Techniques for Ensuring PR Coverage in the Regional Media: An Insiders View (Hawksmere Special Briefing)

A H A W K S M E R E S P E C I A L B R I E F I N G Techniques for Ensuring PR Coverage in the Regional Media An insid...

Author: Mike Imeson

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A

H A W K S M E R E

S P E C I A L

B R I E F I N G

Techniques for Ensuring PR Coverage in the Regional Media An insider’s view Michael Imeson

P U B L I S H E D

B Y

T H O R O G O O D

LT D

IFC

A

H A W K S M E R E

S P E C I A L

B R I E F I N G

Techniques for Ensuring PR Coverage in the Regional Media An insider’s view Michael Imeson

P U B L I S H E D

B Y

T H O R O G O O D

LT D T H E P U B L I S H I N G BUSINESS OF THE HAWKSMERE GROUP

Published by Thorogood Limited Other Hawksmere Reports and Special Briefings published by Thorogood:

12-18 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W 0DH. Thorogood Limited is part of the

Mergers and Acquisitions Confronting the Organisation and People Issues

Hawksmere Group of Companies.

© Michael Imeson 1998

Mark Thomas

Techniques for Successful Public Affairs Campaigns in Business Peter Wynne Davis

Dynamic Budgetary Control David Allen

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Implementing an Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy

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Insights into Understanding the Financial Media

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ISBN 1 85418 019 3 Printed in Great Britain by Print in Black, Midsomer Norton.

The author Michael Imeson began his journalistic career on the evening newspaper the Hartlepool Mail before moving to The Journal, the morning newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne. To broaden his experience he moved to Zimbabwe, though then Southern Rhodesia, where he reported the exciting years culminating in UDI which put Rhodesia on the world stage. On returning to the UK he moved to the Press Association, the national news agency. The remainder of his journalistic career was spent at the Press Association,with roles as reporter, news editor, specialist writer, assistant editor and finally associate editor. He thus had hourly links with the regional press as well as with the national scene. Recently he has put his 30 years of experience to work on the other side of the fence as a media consultant. He has helped to point the way into the regional media to hundreds of PRs in the form of talks and lectures over the last dozen years.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who have provided me with material for this Briefing.They include those who have spoken at PR and the Regional Media seminars organised by Hawksmere, a sister company to Thorogood, publishers of this Briefing. Particular thanks go to Martin Keene, Gareth Weekes and Greg Strange. Also, to the Newspaper Society whose splendid reference book Reaching the Regions is published annually and which is close in importance to any of the huge directories which litter PR offices. Finally, to my wife Margaret for allowing me to disappear into my study for hours to put this work together.

Contents

1

Introduction

1

Overview of the regional media

2

Regional newspapers...................................................................................................3 Local radio ...................................................................................................................6 Regional television.......................................................................................................6 Local/regional cable.....................................................................................................7 Text services ................................................................................................................7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................8

2

Regional morning, evening and weekly newspapers

9

Newspaper rivalry .....................................................................................................11 Printing ......................................................................................................................14 The regional newspapers...........................................................................................14 Overall coverage in the regions .................................................................................17 Advertising.................................................................................................................20

3

Newspapers – the dominant force in the regions

22

Background................................................................................................................23 Why do they still dominate the markets?...................................................................24 Some regional newspaper platforms .........................................................................25 The editor’s perspective ............................................................................................26 Content of the local/regional newspaper ..................................................................28 The industry’s code of practice .................................................................................30 Conclusion .................................................................................................................30

4

News versus views

31

Some golden rules .....................................................................................................32 News gathering..........................................................................................................32 Local media is trustworthy ........................................................................................34 Regional TV news/features are great early evening viewing .....................................35 Information overload means orders are changing .....................................................35 Advertorials are acceptable in the right place ...........................................................36 An angle to a story is important ................................................................................37

Find research which breaks new ground ..................................................................37 Features ......................................................................................................................37 Gimmicks....................................................................................................................38

5

Pictures – a practical guide

39

A picture is worth a thousand words .........................................................................40 What is news? .............................................................................................................40 The picture idea .........................................................................................................41 What to tell the picture editor....................................................................................43 Embargoes ..................................................................................................................43 The function ...............................................................................................................44 Doing it yourself .........................................................................................................45 Stock pictures .............................................................................................................46 Special events .............................................................................................................47 Ideas ...........................................................................................................................48 Photography today .....................................................................................................49

6

Feature Link – help from a trade body

50

The Newspaper Society (NS) .....................................................................................51 NS links can help to hit the mark ...............................................................................51 Revenue at stake, so Feature Link is doubly important ..............................................52 Case study: Real Fire Week..........................................................................................52 Summary ....................................................................................................................53

7

Local radio in more depth

55

Background................................................................................................................56 FM/AM .......................................................................................................................56 Heart of the community ............................................................................................57 Helplines....................................................................................................................58 How to get the message on air ..................................................................................60 ISDN...........................................................................................................................61 Fast reaction...............................................................................................................62 Radio – is it worth it?.................................................................................................62 Summary ....................................................................................................................63

8

Regional TV news – a major news source for local people

64

Audiences up for regional output...............................................................................65 Cable will become increasingly significant ................................................................67

9

Magazines – a valuable means of communication

68

Niche markets are important so ensure quality and relevance of copy ....................69 Free distribution ........................................................................................................69 Focused on designated topics....................................................................................70 Circulation .................................................................................................................70 Quality pictures are welcomed..................................................................................71 A sensitive market......................................................................................................71 A vibrant sector..........................................................................................................72

10 Text services

73

An essential part of a marketing mix .........................................................................74 Substantial benefits in prospect.................................................................................75 BBC Ceefax ...............................................................................................................76 Teletext ......................................................................................................................76 DTT in everyday language .........................................................................................77 Hyperlinks..................................................................................................................77 Growing interaction ..................................................................................................79 Local news dissemination ..........................................................................................79 Streamlining the service ............................................................................................79 Round the world........................................................................................................80 Compliance with regulations.....................................................................................80

11 The Internet

81

Keeping information simple ......................................................................................82 Simple sites ................................................................................................................83 Text on the cable network.........................................................................................84

12 The when and the how

85

Tips: Putting theory into practice ..............................................................................86

Appendices Appendix 1: Case studies ...............................................................................................................89 Appendix 2: The Press Complaints Commission ...........................................................................97

Introduction Substantial PR opportunities exist at every level of the regional media.That they are not always utilised to the full may in part be due to attitudes within the public relations industry which places less emphasis on the regions than they deserve, or still considers that national media coverage is sufficient. Yet an expensive full-blown campaign or a single news release for a one-off client will find more space and more airtime in the regions if the particular requirements and attitudes of those in the media in the provinces are taken into consideration at an early stage. Countless opportunities are lost because differing techniques remain under-developed for dealing with newsdesks outside the metropolis. These techniques are easily learned and once put into practice should remove any barrier to a satisfactory end result. Today’s regional media is wide-ranging and growing, far removed from mere newspapers. However, a combination of morning, evening and weekly newspapers, regional and locally targeted magazines,local radio,regional television,local cable,local text services and the Internet, allows public relations practitioners to set out their own stalls before an audience eager to hear from them and to pass on the message. Within the respective disciplines,each feeds off the other,and the vast majority of newspaper publishing organisations have more than one aspect of the media in their portfolio, again allowing for cross-fertilisation within the organisation and across the individual medium boundaries. The national media in turn feeds off the regional and local scene. Some of the best PR coups have begun in a home town weekly or evening newspaper where they were picked up by local freelancers.Once syndicated to the national scene,they are able to multiply with ease. At the same time an ill thought out campaign started locally could backfire in the same way. The object of this Briefing is to offer guidance and advice, and suggest co-ordinated procedures which will allow more companies to enjoy the opportunities offered by the regional and local media. Clearly there is not a single route into the regions, any more than there is into the national scene. But some of the steps are fundamental. It is another tool to be utilised.

1

Overview of the regional media Regional newspapers Local radio Regional television Local/regional cable Text services Conclusion

1

chapter 1

Chapter 1: Overview of the regional media The regional media encompasses a wide and tremendously varied communications industry. It ought to form a major plank in every PR operation since it reaches the community at every level with a frequency and depth not possible through the national media.

Regional newspapers The newspaper industry has been through a number of years of decline. Perhaps this is not surprising since it has been the prime source of news for well over two centuries. There are firm indications that the downward trend has been arrested. A substantial number of newspapers are increasing circulation.This Briefing will identify some of the reasons for the healthier news from the print media. So, it can now be fairly said that the printed word is successfully emerging from something of a lemming-like demise, with publications and publishing groups throughout the UK have fought back, and learned many expensive and painful lessons in the process. None of the other forms of local and regional communication have seen anything like such a worrying weakness since their first appearance. However, many have changed format after learning,from a demonstrable lack of audience interest or dropping audience share,that they were obliged to take note of local and regional needs and to tailor services to meet them. Some have been a runaway success from launch day: others have been through a difficult learning curve. Nevertheless, local radio and regional television is generally maintaining the vibrant growth which has characterised its development.There are more than 200 radio stations in tune with local communities. A few years ago such a mushrooming would have been unthinkable.Now some surveys suggest that local television and local newspapers are extremely close in the public perception of their provision of local news. New forms of entertaining,educating and communicating with local populations include cable which is becoming ever more localised. Local and regional text services on both the BBC and independent television – Ceefax and Teletext – reach ever-growing audience numbers and will continue to appeal as technology moves forward.

3

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE REGIONAL MEDIA

Local newspapers are linking with text services in turn linked to their cable companies. The Internet brings local news to local people, and just as easily to local people who can’t read their local paper or listen to their local radio station, wherever they may be on earth. The concept that the local newspaper’s Internet pages can perform a community role to one of its exiled readers on the other side of the world indicates the reach of the local media. The technological advances across the media of the last three decades have meant that newspapers have been obliged to change in style,content and what could be termed ‘service’ to their customers, the readers.They will never be as uniquely powerful as in the past. But they have been priming opinion formers for 250 years and more. And it is worth noting that the Belfast News Letter, founded in 1737, is the world’s oldest surviving daily newspaper. If the newspaper had been in existence a mere 88 years earlier it would have found itself in conflict with Oliver Cromwell who suppressed all ‘newsbooks’ on the eve in 1649, of the execution in Whitehall of Charles 1. Dr Helen Bunting, writing in the 1996 FT report UK Media into the 21st Century ventures: ‘Electronic alternatives fail to provide the range of qualities offered by print.These include portability, scanability, price, quality of images and speed of access.’ ‘Though there may be a market for these alternatives in the future...print has a long projected life, supported mainly by habit.’ ‘Printed media will continue to have an important social and economic role well into the next century.’ Television and in recent years,though to a lesser extent,local radio,have between them inflicted something of a blow at the ‘home town’ newspaper market in terms of circulation. Those who control the local and regional media are acutely aware that to serve their public – and to reap the largest reward for their shareholders – they need to have fingers in many pies. So it is rare now for a publishing company to have only newspapers in its stable. The public relations industry needs to be fully aware of the enormous potential in the regions. In simple terms, a story in a dozen evening newspapers has the potential pulling power of the same story in, say The Times or the Guardian. Midlands businessmen read the Birmingham Post business pages with as much interest as they read the Financial Times.

4


Regional press readership profiles The age and social class profile of regional press readership very closely matches the profile of the overall population.

;;; ;;; ;;; ; ;;;; ;;; ;;;; ;;;

Profiles by age

13.70%

Local weekly free

15.30%

Local weekly paid

Regional evenings

16.20%

Regional mornings

13.40%

Population

15.50%

0%

19.40%

17.00%

18.70%

17.00%

17.60%

15.30%

17.10%

15.60%

19.80%

16.90%

20%

40%

16.00%

12.60%

17.90%

12.50%

17.50%

18.20%

20.20%

13.50%

60%

55 – 64

18.70%

13.20%

15.80%

65+

21.20%

22.10%

12.30%

45 – 54

35 – 44

25 – 34

15 – 24

19.70%

80%

100%

Source: BMRB Target Group Index

Profile by class

DE 22.30%

Local weekly free

27.60%

22.70%

27.50% C2

23.00%

Local weekly paid

25.90%

24.90%

26.70% C1

18.20%

Regional evenings

25.40%

24.70%

Regional mornings

26.90%

22.10%

Population

0%

24.90%

27.00%

20%

40%

31.50%

22.20%

26.20%

22.50%

60%

AB

28.50%

80%

100%

Source: BMRB Target Group Index

5


Local radio Local radio should always form an integral part of the regional PR mix. Like local newspapers it can be targeted very accurately. Local stations know what people want because they are close to their listeners.Their own market research is more focused and their style closely matched to the needs and expectations of their audience. A similar ‘matching’ of style and choice of station by good PR puts the story much closer to the news bulletin/chat session. I live in the area served by BBC Three Counties Radio – serving Bedfordshire,Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. I never cease to be amazed at, and to admire, how this chat-station fills up its hours. One method is to professionally utilise PR material and turn it into talking topics, taking up the bones of a news release and having a company spokesman on air to put some life into it. Phone-ins follow and the idea/concept/proposal gets a full airing. Radio is many things.

• It is taken for granted. It is one-to-one – the friend in your ear! • It is trusted,not least because the law requires impartiality,but due to the mushrooming of stations which compete fiercely to foster that ‘closeness.’

• At end 1997 there were 41 BBC local stations, 180-plus independent and 27 satellite or cable stations.

• The arrival of digital broadcasting will give the growth of the stations a second boost. It is 30 years since the first BBC local stations went on air, so they are not immune to change, nor are they immune to the need to change.

Regional television The enormous value of regional television should not be lost on PR.While the actual number of items in a news and/or newsfeature programme is clearly limited,a good idea,a good product with a good story to tell, which has a regional angle, is a godsend.TV newsrooms are just as desperate for good ideas as any other newsdesk in the regions.

6


Local/regional cable New figures show that cable subscriptions are outstripping those of satellite which augurs well for the future of cable and the provision of local and regional news. Like local radio, the cable audience is known in detail and programming can be targeted almost down to single postcodes! Big players in cable are Channel One, running in London, Bristol and Liverpool and planning to roll out across a far wider plain and Live TV in Birmingham, Manchester,Edinburgh,Liverpool and Newcastle. Cable is not rich. Station news editors do not have the resources of terrestrial regional companies. So they need to be spoonfed. As the cable business matures, and the strong survive, it will be educational to see how much influence cable has in the regional and local media mix. It is too early to make judgements. But it is not too early to ensure that cable gets the same treatment from PR as the rest of the media. Increasingly those working in cable television will have a newspaper background, or newspaper experience, since some publishers have formed liaisons with cable companies, providing news services and even training their own journalists to become television journalists as well. An example is this: In Liverpool the cable news operation is run from the Liverpool Post and Echo editorial floor, sharing resources to give the people a choice of getting their local news in extra, interesting ways.The managing director of the operation is a former Liverpool Echo editor.

Text services Ceefax and Teletext are no longer seen as the medium to use simply to discover the latest score, or in the case of Teletext, not just for holidays! Teletext News pages alone pull in 9.2 million viewers and another 9.9 million tune into sports reports.Regional Teletext includes news and sports pages tailored for each of the 18 ITV regions. BBC Ceefax, which was the first on the scene, finally began to produce regional pages and information only in late 1997.BBC viewers are often encouraged to look at their Ceefax pages.

7


That in itself indicates that the BBC hierarchy believe in text services in addition to the spoken and visual word.

