It’s an inspiring and humbling thing to be providing public relations and media relations support for the Guinness World Record Attempt: Living Donor Rally on Saturday, April 21st at Millennium Park in Chicago. Through contacts I have made in myriad media markets around the United States–all after gathering information from organ donors who are attending […]
Category Archives: Media Relations
Unless you’ve been on the receiving end of a story pitch, you likely don’t appreciate the urgency of being succinct in those interactions. Having been on the receiving end of such pitches for about 20 years, I can assure you that the goal ought NEVER be selling the reporter, editor or producer on a story–that’s […]
In my years as a journalist, I filed hundreds of requests to taxing bodies through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Over time, it became clear that some entities wielded FOIA as a mechanism for suppressing information—they would drag their heels before coming up with a highly questionable basis for limiting information they provided or […]
If you’re like me, then you are less likely to read something that touts 33 Ways to Tell When Someone Is Going to Ramble on Forever than to sneak a peek at 3 Really Beautiful People You Should Meet. Let’s face it: most of us like three-word phrases that precede a colon. Oh, and really […]
We fence ourselves in sometimes. Color inside the lines. Steer clear of stretching beyond the norm. But in an increasingly automated world, where so much is standardized and sanitized, it’s such a refreshing thing to see creativity jutting out of the most unexpected places. Here’s one way to hop the ho-hum fence that we, often […]
If you were an underpaid and overworked reporter (yeah, that’s redundant), which of these pitches do you suppose would move you to action? Pitch A: Joe, Wondering if you would you be interested in looking into a story suggestion involving the village of Anywheresville and its (mis)handling of a garage construction approval process for a new […]
The other day, Brad Farris of Anchor Advisors made a strenuous argument against leaving voicemails. Brad’s very smart, exceedingly accomplished in business, and someone I hold in high regard. But take his advice at your own peril, particularly if you are in the media relations/public relations game. The key is not to avoid the specter […]
“In an amazing, unique development that will leverage cutting-edge technology with grassroots principles, the Acme Redevelopment Group, Inc. is utilizing a new game-changer in the burgeoning lint removal industry.” If you had not detected the patent ridiculousness of that opening line already, the last few words should have been a tip-off: lint removal industry? Although […]
For the longest time, back in the days when I actually had a home phone line, I resisted getting caller ID. Instead, I took a certain pride in maintaining this “purist” approach to picking up the ringing phone without any indication of who was calling. I was old school, by golly, and my stance meant […]
Last week, my kids were intrigued by a question from a neighbor: “Are you interested in making a little money?” The intrigue turned to excitement when they found out the task related to the compensation: the family was going on vacation for 10 days and, in their absence, they were hoping the Baron children could […]