Media Relations in a Web 2.0 World

Today’s journalists are changing the ways they gather information and how they interact with sources. In order to stay ahead of the competition, journalists are expected to produce more content faster than ever before. This means virtually no time for phone calls or rummaging through emails and many journalists are now actively engaged on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. With these changes in the journalism landscape, PR professionals need to be creative and focused in order to meaningfully connect and interact with editors.

To help PR professionals gauge what today’s editors are looking for, Marketwire and PRWeek recently held a webcast on “The New Rules of Media Relations.” Panel participants included Kevin McCormally, Editorial Director at Kiplinger, Chloe Albanesius, News Reporter at PCMag.com, Ivan Oransky, M.D., Executive Editor at Reuters, Jessica Strange, Executive Director at Marketwire and Rose Gordon, News Editor at PRWeek. Here are some tips from the panel on discussion on email, media kits, social media platforms and event travelling trends:

• Email: Use punchy subject lines that shows you read something the editor has covered or that you have a new idea that will interest the readers. The draft of your email should include straightforward facts, no need for flowery descriptions.

• Media Kits: Sending an editor that much information is unnecessary. However if you feel you must send a media kit, use a flash drive.

• Social Media: DO use Twitter to figure out what the editor is interested in by following, retweeting and asking questions. DON’T send random pitches, especially when it’s obvious that you’re sending this to everyone else.

• Travel: Most publications have reduced travel budgets, so editors try to attend as many audio conferences and webcasts as possible to cut costs.

While the means for reaching journalists is constantly evolving, it is up to the PR professional to actively engage with editors in order to establish meaningful relationships and conversations.