On Our Mind

Merging of Media Rooms and PR Shops by Mark Scott

Interesting piece this morning from PR Daily (summarizing a Financial Times story) about how companies are increasingly “making the news” themselves – not in the sense of making news by just doing interesting things (which they still must do), but literally making the news casts, writing the stories, etc. and then feeding those assets to blogs, social media sites and even, increasingly, mainstream media sites that are eager for interesting, useful and easy-to-use content to fill the 24/7 news cycle and the online environment where revenue is generated by click-throughs to content pages serving ads. 

What “assets” does a media outlet need to run our story?  Is it a well-written tip sheet?  Is it a fully formed “story” they can just cut and paste into their blog or content area?  Is it photos and videos to accompany the story?  Is it all of those things and more?

When looking for content to use, media outlets of all stripes are now looking for the stories that are both the easiest to use AND the most interesting to use. By providing outlets with the assets they need up front to use our material, we make it easier for outlets to use stories from our clients vs. the other 50 pitches they get every single day. The most interesting story in the world, packaged badly or lacking key information or assets, will be tossed aside for the slightly less interesting story that comes with everything a reporter, editor, producer or blogger  needs to quickly understand it and get it into production and posted to their site, onto the TV or into their publication. The stories below illustrate really well how the blurring of lines among online, social and traditional media, coupled with the new demands on “news” providers, give groups like ours opportunities to go really be PR and communication influencers and leaders. We’re in an interesting environment where the places people get news are changing quickly and many media outlets increasingly need us to do many parts of their job for them. 

The PR Daily summary:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/8565.aspx

The full story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/global-exchange/nissans-pr-mimics-the-newsroom/article2055178/

• 
• 
• 
• [ 0 Comments ]
• [ Email This Post ]