National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)’s Post

PR TIPS FROM A LONGTIME TV NEWS PRODUCER: I hesitated to post this because well…. IT’S WRONG. And, it’s missing the most important person in the pitching process: THE PRODUCER. A Google search on ‘how to pitch’ sent me right to it. I spent over 20 years in a newsroom, so in case anyone would like info from the INSIDE— the heirarchy looks like this: 📈 GENERAL MANAGER: Manages everything under the roof of the TV station— with a hard lean into sales and the station’s bottom line. 📰 NEWS DIRECTOR: Manages everything under the roof of the NEWSROOM ONLY of the news station. ❓ASST. NEWS DIRECTOR: According to this, that’s the person you should be pitching to. Problem with that is, this position doesn’t even exist at most stations anymore. If they do— They’re the right hand of the news director. ✔️EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: They manage and are responsible for the daily activities under the umbrella of the morning show, night shows or special projects. Are they a source? Yes. Are they the MAIN source? No. It’s not their job. ✨ WHO THIS ARTICLE FORGOT: ✨ THE PRODUCER: The person who puts it all together. There are booking producers. I was a “supervising producer” and booked 75 segments a week. There are also line producers who stack the show, who write scripts & edit reporter pieces, “booths” the show & task manages it all. If a news show was a cake, producers are the baker. 📺 NEWS ANCHOR: Contrary to popular belief, they do not just read. (In my career, I can count on one finger who only showed up to read) Yes, they participate. Yes, they give input. It’s their face on it all, after all. Is it the first person you pitch to? No. But they are a source, who can funnel and do funnel good ideas to their producer. 🎤 REPORTER: Reporters are tasked every day to walk in with story ideas. But, they do not decide what stories will be covered. Producers do. So, don’t be surprised if they seem interested, then they ghost you. They only have hours from the moment they walk in the door to set up, then physically get to a story, get broll & interviews, write & edit a piece for a LIVE show every single day. They turn stories in a day that take some production companies months to do. 🕸️ WEB PRODUCER: Produces the web content. 🗣️ ASSIGNMENT DESK EDITOR: To put them at the bottom of this list is a travesty. The assignment desk is the nucleus of the newsroom. Ideas are often funneled in through the desk. They are the dispatchers. They make all the moving parts of a newsroom MOVE. There are also photographers, editors, engineers, traffic, sales & so many others who make it happen every day. But, bottom line: Find the right PERSON to contact. Call— or better yet— before you call— please make sure the information is not already on their website. If you have questions, leave a comment! I’ll try to answer best I can. Opening up a dialogue can only help both professions.

We have so many talented professionals at Greenough Communications, from #corporatecommunications leaders that boomeranged back to agency from being "in-house" to #broadcast producers, news correspondents, #writers, #artists, and #eventorganizers. We love the diversity as it brings the perfect mix of creativity and connections! Jack Levy spent nearly a decade as a news producer at NBCUniversal before running #PublicRelations in-house and now leading #mediastrategy with us! In this Q&A with NBC10 Boston Anchor & Reporter Jeff Saperstone, he sheds some light on how to break through the noise when pitching. 🤩 Be sure the story has mass appeal. If it's not interesting to the reporter, it most likely won't be interesting to their audience. 🖼 Make it visual. It will be on TV, after all! 📜 Keep your pitches short and to the point. Extra credit if you write it in the same tone/style as the segment they anchor! 🌍 When pitching local broadcasts, the preference is to have local guests. However, Zoom opened up the possibility of having spokespeople from all over. HOT TIP: having a local phone number in your signature is a plus! 📰 Stay informed of the current news cycle. It makes better pitches, better guests, and better ratings. Link in the comments to read on! #makingmoments #mediarelations #tvnews

