Are You Worthy?

Chapter 4
To Be, or Not To Be.. Newsworthy, that is!

The entire goal of a PR Practitioner, if you didn’t know, is to get publicity.

However, in order to do so, the material, should probably be worthy of the news in the first place. There are a few tid-bits of information that will change the world of press releases as you know it. Some of the majors:

• Timeliness- Many news outlets look to “break the news” before any other station does. Not too early, where the readers will forget before it’s time; but not too late, when the event is already over.
  
• Unusualness- Things that are odd tend to make news just because they are not seen on a regular basis.
  
• Human Interest- focuses on someone’s life, not necessarily a famous person, it can be an everyday person. People enjoy these stories because they may be found in the same, or a similar, situation that the featured person is dealing with.


• Proximity- news that is in a relative area close to readers.


• Prominence- A famous public figure or relevant celebrity is in the picture or article, making it news.

So, let me as you this- what is going to happen if a press release is written and campaign started, and all the rest, but when the public sees all of this, they wonder- Who is that?

In order to be relevant, the public needs to know who the company is and what the purpose is.

One major way to make that happen is to:

- get ready for it-

GET INVOLVED! I know, I know, it's kind of like a "should of had a v-8" moment, but don't worry, because that is why you're reading this- to get new ideas!

So do things for your community to feel connected to you. Host a special event, or if you’re not the “hosting” kind of company, sponsor an event- it shows that you care to be a part of the community, and is a great way to help a cause. Just make sure that you do this in the local town of your company, so that you will reap the benefits of the exposure.

All these notes are from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.