarios for businesses. My all-important analysis is based on events depicted in the movie not real life.
An oil man despised by an environmentalist initially shows no interest in helping save the whales. He then realizes saving the whales may improve his image among critics and ease his path to future business deals. His motive at first is selfish, but the lesson is companies the public perceives poorly can find PR opportunities in strange places.
The movie depicts President Ronald Reagan, not particularly embraced by environmentalists, as finding an unexpected PR opportunity in helping save the whales and allowing the Soviets to assist.
A colonel, whose first effort to save the whales fails, skillfully handles a mob of following reporters asking if he misled the president on the chances of success.
The environmentalist, played by Drew Barrymore, learns being personable can prove a more effective way to sway public opinion than spewing out a series of dreadful facts.
Two Minnesota men who travel to Alaska learn how news events, instead of commercials, can provide businesses opportunities to establish themselves as leaders in their industry.
Big Miracle also raised old issues about journalism. People love inspiring animal stories. And TV news stations have changed little in about two decades. Stations continue to lean toward covering crime and crap and must often be persuaded to realize the value of covering a fluff or feature piece. Forgive that last line. A public information officer recently told me TV news no longer leaves room for good feature stories. I don’t agree but convincing stations to cover one can feel as tough as freeing whales.
Tags: drew barrymore, environmentalists, journalism, media, media training, news stations, PR, president ronald reagan, public information officer, public opinion, Public Relations, reporter, reporters, tv news, tv news stations, whales
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Sunday, December 30th, 2012
Tags: business video, business video production, citizen journalism, communication, Communications, interview, interviews, journalism, local news, PR, video, video email, video marketing, video production, video production companies, video production company, video production for the web, video production service, video production services, videographer, videography
Posted in Video | No Comments »
Thursday, November 29th, 2012
Wow! First off, plenty of people liked our Ragan.com article questioning the use of terms such as “media advisory” and “immediate release” on news releases. But others … you would think I wrote a controversial article about taxes, spending and the fiscal cliff. People complain how politicians turn negative and can not respectfully disagree. After reading some of the comments posted about our article, I’m beginning to believe some of the politicians learned such behavior from the public. Several of my critics depicted my attempt at humor as snarky and mean-spirited. I don’t care if you disagree with me, but what drives someone to verbally throw me off the cliff? I don’t dare claim to know the answers about society, but I gather I raised questions about some long-held practices. And instead of some of these PR pros seeing this as an opportunity to question conventional wisdom and at least for a split second consider a change of course, they decided the better approach was to depict me as an empty-headed jerk who must have stolen his awards and graduated by mistake from one of the country’s best journalism schools. But those folks don’t know my story because they didn’t take a few seconds to read it. Hey, the good news is a couple of people I haven’t communicated with in a long time read the article and got back in touch. We exchanged some pleasant emails.
http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/45820.aspx#idc-cover
Tags: best journalism schools, immediate release, journalism, media, media advisory, news, news release, news releases, politicians, PR, PR pro, PR pros, ragan
Posted in Media Relations, Public Relations | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
I have often heard some people argue there’s a media conspiracy to get certain politicians elected or to push certain agendas. Yes, some news organizations have gained reputations for being either liberal or conservative. But I scoff at the idea that multiple news organizations and an invisible underground association of journalists conspire secretly together to get what they want. Why? Because most media are just not that organized. Here are some examples:
Evening producers sometimes assigned me stories they didn’t know the morning show already aired. If the media can’t communicate within the same room, how can they conspire nationally?
When management devises a new plan for delivering the news, they often quietly scrap that strategy weeks later. They couldn’t commit to a lengthy conspiracy.
Many journalists aren’t devoted to a particular political party. They are loyal to anyone offering them free food.
How bad was the communication in some newsrooms? I often emailed people two desks over to ensure I had a record of my words.
For every liberal writer behind the scenes in journalism, there is a well-paid anchor or manager not interested in paying one extra dime in taxes.
Many in media consider themselves an expert in all topics, so a conspiracy would almost certainly implode from within.