Conclusion It is interesting to note that a group of regional newspaper managers concluded at a 1997 conference that: By 2020 the local paper won’t exist solely in printed form. It will be a ‘combined’ product of:

• The printed word • Subscription TV • On-line Internet/Teletext. This overview has been intended to indicate the enormous variety of regional media opportunities.

8

Regional morning, evening and weekly newspapers Newspaper rivalry Printing The regional newspapers Overall coverage in the regions Advertising

2

chapter 2

Chapter 2: Regional morning, evening and weekly papers The Prince of Wales said at a newspaper function in London in early 1998: ‘Regional and local newspapers are one of the glues that hold communities together. Your newspapers make an enormous difference in helping to give the people of this country a sense of pride in what they do.’ His comment was completely accurate since nine out of ten adults – a total of 40 million people – read a regional or local newspaper. At end December 1997 there were 1,351 regional and local daily and weekly,paid-for and free newspapers in Britain which were members of the trade association, the Newspaper Society. National newspapers have always had their own separate trade body.

General regional newspaper data Average time spent reading Regional mornings 34.9 mins Regional evenings 31.0 mins Weekly paid 33.3 mins Weekly free 18.3 mins

0

10

20

30

40

Source: JICREG June 1998

Reader loyalty in the regions goes back generations.Where families remain in their own areas – and this is perhaps more of a phenomenon away from the south-east – the tradition of having the local newspaper delivered simply carries on.

10

C H A P T E R 2 : R E G I O N A L M O R N I N G , E V E N I N G A N D W E E K LY N E W S PA P E R S

Average readers per copy Regional mornings 2.81 Regional evenings 2.66 Weekly paid 2.47 Weekly free 1.50

0

1

2

3

Source: JICREG 15 June 1998

Newspaper rivalry Rivalry among local and regional newspapers is strong where publishing groups overlap. But there are examples where newspaper rivalry is put to one side for the common good.This is a recent example: When Louise Woodward, convicted of the manslaughter of an American baby, returned to her home in north-west England, the editor of the Liverpool Echo, the evening newspaper on Merseyside, took it upon himself to offer to conduct an interview for his newspaper. He also undertook to offer the interview to the Press Association, the national news agency, which would ensure the words were received by every newspaper not only in the UK by around the world, and to the local weekly newspaper. So in one move, a newspaper editor, partly playing on local trust and using local knowledge, was able to assist the Woodward family to avoid the harrowing experience of being hounded by the media, while at the same time ensuring saturation coverage. The only other interview with Louise Woodward was one conducted by BBC television.

11


Letter wins Echo exclusive interview with nanny Louise By Jean Morgan

The Liverpool Echo has secured the only newspaper interview that Louise Woodward, convicted of the manslaughter of baby Matthew Eappen, is prepared to give. A handwritten letter from editor John Griffith to Woodward and her family promising the interview would be given to the Press Association, the rest of the world – and to Woodward’s local paper the Ellesmere Port Pioneer – won her over. ‘We are keeping that promise today,’ said Griffith on Wednesday. No fee was paid. it is the only interview she has given except for Monday’s BBC Panorama setpiece with Martin Bashir. Echo chief reporter Caroline Storah met the former nanny at 10am on Wednesday morning for 90 minutes of in-depth questioning. A first, truncated version of the interview was in the first edition by noon and a full version appeared in later editions. ‘The letter was popped through her door and I actually offered to do the interview myself,’ said Griffith, ‘but I think, very sensibly, she thought Caroline would do a better job. ‘We are very pleased because it is a triumph of editorial initiative and values, over cheque-books.’

Source: UKPG

12


The point of this example is to indicate that such a commitment to the well running and peace in the local community,as personified by the attitude of the local newspaper editor,would not have been possible had the national media been involved.There is scope in the regions for the local media to work together. Or if not to work together, then not to work against each other.

Which of the following media give information that is the most trustworthy? 2% National Sundays

3% Local Radio

13% National Dailies

19% Television

36% Regional Press

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Source:WPNP/ISL

Responsible regionals Percentage agreeing each type of paper behaves responsibly, less percentage disagreeing. 68%

57%

80% 60% 40% 20% 0% -10%

-20% -40%

-44%

-60% Regional press

National qualities

National mid markets

National populars

Source:MORI 1992

13


Printing The United Kingdom is unique in provision of national newspapers. No other nation has the variety or sheer volume. Satellite printing – as opposed to merely huge print runs in London and (in former days in Manchester) mean that a national newspaper can be printed in Sunderland or Bradford or in Plymouth – on the same presses that will later produce local or regional newspapers. The substantial revenues that some regional newspaper groups have been able to garner through these liaisons with the nationals has undoubtedly helped them to weather the storms that have hit the regions in recent years.

The regional newspapers The UK is able to support the following:

Regional morning newspapers: Nine in England:

• The Journal produced in Newcastle • The Northern Echo in Darlington • The Yorkshire Post in Leeds • The Post printed in Liverpool for that region and for North Wales • The Birmingham Post • The Eastern Daily Press in Norwich • The East Anglian Daily Times in Ipswich • The Western Daily Press in Bristol • The Western Morning News in Plymouth. One in Wales:

• The Western Mail,which sees itself as the national newspaper of Wales,printed in Cardiff. Five in Scotland:

• The Press and Journal produced in Aberdeen • The Dundee Courier • The Herald produced in Glasgow

14


• The Scotsman produced in Edinburgh • The Daily Express, Paisley. Two in Northern Ireland:

• The News Letter • The Irish News, both produced in Belfast. Regional Sundays The Sunday regional newspapers face a harder task against the strength of the national media. Attempts in recent years to open up new ones have failed. Nevertheless, there are:

Three in England:

• The Sunday Sun produced in Newcastle for the north-east of England and the Borders • The Sunday Mercury from the Birmingham Post and Mail stable • The Sunday Independent produced in Devon. There are Sunday freesheets editions produced in Bedfordshire and slowly extending circulation to parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

Three in Scotland:

• Scotland on Sunday • The Sunday Mail • The Sunday Post One in Wales:

• Wales on Sunday One in Northern Ireland:

• The Sunday News, produced by Trinity in Belfast for the whole of the province. Evening papers Evening papers have always been – and remain – the backbone of the regional media where everyday news is concerned.They are becoming ever-more entertainment/information-oriented which offers additional scope for PR.

15


There are 61 evening newspapers in England. For the period Jan-June 1998 these are the top ten:

• The Birmingham Evening Mail • The West Midlands Express and Star • The Manchester Evening News • The Liverpool Echo • The Leicester Mercury • The Evening Chronicle, Newcastle upon Tyne • The Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds • The Evening Sentinel, Stoke on Trent • Shropshire Star • The Hull Daily Mail. Four in Wales:

• The South Wales Echo, Cardiff • Evening Post, Swansea • The South Wales Argus, Newport • The Evening Leader in Wrexham. Five in Scotland:

• The Evening Times, Glasgow • The Evening News, Edinburgh • The Evening Express,Aberdeen • The Evening Telegraph, Dundee • The Greenock Telegraph. One in Northern Ireland:

• The Belfast Telegraph

16


Ireland The Irish are great newspaper readers,both north and south of the border.There are mornings in Dublin and Cork with evenings in the same centres.The Sunday market is substantial in the Irish Republic. It is worth noting that a story from the UK can be just as interesting south of the border. In any case the product which a story might be trying to promote editorially is also, of course, on sale in the south.There is every reason to expect that this will become even more so as the two communities grow closer.

Overall coverage in the regions • Nearly nine out of ten adults regularly read or buy local newspapers,making it the most widely-read medium in the country, outstripping both magazines and national newspapers. • This high coverage is uniform across all sex, age, social grade and regional variations. • The regional press also has a very high solus readership – around 40 per cent of the adult population read a regional newspaper rather than a national daily.

17


Readership of local newspapers Any regional newspaper

All adults

85.8%

Men

86.2%

Women

85.4%

15 to 24

78.9%

25 to 34

83.9%

35 to 44

86.8%

45 to 54

87.5%

55 to 64

88.7%

65+

89.1%

AB

84.9%

CIC2

86.5%

DE

85.3%

Scotland

94.9%

North

86.6%

North West

86.8%

Yorks and Humberside

84.6%

East Midlands

86.4%

West Midlands

88.1%

Greater London

76.6%

East Anglia

85.4%

Wales

77.3%

South East

87.9%

South West

86.5%

Note: Includes Daily Record, Evening Standard, Sunday Post and Sunday Mail. Source: BMRB Target Group Index (TGI) 1997 NS Marketing Intelligence Unit – August 1997

18


The weeklies There are up to 1100 weeklies,perhaps more,depending on how they are counted.This sector is recording the most significant increases. At the announcement of the latest ABC figures, the Newspaper Society allowed itself a mood of optimism as it revealed that the number of titles showing an increase in sales was up to 53 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in the previous year and only 29 per cent in 1995. The spread of the top 20 paid for weeklies and the top ten free weeklies shows a remarkable diversity. Top paid-for weeklies have circulations in the upper 40,000s. Top free weeklies, not unexpectedly, are as high as 300,000.

These are the top 20 paid weeklies:

• Essex Chronicle

• Kent Messenger

• Chester Chronicle

• Croydon

• West Briton,Truro

Advertiser

• Kent and • South London Press

Sussex Courier

• Isle of Wight County Press

• Warrington Guardian • Mansfield Chad • Cornish Guardian

• Surrey Advertiser

• Hereford Times

• Falkirk Herald

• Western Gazette,Yeovil

• Barnsley Chronicle

• Aldershot News

• Derbyshire Times

• The Cumberland News

• North Devon Journal

• Dorset Advertiser

• Sheffield Weekly

Top 20 free weeklies:

• Manchester Metro News

• Birmingham Metronews

• Bristol Observer • The Glaswegian • Edinburgh Herald and Post

• Bristol Journal

series

Gazette

• Nottingham Topper

• Coventry Citizen

• Wirral Globe

• Kingston Guardian

• Southampton

• Newcastle Herald and

Advertiser

• Nottingham Herald and Post

• North Staffs Advertiser

Post

• Medway Adscene • Plymouth Extra • Bexley News Shopper

19


Average editorial content

Regional mornings 66% Regional evenings 58% Weekly paid 40% Weekly free 28% 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%


Advertising It is suggested that in editorial terms huge circulations,as in freesheets,does not automatically put them ahead of the paid-for newspapers in terms of quality of editorial content. Quantity is not necessarily a substitute for quality. Nevertheless,it cannot be denied that freesheets with upwards of 120 pages and several sections may well have the space to publish a PR release which a more compact paid-for newspaper may have to omit.

Average tabloid pagination Regional mornings 57.4 pages

Regional evenings 53.2 pages

Weekly paid 76 pages

Weekly free 46.6 pages

0

20

40

60

80


This does not imply any criticism of either:both should form a part of the total regional media plan. Increasing advertising revenues and the strong financial results from some groups is changing the sector’s image, which, in turn, is prompting an upturn in interest in the regional press from big advertising agencies and in the City of London and transforming its perception as an old fashioned smoke stack industry.

20


But the simple fact that the regional and local newspaper industry is the second biggest advertising medium in Britain,accounting for 21 per cent of total adspend – a not insubstantial £2 billion-plus – is a clear indication that those who spend the advertising budget know where the best results come from!

Media thought to have helpful advertising 74%

Local papers

44%

Television

34%

National papers

23%

Women’s magazines

20%

Independent radio

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Source: The Consumer’s Choice

City financial observers like those employed by the giant US investment bank Salomon Smith Barney believe the regional newspaper market still has ‘a good number of years of good earnings growth’ as the industry further consolidates and cuts costs.Their view reinforces that of many others. Successful newspapers mean substantial readership levels which in turn make the regional effort by public relations practitioners doubly worthwhile.

21

Newspapers – the dominant force in the regions Background Why do they still dominate the markets? Some regional newspaper platforms The editor’s perspective Content of the local/regional newspaper The industry’s code of practice Conclusion

3

chapter 3

Chapter 3: Newspapers – the dominant force in the regions Background Until the 1960s the regional daily newspapers dominated their markets.Most national mornings arrived late to the regional extremities and that allowed the local and regional press to have most of the regional advertising cake. Without competition the regional press was arrogant and grew a ‘take it or leave it’ culture – towards both its readers and its suppliers. There was little readership/audience research and no awareness of targeting markets. In addition, a low level of investment by owners meant big profits but a sparcity of forwardthinking. The newspapers were heavily under the trade union influence. Then came the TV and technological revolution. By the mid-1990s we had four terrestrial TV channels,40 plus satellite and cable channels,regional, local and community and commercial radio, and countless magazines targeting niche markets. The Internet was growing along with on-line news and information services, and national morning papers were arriving on time with regional editions. And free newspapers dragged down advertising rates and threatened established titles. All of these new services tapped into the lucrative advertising cake which the regional press had once had to itself. Some parts of the regional press failed to respond to the new revolution and folded. Most,however,seized the new opportunities with the big savings brought about by the demise of the print trade unions to invest in the future. Desktop technology was as big a revolution as the first printing press.They moved into new products – for example, free newspapers published in the same ‘house’ to ensure that arrogant newcomers found it difficult to survive! – and they produced supplements and niche products. These were research-based and market led as editors became commercially aware.They targeted products at appropriate markets and moved towards a service culture which aimed to satisfy both readers and advertisers

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CHAPTER 3: NEWSPAPERS – THE DOMINANT FORCE IN THE REGIONS

So after 30 years of revolution the outcome is that most regional newspapers have made the changes needed and still dominate their markets.

Why do they still dominate the markets? • Because they offer a tightly zoned market place • They outsell the nationals by a huge margin in their own patch • They are closely read by people seeking specifically local information, and • The average reader spends around 35 minutes a day reading a local daily newspaper. Local newspaper editorial is generally believed. Thus, getting a newspaper to endorse an organisation in its editorial columns is far more effective than advertising.It is also free of charge. But the two opposites cannot survive on their own. Newspaper Society research in 1992 indicated that 68 per cent of people believed the regional press behaved responsibly. The comparable figure for the national quality sector was 57 per cent, but the national mid-market scored a minus 10 per cent figure and the populars had a score of minus 44 per cent. Similar research indicated the following answers to the question: ‘which medium gives information that is most trustworthy?’

National Sundays

2 per cent

Local radio

3 per cent

National dailies

13 per cent

Television

19 per cent

Regional press

36 per cent

On the back of the research and the trial and error, the local newspapers offer a wide range of editorial platforms – and their editors are far more approachable than many might believe.

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They would point out that without regular contact with those outside their immediate field of expertise they cannot really know whether the service they offer to their readers is the one their readers want. The research has been of substantial assistance to the PR industry in that to a meaningful extent much of the work of a PR agency has been completed for them – they are now able to choose the correct audience for their message and not simply any audience.

Some regional newspaper platforms News

Features

Sport

National

Television

Football

International

Analysis

Racing

Local

Lifestyle

Athletics

What’s On

Fashion

Rugby Union

Services

Families

Rugby League

Business

Bodytalk

Leisure

Company profiles

Entertainment

Youth

In addition: £ abroad; late opening chemists; road works; late holidays; travel; nostalgia; school and university results; recruitment; property – domestic and commercial; walking; eating out; wine; video reviews; cinema reviews and articles; weekend breaks; best grocery buys – fruit, veg, meat, canned goods; crosswords; puzzles; cartoons; weekend TV film guide; popular music; folk music; jazz; nightclub scene; readers’ letters; personality columns; what’s new in the shops; consumer advice; health advice; agony aunt.

