It's June 29, 2007: Game show fans are still heartbroken after Bob Barker completes his last episode of The Price is Right nearly two weeks earlier; former astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak is disputing accusations she wore diapers while driving 950-miles to confront her romantic rival in the bizarre love triangle case that made worldwide headlines; and, standing in line at AT&T and Apple stores nationwide, thousands of eager consumers are waiting to get their hands on the first ever iPhone. It’s hard to believe the…
Read MoreMost of my time at Hodges focuses on media relations, whether it’s pitching something new, following up, providing information for a request or just checking in with journalists. That means a lot of my time is spent connecting with the media, a group of people that we in public relations are often told how NOT to talk to. No long pitches, no bold font and stay away from exclamation points and smiley faces. And if you don’t use a relevant subject line, you might as…
Read MorePart of working for a PR agency that specializes in media relations requires that you not only keep abreast of the news, but also pay special attention to the different outlets, its editors and reporters (and the comings and goings thereof) as well as the structure of the content, including any special columns or sections. Keeping this mental map of the media landscape comes in handy when trying to figure out where and to whom to pitch your client. Lucky for me, I happen to…
Read MoreWhile this time of year has everyone else thinking grilling, fireworks and sunblock, for us PR pros ’tis the season for holiday gift guide pitching. Yes, it may only be July but for the editorial world they’re busy making their list and checking it twice. Exactly what is a holiday gift guide? Each year leading up to the holidays, media outlets from your major national monthlies, local dailies to online and broadcast put together their picks for what should be on everyone’s wish list. It…
Read MoreIt’s rare that I use this space to brag about our work, but brag I must. We just added a new case study to the front of our website. It’s the first thing most people see when coming to the site so the work and results need to literally jump out at you. That’s the case in our recent work for Reginald’s Homemade. We take pride in working for all our clients, but we especially love taking small relatively unknown brands and putting them on the…
Read More(Editor's note: BTW, I always refer to it as news release. The old TV guy in me. -JN) Late last month the intersection of technology, journalism and public relations was sent into a tizzy when a number of news sites fell for a phony press release posted to PRWeb in an apparent attempt to game the stock market. While other postulate whether this is a nail in the coffin of PR, journalism, Google News or all of the above (and what’s next), I wanted to…
Read More(Quick editor's note: There are few better at getting the word out about events than Cam. Great ingredient list below. -JN) I’m fortunate to work at an organization that encourages employees to volunteer and give back to the community. As a guy who loves to work with nonprofits, this makes me so happy. Throughout the year, in and outside of work, I help nonprofits publicize their events to the public. It’s not only an opportunity to fundraiser for a cause, it also gives the nonprofit…
Read MoreOK, here we go. Time for your daily dose of blasphemy on this Thursday. Hold on to your hats but this is something that's been bothering me for a while especially as a personally stand one foot in each bucket. Are we spending too much time focusing on social media when good old-fashioned public and media relations still works just fine? Before you say Jon, we can and should do both, I will quickly agree with you but add that maybe we should prioritize the…
Read Moreby Alissa Pak, member of THP's "lux" team The next time one of the recent Mega Millions winners happens to breeze past a newsstand, they certainly won’t have a shortage of reading materials to flip through. Though some may call the current economic outlook uncertain, for four magazine publications it’s anything but as they launch their new titles. Not exactly aimed at the populist sect, these magazines won’t be everyday reading material unless you count yourself among the 1 percent of society. Are you a…
Read MoreWhile this cautionary tale (click below) seems to end well, it is interesting how some feel they can and should try to control access to products or news to gain favor of journalists or in this case to avoid negative commentary. Blacklisting in various forms has been used as a marketing tool for years, rarely to this extent though. Click here for story from arstechnica.com UPDATE: Within the hour, this tweet was released by 2K Games, The Rednar Group's client… 2K Games does not endorse…
Read MoreWith apologies to my friends in the satellite media tour/video news release world, I've been silently waiting for years for the time that technology would catch up and allow just about anyone to "broadcast" news using inexpensive devices and technology. The time has come. Today BBC announced that it's working on an iPhone/iPad app that will enable reporters to shoot, edit and feed stories (and I'm guessing live video) from their Apple device on both 3G and wireless networks. The implications for broadcast journalists are…
Read MoreInteresting story in the New York Times about network morning shows shelling out the big bucks for exclusive newsmaker interviews. What do you think about this practice? Is it a sign of the times given they have fewer staff members working on stories? What are your thoughts?
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