Reaching Free Publicity Decision Makers in the Mass Media

What do you think of when you hear the words, “The Media?”

When I hear someone say, “The media says this or the media does that,” I’m tempted to ask, “Exactly whom are you talking about?”

Despite a trend toward fewer and fewer big companies owning more and more media properties, I believe that the media have never been more diverse.

And there’s certainly never been more media.

I’d like to share a personal story about the growth of the media. If you’re in a hurry, I suggest you skip straight to the next section, “Who’s In Charge.” But if you have a moment, I think you’ll find this story relevant and enlightening.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 50’s. I was a big baseball fan, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were (of course) my favorite team.

In 1960, the Pirates finished first in the National League and were to meet the New York Yankees in the World Series, beginning October 5th.

It so happened that October 4th was the “feast day” of St. Francis of Assisi, and since I attended a Catholic Elementary school staffed by Franciscan nuns, we didn’t have classes that day.

I lived within walking distance of Forbes Field, and I found out from some friends who worked there that the Yankees were scheduled to hold a practice the afternoon of the 4th.

I also found out where the Yankees would get off their bus and go to the locker room. I planned to locate myself at that entrance when the Yankees arrived and try to get a few autographs.

You know what they say, though, about the best laid plans…

Without notifying me, the Yankees changed their practice time. When I arrived, they had already gone into the stadium. I had missed them by minutes.

So I decided to wait for them to finish and come out. I paced in front of the gate for several hours, barred from the entrance by a friendly but determined security guard.

Finally, sometime in the late afternoon, the guard took pity on me. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, he said, “Hey kid. Go ahead in. But if anyone asks, you didn’t come through this gate.”

In I went, determined to protect the guard and not to tell anyone how I managed to slip into the stands.

I needn’t have worried. There wasn’t a soul around.

Except the Yankees.

Down on the field…Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Moose Skowron, Tony Kubek, Casey Stengel.

I gradually made my way all the way down behind the dugout on the third base line and watched the last few minutes of practice.

It’s one of the fondest memories of my childhood, but as I reflect on it now, do you know what amazes me?

The day before the start of the World Series, there wasn’t a reporter or TV crew in sight.

No one.

Inside that major league ballpark, it was just me and the New York Yankees.

In this day and age, that experience seems inconceivable.

Now, you have hundreds of media people milling about on the field, networks going live, news conferences after the practice, interview areas set up.

My, my, my. How things have changed. 

The Media Explosion

Since my childhood, the collective group of journalists and semi-journalists we now refer to as “the media” has exploded. And it pervades our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined a generation ago.

Think about it. In TV alone you have ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, TBS, TNT, TNN, CNN, UPN, ESPN, BET, A&E, MSNBC and MTV.

Let’s not forget the Cartoon Channel, Court Channel, Discovery Channel, Family Channel, Golf Channel, History Channel, Learning Channel, and Weather Channel.

There are literally hundreds of TV stations and cable networks, thousands of radio stations, and tens of thousands of newspapers, magazines and--the most recent addition to mass publishing--electronic magazines.

Marketing to electronic magazines or “Ezines” is a subject for a whole separate book. In this publication, I’m going to focus mainly on radio, TV, and print. 

Who’s In Charge? Who Makes the Decisions?

Anyone who has been in sales knows that you’re most effective when you can get in front of the person who makes the buying decision.

Figuring out who that is can be troublesome, but you’ll be glad to know that in the world of print and electronic journalism, the lines are pretty clearly drawn.

I’ll spend more time in the chapters that follow on whom to “pitch” and how to pitch them, but for now let’s just look at some basic job descriptions of people you’re likely to bump into as you market yourself to the media.

Before I do though, one suggestion.

It’s never a bad idea to call the main switchboard at any news outlet and get some intelligence. Just ask the simple question.

“If I wanted to suggest that someone cover a story about ______, whom should I talk to?”

Don’t forget to make sure you ask for a correct spelling and pronunciation of that person’s name.
 

Evening TV News

The assignment editor: I compare the assignment editor of a TV newsroom to a hockey goalie who’s trying to watch fifteen players and three pucks coming down ice at him all at once (I know this doesn’t happen in hockey, but if it did the goalie would know what the assignment editor is up against on a daily basis).

The assignment editor generally sits behind a huge desk, somewhere near a bank of police, fire, and emergency scanners, which he/she listens to at all times.

The assignment editor also receives dozens (some in bigger cities even get hundreds) of news releases, faxes, email and phone calls from people requesting coverage.

He/she also decides which reporter/photographer crews cover which stories, coordinates their movements, handles equipment/vehicle malfunctions, and listens to whining staffers complaining that they missed lunch because of breaking news.

I mention all these things not because I think you should feel pity for assignment editors, but because it’s important to understand their state of mind—which is generally just short of frenzy.

Unless you’ve developed a personal or professional relationship with a reporter/anchor (more on that in the next chapter), the assignment editor is THE person you need to know to have any chance of getting airtime during an evening newscast.

Producer: While the assignment editor decides which stories get covered, the producer decides which stories get on the air.

The producer is the person who puts together a newscast, or a segment of a newscast. He/she decides how much airtime each story will get, writes some or all of the copy that the anchors read, and physically times the show while it’s in progress.