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Then there is the The F-Factor:

Faces – profiles Fashion, fitness, food Focus – on issues Fighting for the community Fun Targeted supplements are important. One evening newspaper regularly (ie weekly, monthly quarterly) produces supplements on the home, business in its region, evergreen weddings supplements which are a vehicle for quality editorials, and on motoring – weekly with bonus supplements ahead of the August and January private buyer months. Also: Travel

Health

Career

Gardening

Outdoor pursuits

Childcare

Each of these supplements is an opportunity for: • Editorial content • Advertising • Sponsorship • Competitions • Free sampling offers

The editor’s perspective Build relations Get to know the key people on the newspaper you deal with. They do not bite and frequently they need you as much as you need them.

Do not become greedy Do not expect too many editorial favours if you are not placing cash business in the newspaper’s direction. This is a comment which would never have been made in the past: today newspapers are commercial operations from top to bottom.Logically an advertiser might expect to get editorial coverage with a little less difficulty than a non-advertiser.

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The editor He or she can advise and guide you to opportunities which exist in the paper. To that extent he can help you move mountains. You will earn him his own internal praise if you can help him land sponsorship deals.

The staff The News Editor is the recipient of most press releases,80 per cent of which he does not want. The Features Editor handles everything which is not news and sport.This role holder is a most valuable contact. The Women’s Editor (more likely to have a different title in these PC days) is also a most valuable contact for fashion, lifestyle and the retail business. The Business Editor is always on the lookout for good business stories and may frequently be a source of general information. If he doesn’t have it, he knows how to get it. The Promotions Manager is always looking for prizes and giveaways. The Editor’s targets are simply, straightforward and unchanging. He or she is in that seat to make sure the newspaper is:

• the dominant title in their market place • the main advertising medium in their market place. How to help the editor achieve his or her aims • Exclusives get a bigger show in the paper • Seek advice. One person’s idea of a ‘good story’ may not agree with that of the Editor.

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Content of the local/regional newspaper On any day there will only be around 120 items in the newspaper – approximately 80 will be ‘news’. On any day the newsdesk of a regional evening newspaper will receive 200 press releases. Many will be of national-type news releases which should not have been dispatched in the first place. Those are the releases that go into the BIN or its electronic equivalent. The odds must favour the BIN, but there are ways to avoid it. Send news releases to the right person.A phone check is always worthwhile.While names and titles change as rapidly as they do (and that is a symptom of the regional press as much as the national scene), it behoves a PR organisation to remain as up to do as possible. Phone and check for the correct name: if nothing else it makes the person feel an individual. Computerised lists should help, but more often seem to add a name without deleting one at the same time! One motoring organisation at one time in recent years regularly sent 17 copies of each release to 17 different names and titles at the Press Association. Do not waste the paper’s time.Target releases of relevance to the right people at the right place at the right time.

Become known as a newsworthy PR agency or department When stories and advertising are linked it is important that both the advertising department and editorial department are aware.

• Never threaten journalists at any level. It will always work against you in the long run • Accept the editorial decision. But do not be afraid to go back with a modified idea. In the event of disaster Prepare in advance – now! – for potential disasters and include local media in that preparation. A disaster involving your company or your client in a small town in the Midlands is a national story within minutes, such is the pace of modern communication. Be ready to respond very quickly. Responding to (and therefore via) your local media may also take off the full national newspaper heat for a while at least.

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Immediately the links suggested earlier in this section between PR people and their local newspaper may help in the event of trouble. A daily paper desperate for a strong page one lead is a dangerous beast likely to run amok if it appears that an organisation is initially at a least, attempting to trivialise a disaster. So find out the facts and anticipate the nasty questions.

• Be as honest as possible • Be helpful • Don’t say ‘no comment’ • Stay cheerful. Honesty pays off over the long-term. Lies or misleading statement in a time of crisis guarantee a black mark against any organisation in normal times. By staying cheerful, a PR department should be able to avoid encouraging hysteria in their immediate relationships with the media, which will be translated into similar hysteria on air or in print.

How not to complain • Do not whinge. • Ask the question:Is it really important enough to complain? Discuss your concern with others first.

• Do not assume an error in a local newspaper is a conspiracy. • It is far more likely to be a simple mess up through lack of understanding/communication. But if the complaint is serious:

• Act quickly and decisively • Do not threaten • Demand an immediate correction • Speak to the reporter responsible • If you are not convinced it will be put right in a satisfactory manner, speak to the news editor and

• Ultimately, if necessary, to the Editor.

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The industry’s code of practice Three planks in the code are these: ‘Whenever it is recognised that a significant inaccuracy,misleading statement or distorted report has been published it should be corrected promptly and with due prominence.’ ‘A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies should be given to individuals or organisations when reasonably called for.’ ‘Newspapers,whilst free to be partisan,should distinguish clearly between comment,conjecture and fact.’ See Chapter 4 entitled News versus views.

Conclusion Local radio,local TV,and the national media gain much of their own news from local and regional – from the important regional morning to the smallest weekly. Never underestimate their power – harness it and make use of it when you can.

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News versus views Some golden rules News gathering Local media is trustworthy Regional TV news/features are great early evening viewing Information overload means orders are changing Advertorials are acceptable in the right place An angle to a story is important Find research which breaks new ground Features Gimmicks

4

chapter 4

Chapter 4: News versus views Some golden rules Do not attempt to mislead If it is advertorial copy mark it clearly as such Do not confuse advertising with hard news Features are a growing source for PR Gimmicks are great only if they have a 100 per cent guarantee against going wrong.

News gathering These are some of the many standard methods by which the media receives some of its news:

• real news • advertorial • advertising • features • gimmicks It is important in this context to build an awareness within an organisation of which sections of the media receive what information from what source. By so doing, the best means of communicating the news item/idea/concept may be selected.

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CHAPTER 4: NEWS VERSUS VIEWS

A remarkable set of figures produced early in 1998 indicated that in the regions sources of local news are like this:

Primary sources of most local news: trends 1987-1997 1987

1995

1996

1997

%

%

%

%

Newspapers

56

44

41

40

Television

19

33

32

37

Radio

12

11

13

11

9

9

10

9

Talking to people

Television: The Public’s View 1997, ITC

Nationally the picture is dramatically reversed, thus: Television

75 per cent

Newspapers

15 per cent

Radio

7 per cent

The word ‘remarkable’ is used because it is questionable how it is that people who listen to local radio do not pick up all sorts of local news in doing so. Or, people who read local newspapers do not pick up all manner of local news with every page they scan.Whatever the reasons, clearly the moving picture is the catalyst for the growth of interest in local news assimilation by the viewer. Some might say ‘but what does it matter’– so long as people read,watch and listen to local news. What the main table appears to indicate is that people are reading newspapers for different reasons.Why should 40 per cent of local news be garnered from local newspapers, yet only 15 per cent of national news comes to them from their national newspaper? What is it that they do not get out of nationals that they clearly get from local and regional papers?

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Local media is trustworthy It could be tied up with the ‘acceptability’of news in their local media.They trust their hometown newspaper in a way they don’t trust,certainly,the middle and lower end of the national press. It could be tied up with the fact that they spend well over 30 minutes a day reading their regional or local paper.

Latest figures show this readership span: Mornings

34.9 minutes

Evenings

31.0 minutes

Paid-for weeklies

33.3 minutes

Free weeklies

18.3 minutes

What puzzles somewhat is the reported growth in 1996 and in 1997 of those who name television as the primary source of local news. It is not possible to quarrel with the factual findings of the Independent Television Commission in its research Television:The Public’s View 1997 when it said:‘After a long period of newspapers’ dominance being eroded by television, they had held their own for a couple of years against the trend. In 1997, however, television was almost neck-and-neck with the press.’ But the question that continues to surface is whether the research made a sufficiently clear definition of the word ‘local.’ What could be ‘local’about a story about streets in Greenwich,south-east London,for viewers of BBC South-East in Hertfordshire or Buckinghamshire. And similarly, what is ‘local’ about a story in Scarborough for those who live in Sheffield and watch Look North.Or live in Newcastle and switch off mentally at the mere mention of Middlesbrough? None of those communities would regard the other as having any local connection whatsoever. What has Newcastle got in common with Middlesbrough apart from a football team? Scarborough might welcome people from Sheffield on a summer weekend, but that is as far as the local link extends.

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Regional TV news/features are great early evening viewing This is not attempt in any way to disparage the local news and news feature programmes on regional television;quite the opposite,for they are splendid early evening viewing,and frequently seem to be more in tune with what people want from their television news broadcasts than their big brothers at BBC Television Centre or ITN. But it is not unreasonable to suggest that ‘local’ means home town, home district.Which is where newspapers came in,and where,by and large,they will remain in one guise or another – although not necessarily in newsprint and ink. What constitutes news, however, is a question which is increasingly asked within the media, as old standards are replaced. Gossip about soaps hits the front pages of the tabloids – and the local paper wants some of the same diet. Local radio chat shows pick it up, too, and in rapid time the entire country is talking about a fictional character as though he or she were real. Questions are asked:‘Do you think she did the right thing by pouring shampoo over him when they were arguing. Do you think he should have confided in his father?’And it is all fiction! With this useful and interesting spin-off: those supporting a concept, perhaps a charity or research organisation that needs charitable support may be able to convince a soap opera scriptwriting team to include references as part of their everyday storylines. A recent meningitis story line in a soap opera led to the appearance on local radio of spokespeople for a charity who were given a splendid opportunity to talk about their needs – at length and free. The local paper sees a tabloid story concerning a member of the royal family. Never mind it cannot be substantiated, the local paper wants some of that in its pages, too. Easy: Buckingham Palace today refused to comment on a report that … and then follows 300 or 400 words of the tabloid story with a sprinkling of alleged and according to the Daily…!

Information overload means orders are changing News and views are hitting people from an ever increasing source pool, and there is nothing wrong in local newspapers turning more towards the light-hearted, information-type news story rather than heavy national news which probably does not affect their readers.It is possible to counteract information overload. The older order of Inform, Educate, Entertain… may be changing, but the local media can do all three extremely well.

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There was a time when evening newspapers would run heavy special editions on budget day. A minority still do, but most leave their readers to get the immediate detail from radio or television.That is something the electronic media can clearly do very well. Likewise there was a time when evening newspapers ran their main edition well into the middle of the afternoon to catch people as they waited at the bus stop to go home. Now the main edition of the paper is frequently ready to roll around lunchtime because, apart from those in some of the our major cities, people do not wait at bus stops any more. When the presses roll at lunchtime a lot of the day’s news has not even happened! So that is more reason for going for the easier-read,for the ‘entertain and inform’as opposed to the ‘educate’. The ‘easier read’ allows space for a significant proportion of the outpourings of the public relations industry. Some of those outpourings may well be advertorial – either by design or by default. Experience shows that advertorials which are not clearly defined as such may by default just ‘get by’the copytaster on the newsdesk at whatever medium they are aimed.But they are much more likely to be caught, identified as the Trojan horse into free puffs and free advertising, and banished to the bin, real or electronic.

Advertorials are acceptable in the right place Advertorials do have a value in the right place. I recommend Chapter 6 in which I describe the Newspaper Society’s Feature Link service.This is not a puff for the NS but a genuine method by which good,reliable ideas can make their way genuinely and heads held high,into the media. In terms of local radio,television,cable and the like,advertorials must take on a different slant. However,a reasonable method of getting results nowadays is undoubtedly through sponsorship, competition prizes, and so on. Despite the foregoing, if advertorial is clearly labelled as such, and is produced as a result of a request or suggestion, then it has a far better chance of seeing the light of day than if it is sneaked in through the back door!

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An angle to a story is important Blatant advertising via the ‘news release’ from a PR organisation is anathema. So is the phone call asking if the ‘release’ which contains the advertising has been used! It should rarely be beyond the wit of the PR professional to find a news angle in any and every thought that comes across their desk in-house or otherwise. Mention of the words survey and its twin research may raise eyebrows, but offer any good release writer an idea that is 90 per cent advertising and 10 per cent fact/news,couple it with some interesting research and it is always possible to turn it into a story. It might be a Trojan foal if not yet a horse!

Find research which breaks new ground How else do the same companies get the same vast amount of column inches and electronic coverage if they don’t produce a good survey.Wall’s Ice Cream pocket money is just one of dozens. A former magazine editor tells the story of a friend of hers, back in the late 1970s who ran her own PR agency and won the account for Vogue cast iron baths.This was before the fashion for Victoriana,when plastic was very much de rigueur for its warmth and comfort,fitting into the streamlined modern home image. She had a battle on her hands to counteract the image of cast iron as being cold and uncomfortable, so she commissioned some research through a magazine of the time. The magazine tested cast iron baths over many weeks and – of course! – proved that cast iron was as warm as plastic, had better insulating properties and was much more hardwearing! The research broke new ground at the time and was eagerly picked up by newspapers, radio and other magazines.

Features Features properly researched and written are generally welcomed by all the media. The newspaper can print them, the rest of the media can plagiarise the ideas and turn the words into pictures or speech. It is good practice to address the feature to a named/known member of the features staff where life normally seems less hectic than the newsdesk. A news editor is looking for news: features editors and their team are looking for features – for ideas they can feed off, for ideas they can

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claim as their own, but ideas which at the end of the day would normally give the original author’s client some credit. In local newspapers (and probably in the other media,too) the reduction in editorial staff must increase opportunities for externally-sourced feature opportunities. It is only necessary to witness the growth in the number of features pages and feature-type local programmes. Two -Ten Communications is a potential and easy way into the print media. Working backwards,almost,the organisation will research and write a feature on any subject on behalf of a client.The client pays a one-off fee. The words are transmitted at a time agreed with the client over the fast communications network of the Press Association to land on the newsdesk (and features desks) of every national, regional and local daily and evening newspaper (and frequently on the desks of associated weekly newspapers) as well as the vast majority of the rest of the media. Couple Two-Ten with the NS Feature Link and most of the nation is covered.There are many other scattergun organisations which do an equally competent job whose names and contacts appear in PR, advertising and journalistic publications.

Gimmicks Gimmicks are for clever people.But they need to be carefully timed,and with a cast iron guarantee that they will not backfire. If there is no such guarantee, the advice is to be very wary. If they work they are brilliant. Ask Richard Branson. If anyone knows how to pull a stunt he has to be the master.

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Pictures – a practical guide A picture is worth a thousand words What is news? The picture idea What to tell the picture editor Embargoes The function Doing it yourself Stock pictures Special events Ideas Photography today

5

chapter 5

Chapter 5: Pictures – a practical guide A picture is worth a thousand words The cliché – ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ – may yet have a second coming. It cannot be denied that the attention span for the written word has reduced over the years (some people may blame television!) so that ‘thousand words’ may yet drop to two paragraphs – under 100 words! Whatever sociological discussion that unresearched but nevertheless generally observed comment may provoke, pictures – still and moving – play a vital role in communication. And ultimately it is the good quality still picture that remains in the mind. It ought to be a rare PR event in which pictures need to play a subordinate role to the words. Yet the picture idea is frequently missing. The value of pictures is enormous, and equally so in a regional morning or evening newspaper as on the front page of The Independent. Why?

• Pictures stand out, there are just one or two on a page • Pictures are easy for the reader to take in • Newspaper readers are more photo literate and aware of images put before them • Pictures can indeed tell the 1,000 word story in a glance!