Managing a conspiracy would take too much time away from fantasy football and discussing shoes.
Many members would drop out of the conspiracy after learning the schedule didn’t allow a full hour for lunch.
The paperwork alone for filling out time sheets, delivering silly memos and taking care of reimbursements would make a conspiracy financially impossible and too slow to be effective.
Conspiracies don’t work by putting a bunch of people up front and in the public eye just because they have pretty faces.
Tags: Communications, fantasy football, journalism, journalist, journalists, media, morning show, news, PR, producer, producers
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Sunday, September 16th, 2012
For a while, my mom would not loosen her grip on reading the newspaper or watching the evening news. She laments how people prefer to read headlines than stories and how subjectivity is replacing objectivity on air.
Then she bought an iPad. As if she hadn’t believed the technology headlines, the ability to read numerous newspapers online and in the palms of her hands fascinated her. She began considering what was once the unthinkable: canceling her newspaper subscription.
I already knew how often her eyes looked upon her iPad. She began replying to my emails within hours instead of the following day. And her responses mostly ended with the preprogrammed “Sent from my iPad.”
She recently reminded me something I told her about working in a TV newsroom. Near my desk, the anchors read on live TV afternoon teases to persuade viewers to tune into the 5pm news. I sometimes laughed at the teases, whispering to co-workers how I could learn the rest of the story immediately by Googling the topic. Some producers surprised me by not realizing people no longer needed to sit on the edges of their seats and wait hours to hear the latest details. The way the public consumed the news had changed and some in the business were, in a sense, still pecking away at typewriters.
I guess my point never fully resonated with my mom until she said how she feels addicted to her iPad. She feels addicted to knowing every minute might bring a new detail to a developing story and today’s technology puts those constantly changing headlines at her fingertips.
The frequent scenes of people in restaurants or just about anywhere always staring down at their tablets or smartphones bring their own troubles. People appear to make less conversation and miss the little things occurring around them. But on The Flip Side, the evolution of journalism is unmistakable, although my mom has not abandoned the evening news. She might not watch ABC, CBS or NBC live anymore. But she never misses it due to her DVR.
Tags: CBS, ipad, journalism, live tv, media, Media Relations, mom, nbc, news, newsroom, PR, producer, producers, smartphone, technology, tv news, tv newsroom
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Monday, September 3rd, 2012
This is my brother. He is an actor. You expect actors to always have on hand a cool head shot that makes them look like a stud. That makes sense.
So someone re-tweeted a college journalist who was preparing to cover a story. The reporter’s black and white profile picture caught my eye. My goodness! Is she trying to get a scoop or seduce people?
A news anchor once told me one of the advantages of working in a TV newsroom is your co-workers often are beautiful people. Some of my friends who are not in the business often discuss the “hot” reporters in town. I’ve always argued I would attract many more Twitter followers if I were a super attractive woman.
Beauty is part of the TV newsroom. A former manager told me when she was in college, she never imagined one day calling reporters into her office and explaining how their look or clothing was inappropriate for air. And sadly, some viewers cross the line. HR must help some reporters handle uncomfortable letters in the mail from people who we might label stalkers. Social media makes the scene even dicier. TV anchors have told me about some of the messages people send them. I worked with one reporter who attracted so much attention in public, her photographer often played the role of bouncer or security guard.
Both male and female journalists should rise above this. You can post pictures of yourself appearing pleasant, professional and pretty without the come hither look. Men can do the same without portraying themselves as some dude at a bar about to deliver a really cheesy pick-up line. You might be hot stuff, but don’t try so hard to prove it. A woman searching to land a job in a bigger market once emailed me her work, asking about job openings. The video included several head and body shots. I wondered if she was targeting this version specifically to middle-aged male news directors who didn’t care about the words coming out of her mouth. I’ve seen college interns walk into the newsroom wearing clothing that implied they mistakingly thought the station was broadcasting from the beach.