What makes a reporter reel stand out? Our news director Brandice Bailey sums it up this way: "I always start by listening with my eyes closed. You've gotta make me open my eyes." Once the eyes are open, we're looking for... 🎤 Enterprise reporting. Breaking news is all well and good, but at this stage every reporter should be able to cover it. What are the stories/angles that would not have come to light had it not been for your reporting? What are the visually-challenging stories you had to MAKE visual and interesting? 🎤 Strong writing. Are your sentences short (8-12 words per sentence, one idea per sentence)? Conversational? Devoid of cop talk (fled on foot, pursuit, traveling at a high rate of speed) and clichés (speaking out, lucky to be alive, shots rang out)? 🎤 Confident and comfortable delivery. No "reporter voice" allowed...but please DO demonstrate a command of the subject matter. I saw a post from Susan Murphy that said it better than I ever could: Write it like a 5th grader, deliver it like a college professor. 🎤 Active standups and live hits. We look at a LOT of reels; the talking heads don't stand out, but the people who use their environment well and chase down public leaders for answers do. And unless you are doing the aforementioned chasing, please ditch the stick mic! It stifles your delivery and creativity. 🎤 Curiosity. Of everything on the list, this one's the hardest to teach. Do your stories go beyond the obvious? Are you able to help viewers understand a complicated issue? Are you pressing the people you interview for specifics? Are you as the reporter able to get in the weeds so you can keep your story out of them? 🎤 STORYTELLING! Sometimes there's a misconception that "storytelling" is a synonym for "feature." I love a good feature, but people who've mastered their craft know how to apply character-driven storytelling to ANY kind of issue they tackle. But if nothing else, think about this: Every station, every management team, every news director is looking for something different. So instead of trying to make the generically "perfect" reel, you might as well be yourself. Otherwise, how will you know the station's a good fit? There's no replacement for authenticity in this business.

"...television news has become an assembly line product, producing the same thing, the same way, day after day. Only station labels are different. It takes no aspiration to turn out yet another box of Cheerios." This is a subject close to my heart. Not only does modern TV News have a creativity problem, but there are those who actively avoid/stifle it. If it's not blood/death/tears, they don't want it, regardless of relevance. In a way, it stunts the growth of young reporters by refusing to allow them to take chances in storytelling, try new techniques, and (most importantly) find their voice that makes their stories different from the competition. The industry is failing its young reporters/MMJs and producers. Meanwhile, the intricacies of the real world -- the successes, failures, triumphs, and unique voices -- are relegated to the shadows. Knocking on the doors of a suspect's siblings, cold calling grieving parents to ask about their dead children, and the sexy-action-news model may often get ratings, but they do not make our communities stronger and more informed, and they certainly don't make our product better (not to mention the ethical morass of the whole thing). Just as importantly, siren chasing does not provide the sense of fulfillment and community service that so many of us sought when we joined this grind. For the young reporter, it's your job to push for those community stories and stress the boundaries of what's considered acceptable news. You have to earn the right to tell a story, so take advantage of your chances when they arrive. Learn the camera and editing software, and learn it well. Your job doesn't end once you've made slot. Strive relentlessly to separate yourself from your peers, competition, and "the box of Cheerios". I always like to say, “Be whatever, just don’t be boring.” Maybe I’ll add “Avoid the assembly line” to that sentiment as well.