What is news? What makes a good picture for the regional media? Why photographers are the eyes of the reader A good news picture is difficult to define or explain, but it is instantly recognisable when you see it.

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CHAPTER 5: PICTURES – A PRACTICAL GUIDE

These are some ‘national’ pictures for 1997 which may strike a chord:

• The princes behind their mother’s coffin • The Queen with her Happy Golden Wedding balloon • Little Josie Russell and her black hat, who saw her mother and sister brutally murdered • The Blairs on the Number Ten doorstep for the first time. Home town newspapers will have their own. They will have pictures that involve extremes of emotion, the unusual, the interesting, the mundane viewed from a different angle.They will publish pictures of visiting TV personalities, winners, animals and children. The winner whose picture appears in papers in Southampton or Northampton might be the grower of the tallest sunflower; the papers in Newcastle or Newport might publish pictures of workers at a local factory which has received the Queen’s Award for Industry. The picture might be of a new sewer system (and that could well be important to the local community!) or the topping out of a new block of flats (a chance here for the town and for the building contractor to get some publicity). If you are planning a function, remember that editors frequently (rightly!) put a limit on the number of pictures published in a week or a month of the mayor. So try for a more imaginative personality! Good pictures are welcomed by the local and regional media whatever the source. The emphasis is on the word good. Happy snaps waste time. Men in suits shaking hands and leaning out of the picture so that the company’s name emblazoned on a backdrop becomes the focal point waste time.Boring cheque presentations waste time.So do most Rotary lunches!

The picture idea The picture that makes it into a page starts life as an idea.The message and idea to the paper’s picture desk should be:

• Newsworthy – a decent gimmick, yes, but a free puff – no! • Photogenic – but the chain that used a six-month pregnant Linda Lusardi to promote their pregnant mother care programme was better – celebrity endorsements are frequently worthwhile.

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• Not men in suits – it is the end of the 1990s,and anyway Richard Branson doesn’t seem to own one!

• Well-timed – (i) did someone do a similar stunt last week? That may not necessarily be a dampener; it hasn’t been for the National Lottery.

• Well-timed – (ii) is the timing sensible and convenient for the media, because of both deadlines and logistics? (On the national scene,a publicity stunt by a major London restaurant which involved a French acrobat crossing the Thames on a tightrope lost much of its potential because:

• it took place on a Sunday when picture desks run with smaller (and thus less expensive) staffs

• the early evening timing was bad from the point of view of morning paper deadlines • the timing was even worse when it was delayed for no logical reason • the photographers, working to tight deadlines, were hassled and obliged to get their pictures back to base before the walk had ended

• the Thames was crossed successfully, but the entertainer was allowed to return to his hotel to shower and change before appearing before the assembled media by which time further photo opportunities as well as words opportunities had evaporated with the departing media.) Honest – in encouraging the media to attend your function it is obviously important to say who has been invited.But it is equally important to distinguish between who has been invited and who has accepted the invitation! Wasting a photographer’s time by getting him there under false pretences means the paper will think twice next time they see your headed paper. Be fair – the media has different deadlines.Careful research is needed when planning an event to ensure that the timing is the best possible for both evening and morning newspapers, and for the weeklies who will be reluctant to print the same picture as their rivals did ten days earlier.

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What to tell the picture editor Capturing the paper’s imagination Notification of the function should include these five pieces of information: 1. Brief summary of the function.The summary may well be used by the photographer as the source for the picture caption.Details should follow the five ws:who, what, where, when and why. 2. Contact details for a reply.You should stress if there is a need to provide a name for security reasons.(Note: this is sometimes a difficult area because a picture editor may not be able to assign a specific person to a job until the same morning.) And a contact number for the day of the event. (It is frustrating trying to contact a press office to check a fact on the day when the switchboard advises that ‘everybody is out at the xxxxx event!’) 3. Details of any special facilities – a press centre,telephones,local film processing facilities, a negotiated vantage point if necessary.(This section should also point up any potential problems such as restrictions on the use of flash, or the fact that photographers might be kept a long way from the subject.) 4. Map of the venue plus information on any parking arrangements that have been made. (Do not forget that photographers carry all manner of equipment with them, which put together is very heavy and awkward to carry – so a parking place close by should be a priority). 5. Source of pictures should the newspaper be unable to provide its own photographer (These can include in-house or contracted freelance photographers – in fact anyone who can take a professional picture.Remember, too, that newspapers expect the pictures within hours and not days.)

Embargoes When to use them: – for operational convenience – or news management? Embargoes can assist journalists as well as PR people when used with skill and with good reason. For the media it means people may be contacted and photographed and background material prepared in advance of the announcement of the news story. It thus ensures that material is available – and processed and ready for immediate publication – at the correct time.

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For PR it should reduce the need for a feverish rush when an announcement is made. It has given the media a chance to cover elements of a story in advance, has given the PR the opportunity to conduct proper embargoed briefings with all the answers and provide adequate picture opportunities in advance. It allows a far greater chance of publication than if all the work had to be done at the time of the announcement. (Imagine, for instance, in a national sense, coverage of the Queen’s Birthday and New Year Honours if the details were not transmitted to the media in advance under strict embargo.) Embargoes should be for operational convenience.Any serious attempt at news management invariably results in negative feedback to the media and a greatly reduced chance of publicity.

The function Listen to photographers’ needs Put time aside for them Give them a good view Treat them as equals At the event listen to the needs of photographers: they are aware as to the needs of their publication and will try their hardest to fulfill those needs. Ensure that time is allocated for still photographers who often feel upstaged by the television circus or by radio interviewers. Photographers prefer natural light.If a function is scheduled for indoors,consider the possibility of moving the specific moment outside or of staging a re-run outside. Save the glossy brochures for the reporters. For their captions, photographers need the basic facts – names and first names, positions within organisations etc – on a sheet of paper they can fold up and shove into the inevitable anorak. Treat them as equals:if there is a lunch or a memento of the event,make sure they are included.

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Doing it yourself Why Who takes them Method of delivery Captions Taking and supplying the media with PR-initiated pictures gives an organisation greater control over standards.It avoids the problems of ‘outsiders’having access to sensitive areas and subjects. Some events and people are easier to handle on a one-to-one basis. It also offers the PR professional the chance to provide material to newspapers should their photographer be unable to attend. An in-house photographer perhaps more used to handshakes and retirements should be made aware of the needs of the newspaper. It is often possible to find a newspaper or news agency photographer who is happy to work on his day off and they might be the best choice. Clarify the copyright situation. Film (35mm and 120 are both acceptable, though it should be colour negative. A selection of prints (8 x 6) delivered by courier are acceptable. And so is electronic delivery if that is a suitable medium for the event.The local news agency should have equipment for the latter. Captions are important, names must be correctly spelled and people identified (l to r) if necessary. (Such identification was not necessary in a recent local newspaper photograph taken during a visit by the Queen, who was seen speaking to the only one other person in the picture. The caption said: The Queen (left) talking to Mr John Smith (right).True!)

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Stock pictures Examples of stock pictures should include:

• people – corporate personalities • places – tourist destinations, factories, buildings • things – cars, planes, appliances • activities • logos. Why?

• Making them available • CD-ROM • On-line electronic archive Newspapers have an insatiable appetite for pictures.Not just today’s pictures from news events, but pictures that may be perfect for next week or next month.These are stock pictures. If a building society drops its rates, then the City pages will be looking for:

• pictures of the chairman who says it is good news for homebuyers • a typical frontage of the society’s high street branch • a logo which the graphics artist can use to illustrate his charting of recent rates movements. The motoring column has a similar problem.They need pictures of this year’s models with this year’s registration plate prefix, not just of the car they are testing but others in the same price range. Tourism organisations need to ensure that up to date pictures of their resorts are available for features editors.(A picture taken of St Paul’s Cathedral five years ago when it was shrouded in scaffolding has no place. Neither has a picture of Kuala Lumpur without the world’s tallest building on its skyline). Television listings’ editors are hungry for pictures of personalities.The more the merrier. For some organisations, banks, industrial concerns and the like, it is often more important to keep the name in front the public as often as possible in general terms rather than to trumpet each individual achievement.

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By keeping stock pictures in front of picture editors it is more likely that if there is a feature on housebuying, the picture of the young couple house hunting will picture them doing so in the estate agency whose head office has supplied pictures which are instantly at hand in the newspaper’s library. Keeping these in front of the picture editor and the sub-editors is an important, full-time and expensive job. But one that is worthwhile. Some organisations use CD-ROM as a means of keeping in touch, but these may very well become dated soon after they are prepared. An alternative may be to offer an on-line electronic library which can accessed by Mac and modem.

Special events Chance for nationwide coverage Find a good freelance Pictures supplied gratis Don’t overbrand. Special events which bring people from all over the country to a specific event offer tremendous opportunities to fill column inches, but they do require extra effort. Examples: dance festivals, Scrabble tournaments, the Boat Show, horse trials. Local newspapers want to see their local people taking part in national events but clearly cannot find the resources either in manpower or in financial terms,to cover such events themselves. A PR organisation should find a good freelance with a Mac and a modem and explain the need for a variety of pictures to go to as wide a range of newspapers as possible. Have someone to help; match names of people against the pictures that are taken and either send the newspaper the picture by wire, or if the deadline is not pressing, send the picture by first class mail. To avoid confusion at the newspaper ensure the picture desk is aware of your plans to wire or post them a picture from the event so that its arrival does not come as a surprise. It will. Because the person you spoke to and who understood what was happening, is at lunch, or on a day off.Therefore it is important in the caption to make it crystal clear that the picture is supplied free! (A simple tip that makes it worthwhile.)

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Do not overbrand the picture. A small corporate mention is fine. But any attempt to have the hockey team pose under a sponsor’s banner is to invite rejection. (The sponsorship may be mentioned in the caption and in the story.)

Ideas Think:

• Youth • Community • Trivia • Local boys and girls The armed forces excel at local boys and girls doing well.They do well.Self-contained picture stories of individuals at home or abroad from a particular newspaper’s circulation area have been a stock-in-trade for the Ministry of Defence for decades.The pictures are always technically perfect and well-captioned and the words are thorough – what the person is doing now, but with a lot of ‘home town’ pegs… school, hobbies and so on. Newspaper diary writers can’t get enough of them. Corporate PR departments in major companies could do well to follow the example. Youth:local newspapers are keen to attract younger readers in their battle to regain lost sales. Ideas for pictures from PR professionals are always welcome. Community: Newspapers like to believe, too, that they are a vital part of the community, that they are in touch with their readers over a whole range of issues.You can help by keeping newspapers up-to-date with the activities of your company or client. And you stand a better chance of getting into print if you can provide the idea for a good picture along the way. Trivia: Light-hearted stories are important to strike a balance against more weighty, worthy words.The same goes for pictures. Everyone is interested in trivia.

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Photography today No prints Filmless cameras Instant transmission Photography tomorrow Newspaper production has been revolutionised over the last decade or so.Colour (which started in local evening newspapers before the faltering days of Today) is now commonplace, and the whole picture technology has changed. News photographers have warmly embraced the new technology that takes in modems and Macs as well as cameras! In many newspaper offices photographers no longer produce a print; instead their negative is scanned into a computer and passed electronically to the sub-editor making up the page. It is possible to transmit a colour picture from one office to another in less than 30 seconds. The first time the picture appears on paper is when it is on newspaper. Glossy prints are on the way out. Filmless cameras are here, though the price and pace of change currently makes them prohibitive for many. In three or four years they will be commonplace. Photographers will more and more find it unnecessary to return to their office with their pictures.They are already able to send them over their digital mobile telephone (even from a moving train or car) within minutes of taking them. But, however the pictures are delivered, they are still needed. That is the challenge and the opportunity.

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Feature Link – help from a trade body The Newspaper Society (NS) NS links can help to hit the mark Revenue at stake, so Feature Link is doubly important Case study: Real Fire Week Summary

6

chapter 6

Chapter 6: Feature Link – help from a trade body Feature Link is an effective and free go-between which links newspapers and companies seeking regional coverage column inches in editorial linked to advertising in an acceptable manner.

The Newspaper Society (NS) The Newspaper Society (NS) – which represents and promotes the interests of the publishers of Britain’s regional and local press,who between them own 1,200 daily and weekly, paid-for and free newspaper titles – offers one of the least-known yet most effective vehicles for PR material. Its unique Feature Link service is offered to all Newspaper Society members as part of their membership fee. But equally it offers the opportunity to the PR industry to obtain editorial coverage within the regional press for a fraction of the value of the potential result. Feature Link was conceived out of one of the roles of the Newspaper Society, that of helping its members gain additional advertising. The philosophy was simple: put genuine, quality, editorial around that advertising and both advertising and editorial gain greater acceptance among the readers.

NS links can help to hit the mark For companies and agencies needing local coverage, making their mark in the huge, diverse and highly influential regional and local press can be a real headache.For the consumer however, it is the ultimate source for all local news and information, with nine out of ten adults turning to it every week. The local and regional press provides more than straightforward coverage.It taps into a strong relationship built on the trust the community place in their local newspaper. Feature Link solves the PR headache. It connects clients and agencies with local Feature Link co-ordinators covering all 1,200 newspapers. Information is sent to the 600 co-ordinators via a fortnightly bulletin, containing press packs from the clients.

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C H A P T E R 6 : F E AT U R E L I N K – H E L P F R O M A T R A D E B O D Y

Feature Link was launched in May 1994 as part of an overall expansion programme and because the Newspaper Society recognised the need for feature co-ordinators to be given specific market news regarding feature opportunities. Within newspapers, small features teams are expected to produce all of the features for their titles. Examples might include Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day, National Bed Month and the government’s Christmas Drink Drive campaign.

Revenue at stake, so Feature Link is doubly important Newspapers need to generate additional revenue from these features and the clients need the coverage. Feature Link acts as a go-between, ensuring that the relevant press packs are sent to the correct people at the newspaper, at the correct time, with the correct information. In order to obtain information for the fortnightly bulletin, presentations are made to trade associations,charities,advertising and PR companies and national companies who are looking to increase awareness of an event, a service, a product or a cause. Once they have been convinced of the strengths of regional press they are asked to provide comprehensive press packs obtaining editorial, photographs, contact names and addresses. This is then sent to the newspapers via the bulletin and can be used as a base on which to sell features and supplements. The bulletin explains to the co-ordinators how to use the press pack,when to run the editorial, and who to contact for relevant advertising.

Case study: Real Fire Week ‘How do you turn a £12,000 PR budget into a promotion worth £270,000?’ Colin Carr worked for a PR company whose client was the Solid Fuel Association. He was set the task of increasing public awareness of the company and of encouraging the public to have a real fire rather than a gas or electric fire. Colin contacted Feature Link to discuss the matter and as a result of the telephone call a new national ‘week’ was created. ‘Real Fire Week’ was to run in the second week of February to coincide with St Valentine’s Day.The rationale behind the dates was that Valentine’s Day is a time to be romantic and what better way than by lazing in front of a real fire sharing a bottle of champagne with the one you love?

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The dates were placed in the Calendar of Events (a list of all national weeks, days etc which is sent to all the Feature Link co-ordinators) in order to give the newspapers plenty of time to plan their features. At the end of December 600 press packs, containing editorial, logos and artwork, were sent to the co-ordinators.The bulletin described the Solid Fuel Association, the objectives of the campaign and how newspapers could use this information to create a revenue generating feature.