Don’t deny it. TV news doesn’t show us too many ugly faces. Beauty alone lands some people jobs and that applies to both men and women. I doubt a news director would acknowledge all this, but let’s keep it real. It just so happens beautiful people make great broadcast journalists? All I’m saying to our news babes and our news studs is if you want people to respect you for the way you gather facts and not just your face, then respect yourself. Don’t paint a picture that journalism was the back-up plan to acting or modeling.
Tags: broadcast journalist, broadcast journalists, Communications, journalism, media, Media Relations, news, news anchor, news director, news directors, newsroom, PR, reporter, reporters, Social Media, tv anchor, tv anchors, tv news, tv newsroom, Twitter, video
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Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
A fellow reporter introduced us to “his” intern from Arizona State University. The intern walked into a cesspool of cynical people sitting in their seats. As if fathers warning their sons, several people surrounding me warned the intern to re-direct his career path away from broadcast journalism.
When the reporter introduced the intern to me, I told him to “follow his dreams.” The group exploded in laughter. I unintentionally tried to inspire the college student with words said in a deadpan fashion. I portrayed myself as a beaten man giving one last thumbs up before my head disappeared into quicksand. Until the day I left the TV station, co-workers randomly told me to “follow my dreams.”
I genuinely meant, “follow your dreams.” I know firsthand broadcast journalism isn’t always glowing in the glory of Walter Cronkite. Instead of regularly saying thank you for your contributions, some stations simply hope you appreciate being employed. Instead of handing you a company credit card for out-of-town stories, some stations will want you to pay up front and ask you, if you forgot to obtain an itemized receipt, to call the restaurant and request someone to fax the necessary documentation related to your meal. (The restaurant may hesitate to help you because the station required you to give the nice waitress a tip you consider to be low.) While some stations are happy to try to meet your vacation requests, others will ask you to calculate every day off a year in advance. While some stations will congratulate you on a new job and notify the public of your part in the company’s success, other stations will view anyone who leaves as a cousin of Benedict Arnold. While some stations will watch your time with James Bond technology, other stations will define your efforts by quality not quantity. And some stations simply pay better.
Young journalists shouldn’t walk into any job as if they landed on a new planet of shiny, happy, perfect people. But young journalists also should follow their dreams and never let a disgruntled news veteran discourage them. Most of my college classmates in broadcast journalism never tried for their first job after hearing the salary and the small city they might initially live in. I, on the other hand, rented an apartment in North Carolina, drove about an hour each way to work and smiled like a young fool filled with passion.
Follow your dreams. I mean it. And if a station inexplicably takes months to reimburse your out-of-town expenses after you light up the airwaves with a series of awesome live shots, don’t worry. You’ll eventually get your money … I think.
Tags: Arizona, arizona state university, broadcast journalism, James Bond, journalism, journalist, journalists, news, North Carolina, PR, reporter, TV station, walter cronkite
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Monday, April 30th, 2012
- 7:08 pm, Wednesday: Local TV reporter is interested in airing a client’s story Friday. She expects to air story unless breaking news pulls her in a different direction.
- 3:24 pm, Thursday: Local TV anchor from different station says she can possibly air story that night. This is my moment of truth, at least one of them. How many times did PR pros pitch me stories they neglected to tell me another station previously aired? Some PR pros want to air their client’s story as many times as possible. This goal conflicts with the goal of the journalist, who wants to air a story no other reporter has. When I aired sloppy seconds, my relationship with the PR pro was never the same. Trust was broken. I wouldn’t work with that PR pro again or would only do so with caution. Now I’m at a crossroads. I promised the story to Station A Friday night, but this business comes with no guarantees. Station B is ready to air it now, almost a sure thing. Maybe two stations would air the client’s story. That might make me look mighty good. For a moment, I’m Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s dark side is starting to make some sense.
- 3:43 pm, Thursday: I put down the light saber and decide not to kill Darth. I email TV anchor at Station B and explain I promised the story to reporter at Station A. I add that I will double check Station A is still planning to air the story before closing the door completely on Station B. But I’m not out of the galactic woods yet. I email reporter at Station A, asking for some re-assurance. I get no response.
