This is probably not a week that Nick Buckles ever wanted to have to face. The Chief Executive of...
If you listen very carefully – through the roars and cheers of the Olympic crowds, you can hear a small sigh of relief. Not from the Olympic Committee or Seb Coe as all seems to be going really rather well for London 2012, but from news editors across the UK. That’s because this is usually silly season. The time when you normally see crazy headlines and stories which often make you question the sanity of some of our journalists!
However, not this time. This summer the media is in love with sport. Apparently sport is the new rock ‘n’ roll. Page after page of analysis, plus the airwaves full of debate on how great the games are. But the greatest show on earth is coming to an end. After the magnificent closing ceremony we will all have to fold away our flags and pack up the face painting kits. Everything returns to normal and news editors will wake up next week to the annual dilemma of how to fill those column inches or hours and hours of rolling news.
So how to bring a smile to all those downcast journalists who are scratching their heads as to where the next great story is going to come from. Here’s where you come in.
If you’ve got a proactive story to shout about then now is the time to pick up the phone or start emailing your contacts in the media. If the story is good enough it will undoubtedly get more column inches now than on a busy news day. So seize the advantage, plan your message and take control.
The print and broadcast world is a very small one indeed. They feed off one another. So your story could end up not just in one paper but across several news outlets and so your coverage grows.
Regional TV news programmes get a lot of their story ideas from their local BBC radio stations. And the local BBC Radio stations find their stories from local newspapers and trade magazines. The point is – don't overlook the little guys in your hunt for national news coverage. Building relationships with journalists is a really good idea and if you help them then they will undoubtedly cut you some slack when times get tough and you have more of a tricky story to manage.
If we can help you and your spokespeople spread your news, get in touch here