Editorial, advertisers The newspapers ran the editorial, used the artwork and logos and then contacted all relevant advertisers – fireplace showrooms, coal merchants, chimney sweeps, ironmongers etc. The promotion was extremely successful and the post campaign analysis showed that if the Solid Fuel Association had purchased the coverage it received within the regional newspapers the cost would have been £270,000. The Solid Fuel Association is a regular user of Feature Link,incorporating reader competitions, reader offers and an abundance of coverage. The benefits? There are substantial benefits for all parties.

Summary For Newspaper Society members the following outlines the importance of the service: 1. Constant source of information 2. New and creative ideas 3. Professionally written press packs 4. Library of ideas 5. Revenue generating marketing tool 6. Advice, leads help from Feature Link team 7. Calendar of Events – effective planning tool. For the client, PR company or agency the following facts outlines the benefits: 1. One stop mailing shop 2. The Newspaper Society represents the interests of 99.5 per cent of the industry outside the nationals

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3. Press packs sent to the correct people,at the correct time,with the correct information 4. Central control 5. Editorial coverage at key times of the year e.g. to tie in with national events, awareness weeks etc 6. Creating national events for clients within regional press 7. Cost effective (Feature Link costs £1,000 including packaging and post). Feature Link is an effective service that has enjoyed considerable success over the last three years and is set to grow at an even greater pace.

Links with organisations Following are some of the organisations which have benefited from the link with the Newspaper Society.It seems logical that in addition to talking to the NS it should be worthwhile contacting PR departments in some of these bodies: Age Concern

Department of Environment

National Bed Federation

Department of National Heritage

National Federation of Builders

Bike Event Ltd

Department of Trade and Industry

Nat Home Improvement Council

British Allergy Foundation

Department of Transport

Oxfam

British Bathroom Council

Energy Saving Trust

Ofgas

British Dental Association

Food and Drink Federation

Save the Children

Camelot

Health Education Authority

Solid Fuel Association

Central Office of Information

Home Office

Standards Administration

Inland Revenue

The Angling Foundation

Children in Need

Institute of Trading

The Civic Trust

Legal Aid Board

The Electrical Contractors Association

Comic Relief

MacMillan Nurses

The Law Society

CORGI

Marie Curie Cancer Care

The Sports Council

Crimestoppers Trust

Motability

The Tree Council

Association of British Insurers Association of Optometrists

National Caravan Council

Further information from: Sarah Woodley-Dyne, Newspaper Society Feature Link Manager on 0171 636 7014.

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Local radio in more depth Background FM/AM Heart of the community Helplines How to get the message on air ISDN Fast reaction Radio – is it worth it? Summary

7

chapter 7

Chapter 7: Local radio in more depth Background Commercial radio alone reaches almost three times as many people at breakfast time as independent television. Add BBC radio and the figure increases hugely.People driving to work, making breakfast, having a morning shower, or simply waking up, do so while listening to the radio. More adults are listening than viewing right up until 4.00 pm. It was not always so.Until enabling legislation in the 1970s commercial radio was non-existent in the UK.It was possible only to listen to Radio Luxembourg and to pirate broadcasters aboard craft in the North Sea. The first stations to start broadcasting were Capital Radio and LBC in London. Commercial broadcasting grew steadily through the 70s and into the mid-1980s when stations began to operate on split frequencies – to broadcast different output on their AM and FM frequencies

FM/AM This broadly resulted in contemporary hit radio formats targeting younger listeners on FM, and gold formats on AM, targeting more middle-aged listeners. At around the same time additional radio stations were being awarded licences to broadcast in areas where a local commercial station already existed.These ‘incremental’ licences were awarded to more specialist formats such as jazz music, dance music, easy-listening and ethnic stations. National commercial radio licences followed – Classic FM,Virgin Radio and Talk Radio – so today many areas of the country are able to choose from seven or eight commercial radio stations,made up of two local stations,four national stations,an FM regional station and perhaps a smaller community service. Plus the whole BBC portfolio of national and local stations.

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CHAPTER 7: LOCAL RADIO IN MORE DEPTH

In broad terms the UK radio network is as follows: BBC: Five national stations 41 local stations Commercial radio: Four national stations 180-plus local stations Satellite and cable: 26 stations Commercial radio is strongest with younger listeners,although total listeners are across a broader demographic band. Just under half of all adult radio listening is to a commercial station, but listening among all ages up to 54 is well above this average. It is the BBC die-hards aged 55 and over who reduce the average. Demographic shifts over time seem likely to swing the balance in commercial radio’s favour. In London where listeners have a choice of 21 stations, more than 60 per cent of all listening is to a commercial station. A similar picture is emerging in Manchester and Birmingham and is likely to be repeated around the rest of the country in the next few years. Nevertheless, more than seven million people in England alone tune into a BBC local radio station.

Heart of the community The BBC sees its local radio network as being ‘at the heart of the community; a champion, celebrating local success; a trusted companion and guide; a key forum for discussion and interaction; the provider of a sense of place in a changing world; the BBC close to home.’* A booklet BBC Local Radio (BBC Publications) offers this insight into its coverage of a station’s own footprint and the manner in which it embraces national stories and brings them down to grass roots. • On election night 1997 the only one-to-one interview given by the new Prime Minister Tony Blair was with BBC Radio Cleveland. • BBC Radio Gloucestershire supplied coverage of the mass murderer Fred West story to media outlets all over the country and abroad. *Mark Byford, Director of Regional Broadcasting, BBC

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• BBC GMR’s coverage of the aftermath of the IRA bomb explosion in Manchester in 1996 won an award for the quality of its reporting and the round-the-clock information the station gave to a community severely disrupted and in shock. • After severe snowfalls in 1996, BBC Radio Cumbria showed urgency in getting information out rapidly,abandoned its planned schedules and held the whole community together for five days. • BBC Hereford and Worcester kept people updated on the local water shortage situation. • BBC Southern Counties Radio kept listeners informed about local widespread flooding. • In the run up to the Children in Need Appeal, BBC local radio provides information, generates excitement, reports on what local people are doing to raise money and gives feedback on how the money is spent.

Helplines All 39 BBC local radio stations ran programmes as part of a ‘Talking Health’ week in late 1997 drawing attention to heart disease.The BBC helplines received more than 13,000 calls seeking more information. It is worth remembering that the BBC Asian Network is a dedicated medium wave service providing news, music and information to the Asian community in the Midlands. The quality and depth of coverage the world expects from the BBC is closely mirrored by commercial radio stations. So,from a PR point of view the need for making a choice between BBC and independent radio – if there ever was one – is reducing rapidly. Commercial radio achieves a high penetration from all sides of the population whether it is a student, a tabloid reader or an adult with a mortgage.The BBC ultimately has the same audience. But in PR terms, BBC or commercial, the opportunities are there for the taking, and they are growing constantly. These are some of the reasons why radio must form a part of any PR strategy.

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Radio is immediate

It is the fastest-moving genuine mass medium. It talks to its audience all the time. It is many things, from the BBC World Service with a weekly audience of 140 million to Oban FM, broadcasting to a very small audience on the West Coast of Scotland.

Radio is a brilliant awareness medium

Radio output is constantly monitored by other journalists. Radio can be used to break a story quickly and effectively. ‘If it’s on the radio it must be right,’ remains the immediate reaction of the rest of the media. So it is wise to make sure that radio has the earliest access to a story. This could mean inviting radio reporters to record interviews ahead of a major press announcement on a strict embargo basis. It can also mean using radio to ‘semi-leak’ a story ahead of the announcement. Politicians do this with enormous success daily on BBC’s Radio Four Today programme.There is no reason not to follow the Today example in the regions. Because of the cross-fertilisation between the centre and the regional ‘outposts’ an interview given initially to a local radio newsroom is often passed down the line and can end up on the national stations, too.

Example

A motor manufacturer was obliged to recall a number of its products for a minor safety related item.The radio station local to the manufacturing plant naturally sought an interview in which the company was able to explain the reason for the recall and to show that it put safety and its customers before the bottom line.The well-balanced interview was passed on to the BBC in London and was used on two of the national channels.

Guidance

It should be borne in mind that stations do pass interviews around their networks. In an interview,beware,of trying to ‘lighten’too much a serious piece of news.It might well be fine for a local station, but could sound trite when broadcast nationally on, say, Radio Four.

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These are the plus-points for radio:

Radio is emotional

Research has shown that more than eight out of ten buying decisions are based on emotion. Sound, music and the human voice can stimulate the emotions in a powerful fashion. While the above reference (in a sales document from Red Dragon Radio) is aimed at advertisers, it is of equal relevance to PR input.

Radio is prestigious and supportive

Local radio makes it possible to promote and build the image of a company or an organisation in the mind of the prospective ‘consumer.’

How to get the message on air There is no mystery, and many of the rules apply equally to the other media. Local radio stations are notoriously thinly-staffed.This is another PR bonus. Because they are small, the chain of command is short.This allows for the processing very quickly of ideas. An idea clearly and concisely presented is an eye-catcher on the busy newsdesk at BBC and independent local radio stations throughout the UK. A waffly, convoluted idea is a dead one. Radio producers have short attention spans.They need to grasp the story quickly, so it must be written tightly. (Think of the way it will sound if it is broadcast!) The news release headline must grab attention, forcing the producer to read on. The first sentence must tell the story in such a way that the producer can himself ‘hear’ it on air. Regional and local stations want regional and local angles. If possible, personalise the story for individual stations. As regional and local radio is not awash with money it is looking for straightforward simple, inexpensive access to good stories. Give a station easy access to a good newsworthy story and you’ll probably get on the radio. Give a station easy access to a good newsworthy story localised for that region and you’ll almost certainly get on the radio.

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Easy access to the story is almost as important as the story itself. This means stressing the availability of an interviewee.The offer of a comment via ISDN is a big asset,since it guarantees a top-class feed;it also lets the radio station know that the person on the other end represents a company or organisation that takes radio seriously. What happens to the release that has reached the radio station’s news desk? Sooner or later an individual will make a judgement on the story – Yes,Hold,Dump.Yes stories trigger a fast response.Hold stories are those which might make it if others fail,or the individual isn’t sure. Dump means bin. The more local relevance, the greater the pick-up rate. The producer will want reassurance on the availability of the interviewee,or the interviewee’s ability to talk. Never put someone forward to talk if he or she can’t! Even friendly local radio can be scary for someone not used to speaking into a microphone or down a phone line. If you are using an ISDN link – have full contact numbers in the studio and newsroom in case of disaster, and make sure the station has full contact numbers for you.

ISDN ISDN or Integrated Services Digital Network is a world-wide protocol for digital telecoms, enabling data to be moved very quickly in big quantities round the world. Anything that can be changed into data can be moved via ISDN – video,graphics,photos,audio and so on. In radio terms, ISDN provides full quality audio links in real time. In lay terms ISDN means you can talk in full quality at any time to almost any station without leaving your desk.In practical terms it means there are far fewer scratchy telephone interviews heard on radio, and speech programmes have become much easier on the ear. Both BBC and independent stations use ISDN.There is no doubt that you are far more likely to get a story on radio if you can offer ISDN access. ISDN lines are ordered through BT or your network provider.To that line, you need to add the ISDN equipment. A basic ISDN broadcasting link will cost around £2,000, a more sophisticated link double that. Rental is available.With full maintenance and support backup this might cost £3,000.

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Fast reaction While radio is the fastest means of breaking a story, (except for text services) it also allows for fast reaction in attempting to knock down a negative story quickly and effectively. • Fast reaction to apparently negative events – like an interruption to a utility supply – can rescue a possibly negative situation. • Fast reaction to national or regional events can be used to enhance the standing of your organisation. This presupposes a genuine relationship with local radio stations.

Example

A major fault blacks out half of Luton – not only homes, but the prime shopping centre as well as local industries. Within minutes a genuine and pleasant-sounding explanation is heard on local radio from Eastern Electricity’s local PR (except for those whose radios were mains operated!) and it was a genuine explanation.The company had a plan, had a relationship with local stations – and it worked.

Radio – is it worth it? Every exposure on radio is worth something. It is difficult to assess the value of radio, but it can be quantified in terms of air time value – what would it cost to buy such air time if it were possible to do so? Using the RAJAR/RSL figures for radio audiences, it is possible to calculate that, for example, the 1996 British International Motor Show attracted radio coverage worth more than £15 million in advertising air time value – it would cost £15 million to buy that air time on those stations. That is advertising value. Most PRs would assume that editorial coverage is worth a lot more than advertising – perhaps four times as much.In which case the Motor Show attracted coverage worth £60 million in editorial terms. In 1996 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) made 249 radio broadcasts, the vast majority using ISDN. Likewise National Riding Week attracted air time worth £336,000 in advertising terms, or £1.3 million in editorial terms. It is possible to argue over any set of similar statistics, but they got media coverage. PR bodies not making full use of radio, are missing a trick.

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Summary • Radio is consumed differently from other media • It is a personal one-to-one medium, not perceived as ‘broadcast’ in its true sense • Listeners see the radio station as a friend, someone at their level • For most stations, the other listeners are perceived as ‘people like me’ • National and incremental stations have more exclusive user imagery. • Listeners don’t zap like TV, they zone in and out mentally • Radio is, on average, four-fifths as effective as TV in generating recall. This exhortation appears elsewhere in this work:‘Treat even the youngest reporter with patience and understanding. He or she may be tomorrow’s national number one presenter.’ BBC local radio proves the case. Desmond Lynham started his career at BBC Radio Brighton, Jill Dando was once a presenter at Radio Devon, and Kate Adie was once farming producer on BBC Radio Bristol!

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Regional TV news – a major news source for local people Audiences up for regional output Cable will become increasingly significant

8

chapter 8

Chapter 8: Regional TV news – a major news source for local people Regional television is emerging as a neck and neck challenger to local and regional newspapers as the main source of local news according to some research (Chapter 4). Whether or not there are flaws in the method of measuring this data, the bare figures indicate an absolute necessity in putting TV on an equal footing with the rest of the media in ensuring an adequate PR regional mix. There are hundreds of hours of regional television news and news magazine coverage:television news editors find that their spread of quality content is as difficult to produce as their printed word colleagues. The medium is different and consequently demands different treatment. But the end result is the same – editorial coverage. The BBC is leader in the regional news stakes, having taken a strong lead over ITV for the first time during 1997.So the BBC’s 6.30pm early evening regional news programmes are the most watched daily TV news sequence – national or regional. Those figures emerged from the BBC which analysed in depth the Broadcast Audience Research Bureau (BARB) results for 1997.

Audiences up for regional output The BBC regional programmes attracted an average audience of 6.8 million viewers, up from 6.4 million in 1996.This beats the audience for the most watched national news programme – the Six O’Clock News – which attracted an average of 6.4 million viewers in 1997. The figures show that ITV’s average viewers for its regional evening news dropped from 7.5 million in 1996 to 6.7 million in 1997. In percentage terms across the English regions the BBC’s audience share rose from 34 per cent in 1996 to 36 per cent in 1997. During the same period ITV’s share fell five points to 34 per cent. Across the whole of the UK, the BBC share rose between 1995 and 1997 from 32 per cent to 36 per cent, with ITV’s share dropping five points to 35 per cent.

