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How to Get Noticed by the National Media

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: Book Review of book By Jeff Lewis and Dick Jones – Trellis Publishing, Duluth, MN – ISBN 1930650426, 200 pages, May 2001

How to Get Noticed by the National Media

Reviewed by – G.A. “Andy” Marken, Marken Communications Inc. – andy@markencom.com




There isn’t a public relations practitioner – especially consultants – who hasn’t been told by the CEO that he or she wants, needs and expects coverage by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune and the other print, television and most recently web “major media.” Everything else is nice but secondary…way secondary.

Oh, did we forget to add that the coverage has to be flattering.

The cop-out answer is always that: a) we don’t have the news that is widespread interest to them; b) we’re not public, we’re too small to garner the attention or we’re not of national interest; or c) we’ll try to do it in between the other “vital” projects we have on our plate.

All of these are the wrong answers because the boss simply doesn’t want to hear them. They are also the wrong answers because national coverage is possible. All it takes is something you’re supposed to be good at – common sense, good news judgement and some creativity. Oh yes it also requires time and perseverance.

Lewis and Jones don’t diminish the importance of the day-to-day activities you have on your plate but they do strip away your excuses one by one. How to Get Noticed by the National Media replaces those excuses with a proven set of guidelines to help you develop your campaign for getting the national coverage.

Almost every PR person has or will receive an “over-the-transom” inquiry from reporters and editors/producers from one or more of the national media. Without a national media campaign in place the publicist usually (hopefully) responds promptly providing the information and material requested and moves on to the next project. They have done their job and if the editor/reporter/producer wants to pursue the piece further public relations expects the media to take the next step.

Surprise. Unless it a high-profile “investigative” piece (which they also cover very thoroughly for you) it probably doesn’t happen or if it is pursued it probably doesn’t turn out as well as management and you would have wanted. That’s because there was no campaign strategy/plan in place to produce the results the company wants to achieve. Or in simple terms it is an opportunity wasted.
The authors give you a number of helpful hints on how to look at your organization and your activities as an arms-length third party to develop the strategy and tactics that will produce tangible and measurable results. After all the degree of success you’ll have in developing that first, second, third and on-going national coverage pieces isn’t the story that you want to tell but rather what is of interest to the specific editor and/or reporter.

That means your national coverage requires a combination marketing, sales and communications plan very similar to the one similar to the one senior management develops in tapping into, exploiting and growing markets. In other words what does your market (national media editorial community) want/need, what are the items you have to sell (ideas/messages) and how do shape them to be wanted by your market and finally what kind of communications activities are you going to carry out to reach, educate, inform and persuade your market.

That’s what takes time and focus. The authors do an outstanding job of helping you lay out these plans to achieve your (and your boss’) goal. They give you a very solid understanding of the details involved in a national media campaign and provide the guidelines you need to capture national attention.

In addition to giving you valuable information on practicing damage control in the less-than-desirable high profile situations, they also give you valuable advice on how to plan and execute pro-active national media efforts that are very effective but most often overlooked.

Lewis and Jones point out that if you want to “control” your national campaign message it does take a lot of common sense and hard work. But their emphasis on building letters to the editor and op/ed pieces into the campaign are an excellent way to get the CEO’s message out without the “problem” of being misquoted or statements included in a story that are taken out of context.

While they don’t place strong emphasis on it, an important ingredient of the national media campaign has also got to be a sound media training program for not only the CEO but also the senior people in the organization. Admittedly this is usually a tough sell because: a) the CEO wants the coverage but also wants to control the situation and have assurances they will be highlighted in a positive light or b) he or she “knows” they can control the situation and in fact are excellent at presenting the message.

Both areas of concern are valid and one of your most difficult tasks will probably be to “protect” the company and CEO from damage and/or embarrassment until he or she is convinced the time for media training is right.

We wouldn’t say that How to Get Noticed by the National Media is exactly what the publisher’s claim with the subtitle, “Your complete guide to high-impact publicity.” But it is an excellent source of how-to concepts and ideas you’ll need to develop your separate national media campaign.

At some point you’re going to run out of excuses as to why XYZ corporation – your competitor or neighbor – was covered by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Forbes or Fortune and…”you haven’t done anything all year!”

How to Get Noticed by the National Media will help you develop your pro-active plan.

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