I had the pleasure of working with Orchard: Africa, an organization Philanthropegie founder Ric Leutwyler serves on the Board of. In exploring opportunities to raise awareness for the valuable work Orchard is doing in South African villages, we had to create a “personality” media would engage with. In addition to an outstanding Executive Director in […]
Media begets media. Stories aren’t told once. They’re told several times, in various fashions, from multiple points of view. Opportunity for exposure lies in being on the lookout for media at its originating point, before every angle has been exhausted. A savvy non-profit promoter will monitor stories related to her area of expertise and potential […]
How can I not post this week without a word about the scandalous break-up of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (I’m not saying it’s surprising)? In every story I’ve read and conversation I’ve had on the topic, the Church of Scientology has emerged as a major factor. Why? Because you just don’t know. I assume […]
I wonder how engaged the public relations team at Penn State was in 2001. As CNN reported on Thursday, “An effort to avoid bad publicity ‘is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities.’” Bad publicity? We all know what happened there. Of course, […]
The Internet was ablaze two weeks ago with video of an Afghan woman who was executed for alleged adultery. That week, I listened to a panel of experts discussing ending violence against women on The Diane Rehm Show on NPR. Additionally, the local NPR affiliate reported the same day that shelters for victims of domestic violence were fuller than […]
One of the most oft repeated statements heard in PR meetings to clients is that “what you consider as ‘nothing’ may actually be news we can pitch.” It sometimes takes the brashness assertiveness of a media whore professional to help an organization see what news opportunities are available to them. For example, the lowest hanging fruit may be […]
The Olympics give us so many reasons to celebrate. Most obviously is the champions that win the gold medals, beating the competition to earn glory and a reward for years, even a lifetime, of hard work. There’s also the celebration of pure physicality. The beauty of seeing the human body, stretched to its limits, on […]
Ric mentioned the January 2012 controversy at Susan G. Komen in response to my earlier post about Penn State’s PR nightmare. The issue we discussed at the time related to public reaction after Komen cut funding for breast cancer screening to Planned Parenthood, which ignited a media firestorm, and affected donation and participation levels nationwide. Since […]
I’ve talked about keeping your eye out for stories that may relate to your area of expertise in general media, but we haven’t discussed the invaluable media that actually understand your area of expertise. These are the trade, vertical or specialty media that cover what you do everyday. Rather than writing about a geographic area, like […]
Technically your audience is the people you’re trying to reach via the media, but it’s hard not to consider the reporters, producers, bloggers, etc. you’re targeting as your main audience. They are your first point of contact in trying to reach the broader audience that will respond to your message or call to action. With […]
