Public Relations

Tired Of Professionals Saying They Were Lucky

Garth Beyer

I meet with a lot of reporters, journalists, and PR folk. I hear their stories, I heed their advice, and I ask a lot of questions.

The two most common things that I hear professionals say is

1. Learn to write well, really well.

2. I was lucky that…

The first is a “duh.” The second, well, is a lie.

None of these professionals were lucky that they ran into the headhunter of the PR firm they wanted to work for. They were not lucky that they had the credentials they needed for the job. They were not lucky that they got this or that internship. They were not lucky that the news editor had heard about them already.

These professionals didn’t land in their position by luck. They worked their asses off for it.

The real question is why do these professionals lie? Luck is a curated event, luck is the light at the end of the road, luck is a goal you meet after days, months, years(?) of hard work.

My thought is that everyone knows how difficult it is to become a doctor, yet, people still do. Then why do those in journalism and PR fear that the knowledge of how much work it will be to become a renowned journalist or PRS will stop people from becoming one.

At an even deeper level, why are these professionals not proud of how hard they worked?

I don’t have the answers for you right now. I’m not in their position. I know how difficult it is. I know how much I need to work to get where I want to be. I know the difficult leaps I need to take. I know that where I end up won’t be from luck.

When I find out the answers to these questions though, I will let you know.

Seriously, Do You Need To Be Reminded?

Garth Beyer

I had a reporter from a large local news station contact me today, and I was left disappointed.

To maintain my ethical integrity, I will break the message down into its two parts instead of actually sharing what the message said.

“(1) This is what we think we know, (2) we would like to do a story on that. (3) You can reach me here.

(4)Thanks…”

There are many reasons I am sharing this. All are important.

1. (1) This is what we think we know

He was completely off! He knew nothing. It showed that he had done absolutely no research. If you’re not going to do the research, don’t state that you know something. Be blunt and say that you know nothing and want to be informed.

If, however, the information you think you know can’t be found online at all, then at least say that you have looked (and you better have looked hard!) and couldn’t find the information.

2. There was no introduction. Just because you’re a reporter doesn’t mean that someone is going to respond to you. If anything, it makes you seem like a robot, just working the grind of news writing. I can’t imagine what sort of story this reporter will write.

3. (2) we would like to do a story on that

Is that a question? Because if it is, I’m going to opt out. Say you are writing a story on that, not that you want to.

Lastly, there was no call for action in his email. In my head I thought, “Well, great, mr.reporter (purposely in lowercase), I’m glad to hear you have a sense of something false and would like to do a story on it.”

Pitch your writing topic to your editor or boss, not to who is supposed to be your story.

If I was actually able to respond to this reporter (I wasn’t able to, it went to my supervisor), I would have emailed him back with two words.

Good luck.

 

Whose Story Is It?

Garth Beyer

Okay, I will finally pay attention to the story behind the driver who Youtubed his confession of killing a man while driving drunk.

Certain media content is blocked on this computer, but I believe the link to the Youtube video (if it hasn’t been taken down yet!) is here.

In a NBC News story written by Simon Moya-Smith, Simon writes, “The victim’s daughter, Angela Canzani, told NBC News that she believes Cordle is attempting to mitigate punishment with the video.”

Ater reading that, I had my WOW moment. Instead of curating the point of his confession (to take drunk driving more seriously), Canzani makes the story more about Matthew Cordle.

“When I get charged I’ll plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I’ve done to Vincent and his family,” Cordle says in his video confession.

Before jumping into all the details of prosecution and degree of detainment, can we take a moment to focus on the point of his confession. Can we hear his plea for us to all make the promise not to drink and drive?

Figuring out the number of years Cordel will be imprisoned will not save lives, making the promise not to drink and drive will.

Come on, Media. This is your moment to do good and you’re ruining it.

Congratulations To The Onion

Garth Beyer

I’m speechless.

Here is an excerpt from The Onion,

So, as managing editor of CNN.com, I want our readers to know this: All you are to us, and all you will ever be to us, are eyeballs. The more eyeballs on our content, the more cash we can ask for. Period. And if we’re able to get more eyeballs, that means I’ve done my job, which gets me congratulations from my bosses, which encourages me to put up even more stupid bullshit on the homepage.

I don’t hesitate to call it stupid bullshit because we all know it’s stupid bullshit. We know it and you know it. We also know that you are probably dumb enough, or bored enough, or both, to click on the stupid bullshit anyway, and that you will continue to do so as long as we keep putting it in front of your big, idiot faces. You want to know how many more page views the Miley Cyrus thing got than our article on the wildfires ravaging Yosemite? Like 6 gazillion more.

That’s on you, not us.

You can find the full article: here

Still speechless. Maybe I’ll have more to say about it later.

Turn Your Beat Into A Book (summary: writers)

Garth Beyer

I attended a conference that hosted a panel of writers and publishers. Happy to share what I took from the writers panel with you.

  • 10 tips that one writer gave
  • Think about writing before reporting. Reporting will be natural and more apparent the deeper you get into the story.
  • He or she who hesitates “gets scooped.”
  • What you need:
    • To be gregarious
    • To prepare
    • To know when to cut bait (get out of a situation)
    • To have faith in the project
    • To make something new
  • When writing a book, always try to find more time. Time that is constructed for the sole purpose of writing.
  • “Most important picture is the next one, not the last one,” said a the photojournalist.

Lastly, and worth not having in a bullet point, always try to keep a project going.

Turn Your Beat Into A Book (summary: publishers)

Garth Beyer

I attended a conference that hosted a panel of writers and publishers. Happy to share what I took from the publishers panel with you.

  • Writers are not looking to get published to make money.
  • Publishers care about taking time to make sure everything is right in the publishing process. BUT, they are ignorant in their use of others’ time. (Certainly not all publishers, but definitely the ones on the panel.)
  • Stated by a publisher’s rep, “Writer’s quit too early. It’s fear of success.”
  • Bad movies and books are out there because writers didn’t give up.
  • Most money comes from speaking engagements.
  • You have to push the book. You’re the marketer.
  • Having articles criticized is one thing. Having your book criticized is another.

After the conference, I am even more sure that self-publishing is the way to go.

Oh, and start marketing now.