🎆 PR: HOW TO GET A TV NEWS PRODUCER TO CONSIDER YOUR PITCH IN 2024 (FROM A LONGTIME FORMER NEWS PRODUCER) 🗑️ Ditch the corporate speak. No one has time for that. ☑️ Pick up the personalized messaging. Imagine being a booking producer for a second. You get a hundred pitches a day. You feel like a goalie. All day long. 🥅 Trying to make sure something doesn’t get past you, like an undisclosed sponsored segment. (By the way, please stop doing that. That’s not cool & could get the TV station, not you, in a lot of trouble. There’s nothing wrong with a disclosure in a pitch. There’s a lot wrong with no disclosure.) You’re also trying to find stories everyone isn’t doing, so… 🛑 STOP sending mass copy-and-pasted emails. TV news producers’ inboxes are filled to the RIM with just a press release copy & pasted in it. WHAT YOU’RE DOING WRONG ⬇️ There’s nothing else in the email that says what you want us to do with it. No note on what or who you can offer or when. No note on what visuals, props or broll possibility you have. TV is a visual medium. Talking heads are BORING. FYI: Most stations want to shoot their own broll. Saying YOU have broll brings up a lot of issues no producer wants to deal with unless they have to.. Was it shot by a union photographer, who shot it, where did they shoot it? Licensing, etc… Help us help you. ✍️ Personalization P’s & Q’s: This might seem basic, but trust me, it needs to be said: Know the name of the person you are pitching to. Know the name of the anchors. The name of the show. Maybe even… I don’t know… WATCH the show? Peruse their website and the anchor bios? EXAMPLE: Especially on morning news shows, you’ll often hear little nuggets you can use like: “I heard John say he loves to fish, this might be a really great fit for him!” A personalized pitch is what builds connection. After all, PR stands for public RELATIONS. Not press release. Talk TO us. Not AT us. #tvnews #publicrelations #pitchingideas

This is one of the most helpful articles I've ever come across for small businesses or entrepreneurs who need some media coverage. It includes guides on who to pitch at local TV stations, newspapers, and radio stations - something that can be quite confusing. #publicity #breakingnews #onlinenews #newspapers

Network, network, network. Who often knows when there will be soon to be (yet to be announced) openings in a newsroom? Those already there. It takes time to network, build the connections, and most importantly- to build your reputation. Newsroom jobs are a plenty, but hiring managers are still looking for those who are good newsroom citizens, stewards of hard work and grounded work ethics. Echoing some of Cayle Thompson’s points below: There’s no bad time to start networking. Reach out to those in markets/stations you desire to get to. Find connections, whether it’s interests, goals, geography, college alumnus, etc. This is the process where you can also find constructive feedback and begin to build your reputation.

all your PR agency friends are doin it "While journalists' response rates remain below 3% for Q3, this trend does not come as a huge surprise considering the number of newsroom layoffs so far this year. However, while journalists are responding to fewer pitches overall (2.99%), podcast pitches are receiving responses over 16% of the time, according to Propel’s Q3 2023 Media Barometer. This is a 10% increase from Q1." #pr #publicrelations #comms #earnedmedia

'It's because he's a poor communicator' 'She just can't communicate her message' 'He's losing his audience because he repeats the same message too much' 'They've got the messaging all wrong' 'Is there no-one in their communications team with a real grasp on the strategy?' If, like me, you've been flicking your way through plenty of election related content across various channels in recent days, you'll doubtless have heard some of these comments. How we're experiencing the election countdown, and how we're choosing where we might place our voting support, has a lot to do with the quality of the comms. Has the messaging been masterfully considered from the outset? Are those delivering the comms fully briefed, prepped and genuinely capable of managing the more challenging of media attention? Does the communication resonate? Is it plausible? Can we trust it? Do we believe it to be authentic? If good (and bad) comms stirs you and makes you question why one person, brand or organisation has their messaging more well positioned and delivered than others, then please do think about checking out this new interview series from Ros Atkins. I'm a huge fan of his book 'The Art of Explanation', and I'd encourage you to dip into the series to see why good communication is indeed something of a superpower. (Just don't expect to be any less frustrated when you then listen to pre-election interviews after hearing more of Ros's insights!). #PR #communications #media #storytelling https://lnkd.in/e4tDuuqk

With news organizations continuing to struggle there will be even less reporters to reach out to, and PR pros need to make their pitches more personal. That means: 📧 No mass emails. If you have a good story send it to one reporter you think might write it. 🔮Tell, don’t show. Say why this story is one they should write, then provide more details later if they decide to do it. 📺📰📻 Think about how the story is going to be told. Depending if it’s on TV, radio or newspaper, the reporter will need different ways to get it done. Doing this can also give you different ways to pitch. It’s going to be tougher to get media coverage this year, but by making pitches personal you have a better shot at getting the coverage you’re looking for.