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CHAPTER 8: REGIONAL TV NEWS – A MAJOR NEWS SOURCE FOR LOCAL PEOPLE

London and the South-East,the North-West,Wales and the South-West and the West of England are the strongest of the 13 BBC regions.The BBC gained its popularity as programmes started to carry more live reports, and put more journalists out into the community. BBC regional stations now have their own specialist correspondents, covering industry, the environment, education, transport and politics.Those correspondents are hungry for ideas. ITN’s News at Ten averaged six million viewers, the Nine O’Clock News 5.4 million and ITN’s Early Evening News 4.7 million. The news editor of one independent regional television station offers the following as a typical running order for a 30 minute programme. He suggests there are three spots for PR-inspired words and pictures. Lead story

shock-horror!

News story

big court case

News roundup

shorter stories

News story

health scare story

Interview

developing above story

Spot one.................................. News story

human interest

News roundup

–

Talking point:

keep the viewers interested in the break commercial break

Spot two.................................. Feature

Sport Spot three.................................. Funny/and finally ...

nice pictures – fluffy bunny!

Weather

–

Headlines

–

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CHAPTER 8: REGIONAL TV NEWS – A MAJOR NEWS SOURCE FOR LOCAL PEOPLE

Cable will become increasingly significant Cable – Channel One in Liverpool, Bristol and London; Live TV in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Newcastle – will increasingly become a significant player. A cable TV senior executive* (using additionally his experience as a newspaper editor) offers the following wishlist:

• Visual stories • Stunts • Personalities • Human interest – local people make TV! • Studio guests and commentators • Brevity – this is the age of the sound bite! • Articulation. They also need plenty of notice, they want everything on a plate and they want exclusives. This is what they say they don’t want:

• Shrinking violets • Complex issues • Words without pictures • Product placement • Self-publicists • Time-consuming assignments. *Keith Ely, former Managing Director, Channel One, Liverpool

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Magazines – a valuable means of communication Niche markets are important – so ensure quality and relevance of copy Free distribution Focused on designated topics Circulation Quality pictures are welcomed A sensitive market A vibrant sector

9

chapter 9

Chapter 9: Magazines – a valuable means of communication Niche markets are important – so ensure quality and relevance of copy ‘County’ and regional business magazines, scattered across the nation, continually struggle to survive against the thousands of national magazines circulating in the UK. They are not in direct competition, save in cases where people might pause before spending money on ‘another’ magazine – since they are niche products and usually with a controlled circulation. The overall segment is enormous:from the big consumer titles with circulations in the hundreds of thousands through to special interest publications which cater for hobbyists and professionals and limit their coverage to those special interests. Along the way, the segment incorporates local/regional magazines. Generally speaking, the local magazine is published and marketed by a small publisher who has identified a niche in the market where advertising space can be sold.

Free distribution Many of these magazines are distributed free to readers by mail or other means of delivery other than newsagents. This means they are difficult to track because they have little contact with the usual directory structure listing publications for the benefit of advertisers and PR staff. The developments in desktop publishing technology means that such magazines are relatively easy to produce with a limited staff and outside suppliers are generally used for typesetting and the print run. A small staff heavily focused on the sales effort means the editorial drive may be limited, and may frequently have a strongly commercial bent with supplied articles and advertising related profiles taking much of the available space. It is far from an easy market in which to operate with sales staff having to work hard to achieve their sales targets and to help maintain the credibility of their product.

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C H A P T E R 9 : M A G A Z I N E S – A VA L U A B L E M E A N S O F C O M M U N I C AT I O N

Focused on designated topics In the local business magazine sector one way in which editorial staff are able to boost the sales effort is by producing features focusing on particular topics thought to be of interest to the readership – computing, training, health and safety etc. Many have recognised the importance of the motoring sector and carry motoring columns aimed at attracting advertising from local dealers. Similarly holiday companies – often those in a small, select, niche market themselves – may also find it worth their while to seek out local/regional magazines. The PR who responds to requests from a regional magazine in the same manner as to one of the giants of the industry is an enormously valuable ally. That type of reliability should go hand in hand with the product/idea the PR is hired to promote. Magazine journalists need to know that they can rely on their PR contacts to provide reliable, accurate and informed coverage. They may not be experts in every field – few people are – but they will soon discover whether their source of material is. It is said that niche market magazines have solid correspondence relationships with their readers. Experts in any subject are quick to point out any errors in a publication. The economics of local and regional publications mean that the circulation has to be tightly controlled in order that expenditure on production and distribution can be held at a level the publication can afford when taking into account advertising sales, cost of sales, editorial costs and overheads. Even the publisher/editor’s wife needs some financial recompense for her labours.

Circulation The unit cost per copy is relatively high because of the difficulties of achieving an economy of scale.Circulations usually run at up to 15,000. Any more and the rate advertisers are prepared to pay is out of sync with the rate necessary to cover costs. Advertising to editorial ratios are generally high because of the need to pack in as much revenue as possible. 70 per cent advertising to 30 per cent editorial is not unusual. Freelance journalists find a ready market among such magazines because of the salaries magazine publishers are able to pay for full-time staff are limited by cost constraints and a local circulation means that articles used in other publications can be ‘recycled’.

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Quality pictures are welcomed A particularly difficult area for editorial staff is pictures. Cost constraints mean that commissioning pictures is often impractical so supplied pictures are usually used. The quality of such pictures may not be high so editing the pictures for maximum impact is particularly important. The motor industry’s practice of making pictures of products readily available is a godsend for the small publisher who can count a high quality image freely available to illustrate that particular aspect of the editorial content. One drawback of modern technology is that advertisers frequently believe that they can supply copy in virtually any medium – Syquest, magnet-optical, floppy disks, Jaz disks, zip disks – and prepared in virtually any software programme and expect the publisher to be able to get the ad into the magazine. Publishers get round this by having tight specifications for the means by which copy is supplied. But still problems arise. Quality and relevance of editorial content is undoubtedly important to the long-term survival of such magazines.When they operate among a limited circulation,the readers quickly get to know the publication and are likely to respond unfavourably to radical change. A publication that is difficult to read is unlikely to satisfy advertisers in the long-term because the effectiveness of the advertising is directly related to the environment in which it appears.

A sensitive market The market is extremely sensitive to the overall economic situation since advertising budgets in small and medium sized enterprises – the main market for the magazines – are not high priority when times are hard. The reverse side of the coin – when times are hard you promote yourself harder – does not seem to hold much water with the people who sign the cheques. Cashflow problems arise easily in the magazine publishing business with advertisers often taking more than the allotted period of credit while wages have to be met and such suppliers as printers and delivery contractors having to be paid on the nail to ensure future publication. That is one reason for the fluid nature of the magazine business. Phoenix companies which arise from the ashes of a failed business are far from uncommon.

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Despite the difficulties,there seems to be a constant supply of entrepreneurs prepared to invest in magazine publishing,sometimes identifying an area where there is a successful publication and seeking to cream off some of that publication’s business.

Vibrant sector In conclusion, the sector is a vibrant one attracting outgoing and interesting personalities seeking an outlet for their own creativity and business skills. It is relatively easy to produce a business plan that shows a publication going from strength to strength. As in most other businesses, however, it is not as easy to do it in practice. On the purely PR aspect,my personal experience over the last several months is that the larger the producer of goods or services,then the more importance the company places on the media in the regions. If it was unlikely to bear fruit in the longer term, then they wouldn’t bother. So PRs in every discipline should take note of the simple fact that a client’s business or reputation,or both,can gain substantially in regional/niche magazines as well as in the glossy world of national and international publications. Those who ignore that may well live to regret it.

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Text services An essential part of a marketing mix Substantial benefits in prospect BBC Ceefax Teletext DTT in everyday language Hyperlinks Growing interaction Local news dissemination Streamlining the service Round the world Compliance with regulations

10

chapter 10

Chapter 10: Text services The importance of text services is underestimated. Text services are set for growth in both quality and quantity and are therefore a medium worthy of examination. Text services have been available in one form or another for close on two decades though the on-demand information has been slow and cumbersome in its delivery. Today two-thirds of the population is able to use TV text services. Of those, 55 per cent do so regularly. And more than one quarter access text every day. BBC’s Ceefax, followed by Oracle in independent television, was the role model in terms of screen-based text services but others watched as the service, to many minds, failed to grow with the times. The change came six years ago when Teletext Ltd., now 90 per cent owned by Associated Newspapers (MVI has the remaining shareholding),won the public text service licence,backing it with an £8 million investment.

An essential part of a marketing mix Today Teletext services on ITV and on Channel Four have a weekly audience of 19.7 million*, 4.2 million more than the BBC’s text service, and up by over 50 per cent on the inherited audience. Teletext on ITV and Channel Four has become an essential part of the marketing mix. And nowhere more than for holidays with its service on ITV credited with generating at least ten per cent of overseas holiday bookings. A growing number of other sectors use Teletext, including food and confectionery, banks, insurance electrical retailers, bookmakers and, increasingly the public sector. What is good for those advertisers is good in editorial terms for PR organisations able to take advantage of the thousands of pages of news and views available on Teletext.

* At end March 1998

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CHAPTER 10: TEXT SERVICES

The imminent arrival of digital broadcasting will offer substantial additional avenues for PR input. Digital TV will compress data so more channels are delivered as its replaces the current analogue method of transmitting television. The viewer is promised better quality television pictures and CD quality sound. At the same time as digital terrestrial TV (DTT) is launched, Digital Teletext will also make its debut.

Substantial benefits in prospect Viewers will need a set-top box to receive DTT and Digital Teletext.Once installed the viewers will be able to enjoy:

• Greater interactivity • Enhanced graphics and photographs • Wide variety of typefaces and colours • Easier to use navigation through the wealth of data. For those with conventional television sets, life will continue as it is now, though as CD is replacing tape and as colour replaced once black and white television,DTT will arrive in more homes more quickly. Meanwhile, until DTT is commonplace this is the exciting Teletext scene in the regions: Teletext viewers in Newcastle get a very different service to those in Northampton because a major feature of Teletext is that is regionalised. Instead of one,it is actually 19 different services with all regions receiving at least a dozen news pages,eight pages of local sport,local travel and weather information and entertainment listings. Most popular are local sports pages, particularly at the weekend, when a full service of local soccer and cricket results is available.Viewers also find local weather and travel services useful and can help fight crime locally by tuning in to the Crimestoppers Service. Teletext on Channel Four provides a comprehensive service of regional arts and entertainment listings as part of its Total Entertainment package. At every turn there is scope for PR. To keep in touch with viewers in different parts of the country, Teletext has appointed viewer panels in Northern Ireland and Scotland and two panels of teenage viewers in the North and the South.

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Teletext’s regionalisation was unique until the autumn of 1997 when BBC’s Ceefax, with the vast resources of the BBC’s regional newsgathering behind it, followed suit.

BBC Ceefax The BBC Ceefax operation has the resources of all ten newsrooms in the English regions and from the national newsrooms in Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Regional Ceefax has started by providing core services of television and radio listings, news, travel and weather,and sport.It serves whole regions rather than splitting into more local bitesized chunks, but following research based on Teletext’s service, it is placing more emphasis on news. For Teletext,the Press Association has provided the news service – national and regional – since its inception in 1992.Now 10.9 million viewers click onto the national news and another 11.1 million onto sports pages; with another click they can find pages of local and regional news. The Press Association has a dedicated staff which operates the news pages on behalf of Teletext, drawing on the national and international news moving on its own news distribution network, while at the same time producing local/regional pages serviced by local PA reporters and competent and reliable freelancers who know what their own region’s viewers are looking for.

Teletext Because of its link with the Press Association, the Teletext news operation is faster than any other medium. A reporter phones in a football score, a lobby correspondent breaks a major political story... as it is processed by the Press Association for what might be termed the more conventional media, so it is processed by PA’s Teletext staff and transmitted automatically to 27 regional TV transmitters so that seconds after the story breaks it is available in the living rooms of millions of homes.

Viewing habits The average number of times Teletext is viewed by any one viewer is 2.4 times a day – however over 1 million viewers watch it five or more times a day.The average time spent watching is 16 minutes a day, although over 600,000 viewers spend on average over 45 minutes with Teletext every day. Source: NOP January ‘96 – December ‘96, NRS October ‘95 – September ‘96, Carrick James Childtrack – January ‘96 – December ‘96.

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The Teletext weekly viewer profile TV region (000s) 3500 32

00

3000

25

29

2500 22

16

2000

18

66

14

1500

55 12

97

1000

97

13

40 10

4

45

500

81

3 31

8 21

9

0 Lo

nd

on

Ce

ntr

al Gr

an

ad

a r Yo

ks

hir

e n Ty

eT

ee

s Me

rid

ian

An

gli

a

HT

V

W

e

C st

ou

ntr

y

ST

V am Gr

pia

n Bo

rd

er

Source: NOP January ‘96 – December ‘96, NRS October ‘95 – September ‘96, Carrick James Childtrack – January ‘96 – December ‘96.

DTT in everyday language The chunky-style text pages will change for good as the digital revolution gathers pace. Using features pioneered on the Internet’s worldwide web,pages will be linked in a new way with key words highlighted.

Hyperlinks On the click of a word the operator is automatically taken to a related page.These links,known as hyperlinks, can also be embedded in the page, creating hotspots.

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Examples of page traffic The Teletext service is targeted at so many different people that each page has its own unique audience in terms of size and profile.For example,It’s Your Life’s profile is predominantly female; the City pages attract a 35+ male audience and Planet Sound reaches mainly 15 -24 year olds. Weekly audience (000s) 15000

12 11

12000

67

98

7

0

99

24 90

9000

34

91

77

74

6 55

6000

61

1 45

87

07 40 28

3000 20

83

34

96

76

2

28

1 25

41

0

le Te

tex

tM

ain

Me

nu TV

Gu

ide Sp

ts or

Pa

ge

s W

ea

th

er

Ne

ws

Re

gio

l na

Ne

ws

Tr

av

el Ci

ne

ma

Fu

na

G nd

am

An

es

yH

ol

y ida

Pa Ho

ge

lid

s a

A ys

br

oa

d Fli y An

gh

Fin

ts

an

Na

l cia

t

Pa

a ion

ge

lL

s

ot

ter

e yR

su

lts

Source: NOP January ‘96 – December ‘96, NRS October ‘95 – September ‘96, Carrick James Childtrack – January ‘96 – December ‘96.

Viewers will find the new navigation system more user-friendly. Using their remote controls, they will be able to surf Teletext by clicking their remotes at hyperlinks and hotspots. This will revolutionise the way, for example, that weather information is displayed. Detailed maps will show the latest forecast. Click onto a particular part of the country and a regional forecast will appear. Another advantage will be the full range of colours available,as opposed to the basic six colours plus black and white which are today’s limiters. News and sport will come to life with the addition of informative graphics and photographs.

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Teletext has relevance to the public sector. The Government has used the service for National Savings and to promulgate the Northern Ireland Peace framework document, while the City of London Corporation has a 365-day information service.

Growing interaction Hundreds of universities and colleges use the service to promote course availability. In the autumn of 1997 the full value of Teletext’s regional transmitter system was brought into clear focus when parallel questions over devolution were asked in different parts of the UK by using the ITV and Channel Four transmitters to target Scotland separately from the rest of the audience. The unique opinion poll showed that Scotland was at odds with the rest of the UK over the devolution question.

Local news dissemination Some newspapers are experimenting with text with their local cable companies. For example, the News in Portsmouth has launched a text service running on the local network, operated by Cable and Wireless.The venture provides local news,weather,entertainment,travel and council information supplied by the paper’s staff. The service has:

• The top five stories as in the News, updated just as they are in succeeding editions of the newspaper during the course of a day

• Local information – such as weather and tides which are very important to Portsmouth • Public information from the council and other bodies • Traffic news • Sports pages.

