Who better to give advice about media relations than a senior correspondent with 24 years of experience under his belt?
That is exactly what Rick Leventhal, senior correspondent with Fox News Channel, did on Sunday, October 16, to a room of future public relations professionals at the Public Relations Student Society of America’s National Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Leventhal has been to warzones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Albania, Macedonia and Libya. He has covered such domestic stories as the BP oil spill, the Hudson plane crash and the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Below are some great pieces of advice he offered to budding public relations professionals:
- Research the Reporter: Do background research on the reporters you pitch, know what they write and why they would care about your story.
- Focus on Brevity: Consolidate your media pitch into a small package. Reporters are stretched for time so make your pitch easy to read, concise and straight to the point.
- Have an Angle: Every person or company has a story to tell. Make sure you find the unique story that will relate to the audience to which you are pitching.
- Be helpful, not forceful: Reach out to journalists as a resource, not just a PR professional. Always be helpful but never tell a journalist how to write his story.
If you are interesting in learning more about Rick Leventhal, check out his Twitter account and read his bio.
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