- 4:02 pm, Thursday: I leave a voice mail for the reporter at Station A. She does not call back.
- 4:12 pm, Thursday: I contact one of her co-workers to locate her.
- 5:34 pm, Thursday: TV anchor at Station B emails back. Translation: It’s now or never. Am I about to pass up Station B, the sure thing, for tomorrow’s promise to Station A, whose reporter I can’t locate? The Emperor is pulling me in. The Dark Side is using a tractor beam to pull the journalism right out of me.
- 6:13 pm, Thursday: Station A’s reporter calls. Had I not received her email? She was somewhere without access to her phone. She still expects to air the story. She is grateful I didn’t let the Emperor become my new master.
The story airs Friday. I defeat the Dark Side. I obtain publicity for a client without abandoning one of my journalistic principles. Would you have done the same? Would you have instead taken all the coverage you could? Would you have taken the sure bet Thursday story over the possible Friday one? I stand by my decision.
Tags: anchor, breaking news, darth vader, journalism, journalist, light saber, local tv, luke skywalker, media, Media Relations, PR, PR pro, PR pros, reporter, tv anchor, tv reporter
Posted in Media Relations | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
- Pick up the phone: My phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number and considered ignoring it. Was another financial expert calling to persuade me to allow him to manage my money after talking to him for only three minutes? I picked up the phone. A reporter was calling. He wanted to talk to people who were inspired to start their own businesses by the economy.
- Make time: The journalist called as I was walking out the door. I could have explained I was busy. I didn’t. Cell phones have a cool feature: They allow you to continue calls without a wire staying connected to the wall. Cell phones have speakerphones. You can drive somewhere, with caution, while continuing a conversation. My phone’s battery was running low. I could have told the journalist to call back. I didn’t. I gave him a new number to call. His battery was low, too, and he needed to call back in about 20 minutes. When I called people for interviews when I reported on TV, individuals and big companies gave me countless excuses on why they couldn’t talk to me. (My favorite excuse was how bringing a camera in their store would disrupt customers.) Make yourself available. If people told me they didn’t have time to talk to me for a news story, I moved on to the next business to interview. I was on a deadline. I didn’t have time to wait and make myself convenient for someone’s schedule. If you want media attention, re-arrange your schedule. Do some quick thinking. Don’t miss an opportunity.
- Leave the shampoo in your hair: When the reporter called back later, I was in the shower, my hair full of shampoo. I turned off the water, left the shampoo in my hair and wiped the suds away from my forehead so they didn’t drip into my eyes or onto the cell phone while I tried to put together coherent sentences. I didn’t tell the reporter to call back. He was on a deadline.
- Be open: I didn’t fully enjoy my last two years as a TV reporter. The environment and the job were no longer for me. I didn’t sugarcoat this. Anyone can draw a pretty picture. PR pros and CEOs shoveled a lot of BS my way when I asked questions. Be transparent on why you made the decisions you made. Being honest makes you real. Being real makes you more interesting.
- Be personable: Some people are very guarded when talking to bloggers or journalists. They sound more like robots than humans. Be personable. I talked to this journalist about his family. We discussed issues important to us. We talked about journalism. I learned he once lived in the same city as Loren. I found out he once lived near where I grew up. Again, be real.
- Don’t ignore small media: The journalist may have interviewed me for a story so small, readers may need a magnifying glass. I don’t care. When I was a TV journalist, I sometimes covered great stories I found in smaller publications. You may see a story yourself the first time on the network news or written by the Associated Press, but sometimes those reports were first covered by journalists in smaller markets. And small blogs, publications or media outlets all have loyal readers, viewers and listeners. You’re not too big for small media … even if your hair is full of shampoo.
Tags: Associated Press, bloggers, blogs, ceo, interview, journalism, journalist, journalists, media, media training, news, news story, PR, PR pro, PR pros, press, reporter, tv reporter
Posted in Media Relations, Media Training, Public Relations | 1 Comment »