Streamlining the service It is possible to streamline some of the service to the areas of the newspaper’s different editions, thus viewers in Eastleigh might have different text to those in the centre of Portsmouth, or in Fareham. Text services also operate on Sky and in the wider sphere on CNN.

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There are boundless opportunities for good PR to see its local/regional story picked up and broadcast to the world. This might usefully serve as a pre-text example: A company in East Anglia was dabbling in potato crisp manufacture and came up with the original idea (some years ago now) of attempting to interest buyers in hedgehog flavoured crisps.

Round the world The local PR company which had been retained to promote the product offered the story to the national news agency consumer affairs writer. He wrote the story as a Sunday for Monday (the acknowledged best time to get something less than startling into the media). The story ran on the Press Association wires and was picked up by Reuters news agency which flashed it round the world. A company in Idaho – US potato state – saw the news story in its local newspaper, got in touch with the East Anglian company and reached an arrangement to suit both parties. That same story could now appear on CNN text as well as Ceefax and Teletext.Viewers no longer counted in thousands but in millions.

Compliance with regulations Text services must comply with broadcasting regulations in the same way as the rest of the electronic media. Teletext has systems of monitoring and checking in both editorial and advertising departments and has a Compliance Committee which meets regularly. The deputy editor is responsible for investigating complaints and queries and ensuring they are dealt with speedily. Many matters are dealt with satisfactorily over the telephone. Should the complaint concern an error in a provider’s copy, that, too, is rectified without delay. Because of new procedures, compliance matters have decreased markedly over the last five years.

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The Internet Keeping information simple Simple sites Text on the cable network

11

chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Internet The Internet is a growing media communications and end-user tool. Media-related Internet sites are finally beginning to make a valuable mark on the PR-journalist communications scene. But the hype has not always produced the expected rush results! The use of e-mail as a PR tool has been relatively slow in taking off and its potential is far from fully exploited. One major news release distributor who has substantial contracts with a wide variety of national companies and mailing lists of often up to 2,000 per release, has used e-mail for almost three years, and disturbingly reported that the number requesting that releases are e-mailed in preference to the Royal Mail or the fax has declined slightly in recent times. Individual journalists either see electronic distribution as an essential next step for them or regard the whole thing as an unnecessary complication, preferring to use existing, more traditional, and importantly for them, passive methods. Nevertheless,an increasing number of journalists – either at home or in the office – are accessing the net in the course of their daily work. One major company that surveyed its mailing list and was so surprised at the high proportion of its journalist contacts who were Internet users that it got itself on the net in a matter of days. All its releases now carry its website and e-mail details and there is a growing two-way electronic contact.

Keeping information simple Complex sites are not wanted by everyday writers Sites must be easy and fast to use: it is important that the information they contain is easily and quickly downloaded. Journalists do not have time to spend waiting for a pretty (and therefore probably complicated) document to appear when all they want is information. It goes without saying that media sites must always be up to date. Examine some of those operated by major organisations to realise how often that is simply not the case. Three journalists recently represented the views of a specialist commentator/writer group and their observations make interesting user-chooser reading.

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• One collection point for electronic information is essential.We do not believe journalists will spend time trawling the net looking through individual manufacturer’s sites, let alone remember all their different passwords and entry codes. Comment: This referred to the motor industry. However, it could apply to any number of industries – travel, holidays, government, local government, charities etc.

• Web sites should be built for speed of access, not made to look pretty with complex graphics that take an age to download. Pictures are an invaluable resource on the web, but they will not be used by journalists if they take 15 minutes or more to download, as some do now. Comment: Despite the massive advances made in picture desk technology, a large majority of users still prefer to have a 7" x 5" glossy print in their hand – so that they can scan it into their system themselves! Pictures on CD-Rom are nevertheless becoming increasingly available. The danger is that they may be superseded and journalists may not be aware of the availability of a new CD-Rom.Further research in the PR industry as the what and how journalists need on CD-Rom is recommended.

• The introduction of web sites makes thorough archiving a real possibility. It means journalists could easily access information from many months ago, or even years. To be really workable such a site would need an excellent search facility. Comment:Some of the references to the Newspaper Society in this work were gleaned direct from the NS website. Practitioners may consider it worthwhile to examine the operation of the site. It is, after all, the regional media’s mouthpiece. Address: http://www/newspapersoc.org.uk

Simple sites In terms of communicating with their readers (the other user-chooser group) most newspapers have elected for relatively simple websites. A local newspaper does not have the resource to emulate the grandiose sites produced by some of the nationals,yet they still provide a valuable local service. Moreover complex sites when meant for everyday use, appear to be something of a waste of financial and human resources. Some local newspapers have linked with local partners to emphasise their local links and their commitment to their area and their readers. The Teesside Gazette, part of Trinity, went onto the worldwide web in a partnership with ten of the regional players in the north-east of England.Teesnet was developed primarily for those seeking information about the region,but the Gazette simultaneously launched Gazette Online,

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the daily digital version of the Middlesbrough-based newspaper. (Access it through Teesnet or on www.eveninggazette.co.uk). The Gazette editor explains that Teesnet’s main strength is that it is a one-stop shop now being developed into a comprehensive and easily accessed site for those seeking any kind of information about Teesside. When a local newspaper joins forces with three local authorities,the policy authority,the health authority, the University of Teesside, the region’s development company and its training and enterprise council it leaves no doubt in the minds of opinion formers of the sincerity of the newspaper, its editor and staff, and its owner. The Evening News in Portsmouth puts its pages on the net after sales cease each evening, though it runs its constantly updated headlines throughout the day. The newspaper’s new media chief reports that 13 per cent of its local readership are able to access the Internet.

Text on the cable network The website also keeps at least one Portsmouth United football fan living in Australia in close touch, for the site carries a running report on the club’s games. Linked as it is with the text service which runs on the local cable network,the newspaper believes that each week at least 27,000 local people access one or other of the electronic services. Newspapers have been obliged to move into new media to claw back some of the former loyalty which has transferred to local radio. The Internet has, until now, been viewed as something very much on the periphery. This is becoming less so. It will emerge as an increasingly valuable tool in dealing with the media. For newspapers its value is as a means of keeping in touch with their readers.

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The when and the how Tips: Putting theory into practice

12

chapter 12

Chapter 12: The when and the how Tips: Putting theory into practice My experience has shown that a revision course is invaluable. It helps senior executives to keep abreast of the business and it encourages younger colleagues to strive to add to their experience and development. These are my own thoughts and suggestions on when and how to make use of the regional media. They are far from exhaustive:but they work,and they apply to products,people and the abstract. They apply to national sources attempting to reach the regions, as well as to those already in the regions who want to improve their local links. Individual chapters in this Briefing amplify some of the suggestions. Fast breaking news is precisely that. That is when the PR will either be at the centre of it, or doing some firefighting or damage limitation if things have started to get out of control because of unavoidable circumstances. Nevertheless, stories from PR can frequently be timed to suit the company or the client.This provides a huge added bonus and makes life somewhat more controlled in terms of total planning and execution. Variations on the following approach should help ensure that a release passes the first hurdle and get to the newsdesks of chosen newspapers and television and radio stations at least to consider the story: 1.

Choose a time when you would like to see the story published and give it an embargo two or three days ahead.Think particularly of weekends, when news is thin.It is even thinner at Bank Holiday weekends and over the long break at Christmas and the New Year.

2.

If you are seeking coverage throughout the regions offer it to PA News in the hope that it will be deemed of sufficient value to find a place on the agency’s wires which reach virtually all the UK media except weekly newspapers. Do this either via its London newsroom, or via the local PA office in all major centres of population.

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3.

Consider using an organisation like Two-Ten Communications for maximum electronic scatter, or for a tailored regional shot, operating on the PA News satellite links and reaching the same newsdesks. Or use a mailing house like NewsPress in the same way. Many multi-fax agencies offer a similar service. Shop around because prices and service quality vary quite substantially.

4.

Deliver it in one form or another to the most relevant regional media. Since there is a pre-set timeframe,the mail is still acceptable for stories with a few days’lead time. Media organisations are not impressed by the sight of a perspiring courier at their reception desk. Use a courier company only when necessary. Fax or post is cheaper anyway.

5.

If it is a local story for local consumption, then a PR will already have lines of communication with personal contacts on the regional morning paper,the evening, the weeklies,the magazines,the local radio station (both BBC and independent) and the regional television station’s nearest studio.

6.

Local freelancers are an important means of spreading the word. They get paid for stories that appear in print! So if a story is worth it, they will try doubly hard to make sure it gets in print and on the air.

7.

Sport constantly fills acres of space.Think hard to discover whether there is a sports angle which might not initially be obvious.That is how and where sponsors see their names in print. Sports editors, like their news and features colleagues, are always on the lookout for something different!

8.

The Newspaper Society’s Feature Link service is worth serious consideration (see Chapter 6).The NS represents 1200 plus regional and local papers. Provide the NS with a press pack – quality features only! – and they will distribute it to their newspapers whose ad departments will set to work on,perhaps,a supplement,pulling in ads from all the relevant bodies. Cost to the PR department or consultancy: just a few hundred pounds… column inches worth thousands!

9.

Always think pictures,ensure they are available at the same time as the news release and that they are of sufficient quality to allow for publication.Ensure they are properly captioned. Like the national media, the regional press tends to have a huge volume of supplements to fill.Do behind the scenes photo sessions,think about pictures which might illustrate features weeks/months ahead, not just tomorrow.

10. Consider employing PR consultancies based in the regions.They are closer, know the local markets, and are much more likely to know the main media players.They can take a national release and tailor it to their region’s needs. One major manufacturer employs three agencies to cover the UK with considerable success (and with a sizeable total cost saving).The agencies liaise with outposts of the company

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and prepare news releases with specific local angles. Coverage through this means of communication – at a local or regional level all through – can be enormous. 11. Contact BBC Ceefax newsdesks and Teletext.Remember Teletext regional and national news is supplied by the Press Association, so a contact with the PA’s own substantial Teletext desk is worthwhile, as it is within Ceefax. Study the text services at length over a period of time to discover what they deem regional and local news is so that you will not be wasting their time with material that is not in tune with their style and content. 12. Have senior staff media trained and make them available to the local and regional media, in particular local radio. A good interview on local radio will be syndicated, and an item on a small BBC local radio station could very quickly be on national radio. 13. Have senior staff available to speak not only about your own specific company, but also to become sought-after experts on the general business in which you operate. 14. Try to create controversy,especially in the art world.Getting different factions ‘fighting’ over funding, interpretation etc. 15. Make sure the right people are coming to launches or reviews.In the case of launches do not underestimate the power of a well-designed invitation and press pack. The media will go away with a good impression. 16. Make sure your event is sent to all possible listing agencies. 17. Set up a media-oriented Internet website.This is an increasingly valuable method of communication with journalists and newsdesks.The resource is only useful if the recipient knows he or she can be assured that information is fast, frequent, accurate and constantly up to date. Two-way communication through e-mail is excellent for non-stop operation. Universal acceptance is a long way off still – but so was the acceptance not many years ago of fax!

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Case studies Thomas the Tank Engine The Scout Association and homosexuals

1

appendix 1

Appendix 1: Case studies Case study 1: Thomas the Tank Engine The superb National Railway Museum in York has shed any semblance of a stuffy image as modern PR moved to help the marketing of the museum.The 50th birthday of Thomas the Tank Engine was an ideal opportunity for the Museum to put its new mission into action – to appeal to a wider audience, especially the family market. Thomas is a classic case study.

Introduction Thomas the Tank Engine turned 50 in 1995 and to mark half a century of Thomas the Tank Engine books, the National Railway Museum put on a special birthday exhibition to help the superstar celebrate in style. It was obvious that Thomas had the potential pulling power to boost visitor figures, bring in revenue and raise public awareness of the NRM as a great venue for family days out. So the NRM needed to make the most of having him here. Thomas’s publishers, Reed Children’s Books, were obviously launching their own campaign for this half-century anniversary, but they helped wherever possible with material for the exhibition itself and back-up organisation of the launch.Their involvement with PR activity stopped after the launch. A PR agency was brought in by the NRM Marketing Department to help run the Thomas campaign.Throughout the exhibition’s run – from May 24 1995 to March 3 1996 – the PR department maintained a constant drip-feed of stories and events to maintain interest and raise awareness, as detailed below. The NRM needed quirky, fun activities that would win maximum publicity for as little outlay as possible – TOTAL budget for the campaign was under £27,000.Every opportunity was taken to publicise the Exhibition on the back of other stories.When actress Janet Suzman did Going Places for Radio 4 from the Museum,the local media was invited.When a Valentine’s Day couple were invited for a romantic VIP visit to the Museum, they were pictured in front of Thomas.

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APPENDIX 1: CASE STUDIES

The launch, May 24, 1995 The launch was staged as one enormous birthday party – from the press invitations to takehome goody bags.Half of the total budget was invested in the launch to create maximum impact and to give the exhibition the kudos of a national event.

The invitations The invitations were completely ‘Thomasised’using original artwork from the books wherever possible and paying great attention to detail. Something railway-related was needed to capture the imagination and conjure up the idea of an exciting away day.London-based journalists are notoriously reluctant to travel too far from their desks. A two-tier invitation style was selected, whereby Sir Topham Hatt, the Fat Controller, sent out an initial approach to around 1,000 journalists on his own headed paper telling them about the party. If they planned to come along, the journalists were asked to fill in a slip with their name, publication, number in party and starting point of journey if they wanted train travel. Those who didn’t respond within a fortnight got a personal phone call from the Fat Controller. This in-character ring-round raised a lot more interest and added names to the list, which far outstripped our original expectations. The personal touch is very important in persuading journalists to cover a story and they responded well to this off-beat approach. After the cut-off date, the ‘birthday invitation pack’ was despatched.The pack would be something out of the ordinary and perceived as worth having so out went a neat, parcel-sized folder containing everything needed on the journey to Thomas’s party, complete with specially-designed train ticket, timetable, spoof I-Spy book for the trip, meal vouchers for the Fat Controller’s Luncheon Table at the Museum, luggage label and a card from Thomas and all the engines at the NRM. This ‘double hit’idea was designed to do three things for us: (i) create interest well before the launch, (ii) hint at the large scale of the party – if someone is going to the trouble of sending out twice, they must be planning a big bash, (iii) give the NRM an indication of press interest in the launch, including numbers expected and type of publication.There was a good take-up, with 71 journalists attending the launch party. Nearly everyone brought their family, or friends and their children, so our total number of guests was around 400. The NRM involved the East Coast railway company in arrangements for the launch to work out joint publicity and activities.The company ‘donated’ a Thomas special for 40 journalists, complete with custom-made Thomas signs for the windows. But it soon became obvious that far more seats would be needed – not only from London but also from Scotland.There were ultimately three Thomas trains heading north and one heading south. Tickets were also provided from other destinations for journalists scattered nationwide.

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InterCity gave generous support and good discounts on the extra seats. They also helped with the specials on the day. Staff on all four trains ran quizzes and games for the children on the way to York and handed out Thomas squash, donated by Gerber Foods, and biscuits from Thomas bins.

The cake Jane Asher was commissioned to make a special Thomas-face birthday cake.The famous name helped generate publicity and the idea this was no ordinary birthday party.

