What the media wants

The media want to cover your organization and its goings-on. Problem is, they have limited resources and need your help putting together a compelling story.

PR firms number one source for media

A recent poll shows that journalists are increasingly relying on social media for their sources, but it’s still not as influential as PR. 500 journalists were polled and 47 percent said they use Twitter (up from 33 percent a year ago) and 35 percent use Facebook as a source (up from 25 percent a year ago).

Still, social media isn’t the first source —only four percent said they use Twitter, Facebook, or blogs as their first source in researching a story. The No. 1 resource that journalists in this study are using for sourcing was PR agencies, with a whopping 62 percent. More.

Getting the story right is just as important as ever

The advent of social media and the rise in viral marketing has led to firms scrambling for a social media strategy, often at the expense of mainstream PR. But the basic principle of PR – to develop a newsworthy story and share it with those who can provide valid outside endorsement and via targeted distribution - ring true in both worlds. Successful PR campaigns will be based on the integration of the two disciplines.

A study by George Washington University found that journalists increasingly use social media to research stories. However, they trust these sources less than traditional ones.

Don Bates, founding director of the GWU Strategic Public Relations Programme, says: “Social media provides a wealth of new information for journalists, but getting the story right is just as important as ever. As PR professionals increasingly utilise social media as a means of communication, they have an even greater responsibility than before to ensure the information they provide journalists with is accurate and timely.”

Meanwhile media consumption is also becoming more diversified, with people getting their news from many different sources. In an attempt to filter this information, people are looking for authoritative sources and they find those at content rich sites. According to a study from the Online Publishers Association, most people who are online spend the majority of their time at these content rich sites.

Therefore communicating with authority and relevance is a must if you are to reach your target market.

Thanks Banking Technology

Articles like this one pop-up every once in a while. And that's good. Journalists are the real clients and only when PR professionals understand how they think and work they are able to assist and advise properly.