Category Archives: Media Relations

In `School Administrator’ Magazine: Influencing Public Perception With Proactive Videos

Over a year after it was originally drafted as an essay about twice as long–less indeed is more–the American Association of School Administrators has published my insights in the Frontline section of its January 2024 edition. Headlined Influencing Public Perception With Proactive Videos, my observations flow largely from a 20-plus-year career in journalism, including my […]

4 proactive steps for when you’re unfairly cast as a ‘Goliath’

My essay on how to deal with media coverage that unfairly paints you or your client as a big, bad Goliath was published today at Ragan Communications’ PR Daily. Here’s the link and I have also posted it below: Who doesn’t love an underdog story? “Rocky” and “Rudy” are examples of movies that exploit this natural […]

Dogged Determination: Guinness World Records Attempt at Largest Dog Wedding Ceremony

Four weeks ago, after a four-week organizational sprint, the Villa Park Community F.U.N. Commission tried to shatter the Guinness World Records title for the largest dog wedding ceremony. Though the effort fell short, between the encouraging local, national and international media coverage along the way, the lessons that organizers learned in the process and the […]

No, Martha, It’s Not 1977 Anymore: You Are No Longer at the ‘Mainstream’ Media’s Mercy

Sometimes, we need a smack upside the head with a reminder that it’s not 1977 anymore. It’s not even 2002, not by a long shot. For the past 15 years in which I have been plying the public relations trade, I have been banging this particular drum, louder and more insistently: the so-called mainstream media […]

The power of greater expectations–including when the media lets you down

How do you respond when someone is unaccountable or otherwise fails to meet expectations? Many years ago, a mentor offered me wise words on how to handle these situations. His counsel went something like this: “If you want to yell at them, or give them a piece of your mind, or tell them how they […]

Humbling honor to give PR boost to `Jeanne’s Journey for Hope’ support of Joliet boy

In a lifetime, most people don’t spend more than a few months in a hospital—and some can measure those stays by a handful of days, or perhaps weeks. It’s a different situation for 6-year-old Dominic Hamilton. Over the past 2 ½ years, the Joliet boy has been a regular patient at Lurie Children’s Hospital in […]

‘Packing for Retirement’ & Beyond: Jim Flanagan’s Passion to Help Older Adults

Trying to make heads or tails of health care, with its seemingly endless changes and complexity, is enough to make just about anyone queasy. Against that backdrop, a retirement planning expert who speaks with clarity and authority is the perfect antidote. That’s one of the ways that Inside Edge PR introduces Jim Flanagan. In this […]

Behind the Scenes: Story-Telling Artist Shines Light on Realtor Building Transformation

This summer, I had the pleasure of collaborating with friend and next-door neighbor Joe Crosetto to write a story about the work that his firm, Interactive Building Solutions (IBS), is involved in: the make-over of the Realtor Building in downtown Chicago. It is located at 430 N. Michigan Avenue, where the National Association of Realtors (NAR) […]

Stop Talking About All Your Cool Gizmos!

“The problem with most news releases: they mimic other news releases—which fall far short of furthering organizational goals.” That was my closing remark in an email last week to a senior executive with a company that appears to be kicking butt in business. Alas, it is struggling to communicate its rapid growth–and the reasons behind […]