Tell journalists what they want to know

During interviews with reporters, people don’t always want to answer questions about company earnings and sales figures.

We tell clients it’s best to give reporters what they want.

If they don’t, the reporter will figure it out on their own.

If they get it wrong, it’ll look like it’s right and there’s little anyone can do about it.  

I say this because we’ve had reporters guesstimate company earnings by using an industry average that was way too low since they were specialists with a large staff.

To have people think they made so little was even worse than having everyone know how well they were doing.

Another time, we almost lost a feature because the company was still in beta-testing, had run into problems and didn’t want to admit sales weren't as high as they’d projected.   

Which is why we say “Honesty is the best policy”—especially with journalists.  

For information, please call us at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

How NOT to write a press relese

People often show us press releases they’ve written.

Even if the releases have good information, the info in them usually is in the wrong order.

Good releases are mini-news stories with the most important information coming first.

The first sentence doesn’t have the news or what happened that you want published, i.e., local company wins major award.  

The first sentence contains the names of everyone involved. The first sentence should be general: local company, etc.

There are no facts to show why event is important. If the release is about a disease, it should have the number of people with that disease.  

The release is not be targeted to a specific reporter, i.e., local media need local statistics, business media need business details.

The release has too much jargon.

Unless you’re targeting a trade journal, you’re working with a generalist, a reporter who is covering many beats these days.

Even if the reporter knows what the jargon means, they need to translate it for their audience.

Why not make their job easier and translate it yourself?

The release doesn’t have any sources or people to call to get the necessary quotes.

Journalists work on crushing deadlines while fielding hundreds of pitches

If they know you’ll be easy to work with by providing everything they need quickly, they’re more likely to choose your story over another.

And, BTW, the company mission statement goes at the end.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at (916) 455-4790 or visit our website at www.dellrichards.com.

How readable is your writing?

While the Gunning Fog Index was developed in 1952, it is more important today than ever before.

In an age of biz-babble, written language uses more jargon every day—and becomes less easy-to-read as a result.  

On the Gunning Fog Index, a readability score of 12 can be read by a high school student.

For universal comprehension—and the standard journalists aspire to—the goal is 8. Eighth grade.

Annual reports often come in at 26.9 or more.

The lower the score, the better luck you’ll have getting people to read it. 

Journalists will love your releases.    

To lower your score, scratch the three-syllable words. Shorten the long sentences and muster active verbs.

This copy had a Gunning Fog of 8.001.   

To test your copy, go to http://gunning-fog-index.com/ or the Flesch/Kincaid Grade Level at http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php. 

For more information on Dell Richards Publicity, call us at 916.455.4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.

Ethics trumps expedience....

We recently had a press conference that television covered—only to find a few hours later that the spokesperson didn’t want her face seen because of domestic violence issues.

We immediately called the reporter to see if we could get the woman’s video clip removed.

The reporter said she’d pull it, but was very curt. It had been her lead.

We got other coverage, but were disappointed to lose a story on homeless housing.

I thanked the journalist, apologized via email—and sent a large box of chocolates to her, even though she wouldn’t get it for a few days.

In the meantime, the client put better controls in place for choosing spokespeople.

In the end, the journalist was able to salvage the story, which ran the next day. By cutting the anecdotal lead, she made it shorter, which the producers loved, she quipped.

We were lucky it worked out for all concerned. But we didn’t know that when we acted.

We did what we had to do, no matter what the potential cost, because it was the right thing to do. Period.

For more information, call Dell Richards Publicity at 916-455-4790 or visit us at www.dellrichards.com.

How to kill a press release

The easiest way to kill a press release is to ignore the target.

That means not using language journalists use, but using language a professional in the field would.

If journalists smell jargon, they’ll think you can’t speak at the 8^th grade level the media requires and they’ll delete the release immediately.

Jargon can be used for trade journals where technical information is more important, but not mainstream media.

Journalists are swamped and only want the basics in a release.

We constantly remind clients that you can’t tell it all in a pitch.

The purpose of a release is to plant a story idea.

Educating everyone comes later.

You present a problem, back it up with facts and offer a solution, nothing more.

If you allow your knowledge or focus to get in the way of what the producer or editor needs, you’re only wasting everyone’s time.

For more information, call us at 916.455.4790 or go to www.dellrichards.com.