While producers have a great deal of say about whether a story makes it into a newscast or not, you won’t have much contact with them.

If you saw the movie “Broadcast News,” you might remember the Holly Hunter role. She was a producer.

There are also associate producers who help with newscast production.

Executive Producer: This position goes by different names in different places—it might be called the assistant news director or something else.

Basically, this person is second-in-command in the newsroom, overseeing day-to-day operations and also performing some executive/administrative duties.

As a coverage-seeker, you normally won’t have much contact with the executive producer. But since the “E-P.” often presides over daily meetings where decisions are made about coverage priorities, they can have an impact on your success or lack of it.

News Director or News Manager: This is the department head, and like department heads in just about any company, they spend most of their time budgeting, hiring, firing, negotiating salaries and doing other generic executive duties.

There’s very little reason for you to get to know the news director. In fact, any attempt to go through the news director (instead of the assignment editor) to get a story on the air can result in hard feelings and a definite lack of success far into the future. 

TV Morning News/TV Talk Shows And/Or Magazine Shows

The decision-making hierarchy for these shows tends to differ somewhat from evening news programs.

The producer plays more of an important role, often combining “producer duties” and “assignment editor duties.”

For example, if you wanted to get coverage on any of these programs, you’d probably be better off writing directly to the producer.

Like the assignment editor, their job is to find interesting stories and interesting guests, and then prepare both the guest and the host for their on-air meeting.

The producer also “screens” guests to make sure they’ll be engaging on the air. Whenever you have a conversation with a talk show producer about a possible appearance, remember: YOU’RE BEING AUDITIONED. Talk to the producer the way you’d talk to the viewing audience during an appearance. Never, never, NEVER brush off a producer thinking you’ll save your most charismatic moments for the host.

If you underestimate or minimize the role of the producer, you’ll never find yourself sitting across the table from the host.

Host: The host’s role varies from station to station, and from host to host.

Some hosts are mainly interested in looking good and sounding smart, but they don’t really take much of an active role in selecting guests or planning the show.

Others want total control.

Your best bet in one of these “softer” programs is to start with the producer and then try to build a relationship with both the producer and the host.

Radio

In big city radio news operations, the job descriptions roughly parallel the TV job descriptions.

Talk show producer: In general, this person’s job is much like that of the TV talk/magazine show producer.

He/she will look for topics that are timely and interesting, research them, find engaging guests or experts to discuss them, set interview schedules, confirm interviews, and finally, make sure the guest is in the studio or on the line at air time.

He/she will also sort through snail mail, email, faxes, and phone pitches, and decide
what to toss, what to put away for future reference, and what to put in the line-up for airing in the next few days.

The producer usually also provides background material and even possibly a list of suggested topics or questions for the host.

Once again, the producer is the one who auditions prospective guests--although most of the time, prospective guests don’t realize they’re being auditioned. From the first moment you’re talking to a producer on the phone, that producer is evaluating you for subject knowledge and communication skills.

Host: At many radio stations, especially those located in smaller cities, the host and the producer are the same person. Again, it’s generally easy to find this out by calling the switchboard and simply asking.

Hosts have different styles. Some may want to talk to you by phone before a day or so before airtime. Others don’t want to talk to you at all until you’re in the studio.

Call screener: If the show offers live phone in questions, there will also be a call screener who answers the phones, asks the caller what subject they’d like to discuss, and makes a quick judgment on who to put on the air next.

The screener generally sits in a separate room next to the studio, and is visible to the host through a large window. The screener communicates with the host in a number of different ways: via a computer screen, by writing on a “slate” and holding it up for the host to see.

Sometimes the producer doubles as call screener. Sometimes, in smaller markets, the host answers the phones “cold” without a screener—but this is extremely rare. 

Who’s More Important To Pitch?

If you’ve never been on a particular program before, I believe the producer is really the key contact and the person you should start to build up a relationship with.

However, producers change jobs much more often than hosts, so in the long run, you should really work hard on making yourself useful to the host. Ultimately, it’s their show—and while a producer does a lot of the “grunt” work, the host has a lot of say.

If the host likes you, you’ll get a lot of airtime.

Editor: The important thing to remember about the job title “editor” is that the job description which accompanies the title generally depends on the size of the publication.

You’d be wasting your time pitching a story to the editor of the New York Times.

But pitching the editor of a small town weekly is a different story.

It’s a judgment call, and requires some intelligent research on your part.

Reporter and Columnists: These are the lifeblood of almost any print publication. Sometimes, they write about people or topics that are assigned to them by an editor. Sometimes they “enterprise” a story, meaning they develop a topic or idea themselves.

In my experience, developing a relationship with a reporter or a columnist is the fastest way to get free publicity, as long as you play by the rules discussed in other parts of this website. 

Conclusion

This page was designed simply to give you an idea of job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities in different media venues.

Knowing exactly “who you’re gonna call” when you want coverage will save you a lot of time and effort.

Remember this though, above all.

Just about every radio station, TV station, or print operation has its own hierarchy, job descriptions, and titles. Any research you can do before sending your news release, sending an email or making a call will improve your chances of success.