The characters Staff involved with running the launch day were all in costume and gave press interviews ‘in character’.The Fat Controller, Mrs Kyndly the tea lady, Mr Clarkson the clerk, a station guard and a team of ‘footplate’crew in boiler suits were easily identified and acted as point of contact for the press or other Museum staff.

The entertainment Journalists were met at York station by a band playing Thomas tunes and ‘ragtime’, together with a stilt-walker, juggler and acrobat who led them to the Museum.The band played on throughout the day as did the strolling entertainers. Everyone sang Happy Birthday as a child-size climb-on-board Thomas was unveiled through clouds of ‘steam’, they watched the cake cutting and gathered round as 1,000 ‘Thomas at the NRM’ balloons were released. Everyone left with a goody bag containing a die cast Thomas toy, all donated after an approach to Ertl, together with NRM memorabilia. Most popular of all was James the Red Engine giving rides in the Museum’s South Yard.The full-sized James steam engine was on loan for the Exhibition’s opening week from the Watercress Line, free in exchange for publicity. The launch was a great success – the NRM PR team took many calls and received a bundle of letters of congratulation In spite of coinciding with the news of Harold Wilson’s death on a national level and a bad crash at Leeds/Bradford airport on a local level, there was excellent press coverage, including news slots or full-length features on seven television stations nationwide with a total of over 40 minutes, nine radio stations up and down the country, including a four-hour outside broadcast by BBC Radio York from the launch party 21 pieces in national publications and 37 pieces in the regional press.

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Launch coverage The national press included The Church Times,The Independent,The Times Diary,the Daily Mail, Today, The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. Regional press included the regional morning newspapers, the Northern Echo, and the Newcastle Journal, the Rossendale Free Press, the York Star, the Yorkshire Evening Press, the Heywood Advertiser, Lancs, the Rochdale Observer, the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds, the Wolverhampton Express & Star, the Edinburgh Evening News, the Shields Gazette, the Eastern Daily Press, the Hartlepool Mail, the Sunderland Echo, the Newcastle Evening Chronicle,the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette,the Belfast Newsletter,the Press and Journal, Aberdeen,the South Wales Evening Post,The Shropshire Star,The Llandudno Advertiser,The Peterborough Evening Telegraph, The Wisbech Standard, The Halifax Evening Courier. Several of the newspapers carried more than one story. A large proportion of the news in the evening newspapers above was delivered to their newsdesk by the Press Association TV coverage included BBC North East, a feature on Network North, a main feature BBC Look North, Central TV,Working Lunch (HTV) and a feature on YTV. Radio coverage included BBC Radio York with a four-hour long live outside broadcast,Greater London Radio, CWR, Minster FM, BBC Radio Humberside, BBC Stoke, London News, BBC Scotland and Radio Southern Counties.

In summary… Strategy: To generate maximum interest and exposure with the launch and to maintain interest throughout the exhibition with a number of carefully planned fun events and releases.These were:

• The Launch, May 24 1995 • Design a Carriage Competition – for nursery schools • Fat Controller Auditions • National Thomas Day – Guinness Book of Records attempt • Fat Controller goes on a diet – Sandwich Competition • Thomas author book-signing • Grand finale – a visit from The ‘Real’Thomas • PR initiatives supported throughout with promotions and competitions.

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Results:

• Campaign increased visitor attendance by 20 per cent • High levels of awareness among ‘Thomas’ aged target groups through direct mailing for competitions to 5,000 schools and children’s groups

• 111 press cuttings, 30 of which are national press (not including listings) • 10 TV slots • 30 radio slots • Increased awareness of National Railway Museum as family venue. And finally… Surveys carried out at different times during the Exhibition showed that up to 50 per cent of visitors had come because of Thomas. There was an overwhelming response to each of the eight Thomas competitions,both nationally and locally, with thousands of entries. It was estimated that total visitor figures for the year April 1995 to April 1996 were increased by 20 per cent because of the Exhibition and related activities.

Case study 2: The Scout Association and homosexuals Trying to get a story into the media is often far more of a black art than a science. But at least when dealing with the regional press you can rely on them being interested in a story if it has a local element, some good human interest and is well presented. Logic,sense and sanity often disappear without trace when the media is chasing a story.Hence this case study: Late in 1997,The Scout Association,an organisation of half a million young people and 100,000 adults in the UK, found itself catapulted into the media spotlight when ‘The Pink Paper’ a not very well known publication for the gay community, published a letter from a young Scout Leader.It said that the new Equal Opportunities Policy which Scouting was introducing meant that the fact he was a homosexual did not automatically mean he would be thrown out of the Movement.

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Opposition The last time the organisation had enjoyed such celebrity status was when it announced in 1991 that it was opening up its doors to girls under the age of 15 (girls over 15 had been able to join for 20 years). It only became news because the Girl Guide Association spoke out in opposition. Otherwise it would have passed unnoticed.’ There is a lesson here. If your story is going unremarked – find a local ‘rent-a-quote’ to speak against it. News becomes publishable news at a stroke! Within 24 hours the ‘gay’ story had been picked up by the Daily Express, lifted from there by the BBC and two days later was being covered by practically every publication in the UK. Overseas interest ranged from the USA to Australia and even Brazil.The organisations’ PRO has been invited to ‘guest’ on Radio Sydney’s ‘gay hour’ any time he is passing through. ‘Scouts admit gays’ and ‘Scout masters licensed to abuse were typical of the headline hysteria that followed.

Besieged Suddenly the organisation was besieged with requests for interviews,responses and even ‘lists of those who are gay in our area’ from provincial papers. Normal work at the national headquarters stopped, executives were rushed from studio to radio car and back again as they patiently tried to explain that the Equal Opportunities Policy aimed to cut out discrimination against people on a great many grounds such as religion,gender, marital status, or race, sexuality was only one part – and in fact the membership rules that had existed for years never banned homosexuals. Buried deep in the uproar was a Guardian leader praising the organisation for not turning its back on issues that most people found it easier to pretended did not exist. Nobody wanted to know. Copies of the policy and its supporting paperwork were freely available to everyone who asked. Responses were put on The Scout Association’s web site but all to no avail, the only issue was gays. Just as it was all dying down, three volunteers who were the ‘managers’ of scouting in three English counties said they would resign if the Policy were implemented.

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The petrol hit the dying embers and front-pages were filled again, even hundreds of miles from the three counties. Proving once more that nothing makes a good story better than an opposing voice. The predicted landslide of resignations never happened.The three were politely advised that this policy was not negotiable In fact only one of the dissenters actually threw himself on his sword and the others changed their minds.Only the resignation was reported in the local media.

Gathering dust Within two weeks the story was gathering dust in the clippings libraries and the policy is now part of everyday life in the scout movement, as are girls in scouting. Of course logic, sense and sanity are not totally missing from all media coverage, especially if it is in the reporting of accidents and tragedies – topics which an analysis of 1997 press coverage revealed to be 28 per cent of the total for the year, with sport (10 per cent) coming next. On its training courses for local volunteer PROs,The Scout Association describes to its members the ‘Media Game’ which kicks-off following any serious accident: Round 1:

The scramble for facts

Round 2:

Search for a hero

Round 3:

Somebody must be guilty of something

Round 4:

The grief and the sorrow.

Round 5:

Move on to the next story.

It happens every time – and next time will be just the same.

96

The Press Complaints Commission The Code of Conduct redrawn – November 1996

2

appendix 2

Appendix 2: The Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission is the independent body which deals with complaints from members of the public about possible breaches by newspapers or magazines of their own Code of Practice. It was set up in 1991 following the closure of the Press Council. It dealt with more than 3,000 complaints – a record number – in 1996, the last year for which figures are available. More than eight out of 10 of the complaints raising a possible breach of the Code were resolved directly between the editors and the complainant as a result of the Commission is intervention. Chairman Lord Wakeham suggested in the annual report for that year that the number of complaints was a sure sign that the public not only knows about the PCC and its procedures, but also has confidence in the Commission to deliver results. The significance for the regional media is that while complaints about the national daily and national Sunday market represented 48.4 per cent of the total,complaints investigated against regional dailies represented 20.7 per cent,against regional weeklies 12.9 per cent and against local free newspapers 3.0 per cent.

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APPENDIX 2: THE PRESS COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

Not upheld

Total

%

Complaints adjudicated

Upheld

Investigated complaints concluded during 1996 by type of publication

Complaints resolved or withdrawn by complainant

The following table shows the complete breakdown between media types of complaints that went through the Commission is full investigation procedures:

National dailies

119

8

13

140

29.5

National Sundays

69

11

10

90

18.9

Regional dailies

78

2

18

98

20.7

Regional weeklies

52

3

6

61

12.9

Local free newspapers

14

0

0

14

3.0

Magazines

23

1

0

24

5.1

Scottish dailies

23

0

4

27

5.7

Scottish weeklies

9

2

2

13

2.7

Scottish frees

0

0

0

0

0

Northern Ireland

4

0

0

4

0.8

Agencies and general

2

0

1

3

0.4

393

27

54

474

100

Total

This table shows the breakdown by category of complaints investigated and brought to a conclusion: Accuracy

54.5

Grief

1.3

Reply

3.6

Relatives

0.3

Comment

10.5

Interviewing children

1.0

Privacy

14.9

Children in sex cases

0.8

Listening devices

0.3

Victims of crime

0.2

Hospitals

0.1

Discrimination

6.8

Misrepresentation

2.9

Financial journalism

0.1

Harassment

2.3

Confidential sources

0.2

Payment

0.2 Source: PCC Annual Report 1996

99


The Code of Conduct redrawn – November 1996 ‘You are drinking in the last chance saloon’ – David Mellor, former Cabinet minister who had responsibility for aspects of the media. ‘The new Code will be the toughest set of industry regulations anywhere in Europe’ – Lord Wakeham, Press Complaints Commission chairman. A few short years separated these two statements. But it was the death in September 1997 of the Princess of Wales which speeded up a revised Code of Practice for the writing media. The Code takes a harder line than previous Codes. Notably, the words ‘should’ and ‘may’ are replaced in a significant manner by the harsher ‘must.’ The Code,published on November 26,1997,covers all aspects of press behaviour,but its changes are most significant in five major areas – harassment, intrusion into grief, privacy, children and the public interest. The guideline on privacy, in line with the Article 8 of the Human Rights Bill, acknowledges that everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence. It also has a new no-nonsense definition of private places:‘public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy’ On children, the Code contains many amendments, including the outlawing of payment to minor for stories about other children, providing protection for children of the famous and seeking to ensure that the young are free to complete their time at school without intrusion. The Code sensibly and reasonably retains a substantial defence of ‘public interest’ to seven of the 16 clauses. It is not inconceivable that an individual or group of people represented by public relations bodies may feel the possible need to invoke the Code of Practice, hence its inclusion here in full:

1. Accuracy a) Newspaper and periodicals must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted material including pictures. b) Whenever it is recognised that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distorted report has been published, it must be corrected prominently and with due prominence.

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c) An apology must be published whenever appropriate. d) Newspaper, while free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact. e) A newspaper or periodical must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party.

2. Opportunity to reply A fair opportunity to reply to inaccuracies must be given to individuals or organisations when reasonable called for.

3. Privacy* a) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence. A publication will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual’s private life without consent. b) The use of long lens photography to take pictures of people in private places without their consent is unacceptable. Note – private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

4. Harassment* a) Journalists and photographers must neither obtain nor seek to obtain information or pictures through intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit. b) They must not photograph individuals in private places (as defined in the note to Clause 3) Without their consent; must not persist in telephoning, questioning, pursuing or photographing individuals after having been asked to desist; must not remain on their property after having been asked to leave and not follow them. c) Editors must ensure that those working for them comply with these requirements and must not published material from other sources which does not meet these requirements.

5. Intrusion into grief or shock In cases involving grief or which, inquiries must be carried out and approaches made with sympathy and discretion.Publication must be handled sensitively at such times,but this should not be interpreted as restricting the right to report judicial proceedings.

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6. Children* a) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion. b) Journalists must not interview or photograph children under the age of 16 on subjects involving the welfare of the child or of any other child, in the absence of or without the consent of a parent or other adult who is responsible for the children. c) Pupils must not be approached or photographed while at school without permission of the school authorities. d) There must be no payment to minor for materials involving the welfare of children, nor payment to parents or guardians for materials about their children or wards unless it is demonstrable in the child’s interest. e) Where material about the private life of a child is published, there must be justification for publication other than the fame,notoriety or position o his or her parents or guardian.

7. Children in sex cases 1. The Press must not, even where the law does not prohibit it, identify children under the age of 16 who are involved in cases concerning sexual offences,whether as victims or as witnesses. 2. In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child: a) the child must not be identified. b) The adult may be identified. c) The word incest must not be used where a child victim might be identified. d) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.

8. Listening devices* Journalists must not obtain or publish material obtained by clandestine listening devices or by intercepting private telephone conversations.

9. Hospitals* a) Journalists or photographers making inquiries at hospitals or similar institutions must identify themselves to a responsible executive and obtain permission before entering non-public areas.

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b) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to inquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.

10. Innocent relatives and friends* The press must avoid identifying relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime without their consent

11. Misrepresentation * a) Journalists must not generally obtain or seek to obtain information or pictures through misrepresentation or subterfuge. b) Documents or photographs should be removed only with the consent of the owner. c) Subterfuge can be justified only in the public interest and only when materials cannot be obtained by other means.

12. Victims of sexual assault The press must not identify victims or sexual assault or published material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is equate justification and, by law, they are free to do so.

13. Discrimination a) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person’s race,colour,religion, sex or sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability. b) It must avoid publishing details of a person’s race, colour, religion, sexual orientation physical or mental illness or disability unless these are directly relevant to the story.

14. Financial journalism* a) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication,nor should they pass such information to others. b) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor of financial editor. c) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.

103


15. Confidential sources Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.

16. Payment for articles* a) Payment or offers of payment for stories or information must not be made directly or through agents to witnesses or potential witnesses in current criminal proceedings except where the material concerned ought to be published in the public interest and there is an overriding need to make or promise to make a payment for this to be done.Journalists must take every possible step to ensure that no financial dealings have influence on the evidence that those witnesses may give.(An editor authorising such a payment must be prepared to demonstrate that there is a legitimate public interest at stake involving matters that the public has a right to know.The payment or,where accepted,the offer of payment to any witness who is actually cited to give evidence must be disclosed to the prosecution and the defence and the witness should be advised of this.) b) Payment or offers or payment for stories,pictures or information must not be made directly or through agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues – except where the material concerned ought to be published in the public interest and payment is necessary for this to be done.

In the public interest... The Code makes it clear that there may be exceptions to the clauses marked thus* where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest. 1. The public interest includes: a) detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour. b) Protecting public health and safety. c) preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual organisation. 2. In any case where the public interest is invoked,the Press Complaints Commission will require a full explanation by the editor demonstrating how the public interest was serviced. 3. In cases involving children, editors must demonstrate an exceptional public interest to over-ride the normally paramount interest of the child. When he launched the new Code,Lord Wakeham made it clear that he would continue his efforts to seek equivalent provisions in other European countries to deal with the issue or harassment.

104


Press Complaints Commission 1 Salisbury Square London EC4Y 8AE Tel: 0171 353 1248 Fax 0171 353 8355 E-mail: [email protected]

Website www.pcc.org.uk.

Contains information on how to make a complaint,past adjudications,and other information.

105

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