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When Wrong Goes Right, Is It Still Wrong?

8/6/2014

 
PictureImage: Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net
Consider this: An organization issues a news release about an event. A day or two later, having heard nothing from reporters, the group sends the release again, this time with a subject-line plea /demand in capital letters and many exclamation points. The result: Reporters show up for the event. One even apologizes.

No one is more surprised by this outcome than I am. Indeed, I would expect an all-caps command performance to earn the organization zero news coverage and a permanent place in spam folders.

So what should we conclude when a seemingly wrong tactic leads to a positive result?

In this case, I spent some time mulling my long-held views about pitching reporters—and landed where I began. In reaching out to news media, we should start with an understanding of what a reporter considers newsworthy and how the event or announcement we’re pitching fits with those priorities.

The group that went the all-caps route was fortunate; the event being promoted was a newsworthy one. Coverage resulted in spite of the approach, not because of it.

My view: The end does not justify the means.

What do you think? Should PR professionals aggressively demand coverage? Or does that put relationships and future coverage at risk?


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    Rick Chambers

    Rick is the owner and president of Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC.

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Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC, brings a solid track record of strategic, diverse, objective-based communications and public relations services. RC&A works closely with clients to understand their business, develop stakeholder relationships, build meaningful dialogue and help share their stories effectively.

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Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC
1514 Kingsbury Drive
Portage, MI 49002-1664
USA
269.873.5820
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