1. DA010 - Professional Diploma in Public Relations - COMM6024EP
Media Relations and New Media Technology
(2011/10)
Lecture 3
Knowing what the news media
wants
Developed and Presented by
Roy Ying, Msc., B.Comm.
Note: Pictures used in this power point file
is for academic Purpose only

2. Table of Content
• Develop news angle
• Know your industry, know your competitor, know
the habit of the media who may carry your news
• How sound bites are developed?
• 5 common ways to win publicity by delivering
what media wants
• Tutorial – Case studies of successful “hopeless”
news
• Handing out group assignment

3. Develop news angle
Top 4 considerations before pitching your story to
journalists
• Reporters are busy, and nothing annoys them more than
having their time wasted.
• Reporters do not want to cover the same old story that
everyone else is covering, or that they themselves have
already covered.
• Track the work of the reporter you are targeting, gauge
his or her interests, and note the stories he or she has
done recently.
• Your story should be something entirely new, or take a
fresh angle on an existing issue.

4. Develop news angle
• Know your audience. Your pitch will only
be successful if you deliver it to the right
person. This depends on the medium, as
well as the kind of story you are pitching.
• A newsworthy story is only relevant to the
right editor who is looking for this type of
news at the right time

5. Develop news angle
Class:
Class:
What sort of news
What sort of news
often get reported on
often get reported on
the newspaper, TV
the newspaper, TV
or Radio?
or Radio?
Class:
Class:
How do you find
How do you find
out what the
out what the
media are
media are
interested in?
interested in?

6. Pitch to TV
• Television stations are interested in breaking news
stories with a strong visual angle.
• Sometimes they will also do investigative features that
expose an injustice or take an in-depth look at an issue
facing the community.
• If your story is breaking news, pitch the assignment
editor. If you know that news is going to break in the
near future, pitch the futures editor.
• Providing the media with advance notice almost always
increases your chance of getting coverage. These two
people at the television station assign the majority of
news coverage to individual reporters.

7. What’s a Futures Editor?

8. Pitch to TV
• For a feature story that doesn’t concern
breaking news, you need to identify the
right reporter or producer who will be
interested in your pitch.
• The easiest way to do this is to watch the
news. Pay attention to the beats that
reporters cover. Then you can pitch that
reporter, or his or her producer, directly.

9. Pitch to Radio
• For a RTHK, Commercial Radio or Metro Radio
stations, you may want to target a specific
reporter who covers a beat related to your issue.
• Some stations may have an assignment editor,
and you can always go to the news editor.
• If there is a particular show that you want to
target, direct your pitch to the show’s producer.
• Again, it’s useful to listen to the program that you
are pitching so that you have a good sense of
the kinds of stories they do and what they’ve
already covered.

10. Pitch to Newspaper
• Small newspapers tend to have small staffs, so the best
person to receive your pitch may be the news editor if
the paper is very small.
• At larger papers, you will want to find the reporter
covering the appropriate beat for your story, or even
consider a columnist.
• Again, the easiest way to do this is to read the paper and
track the coverage – after a few days or weeks, it will be
easy to know who covers what stories.
• Beyond a single pitch or story, it’s a good idea to know
the reporters who are likely to cover your issues so that
you can build a relationship with them.

11. Pitch to Newspaper
Craft a creative pitch.
• Reporters are constantly besieged by
phone calls, emails and faxes from people
trying to convince them to write stories.
You need to stand out from the crowd.
• This means deciding on the best means of
contact – usually email or phone – and
developing a pitch that is attention-
grabbing and brief.

12. Pitch to Newspaper
Use your phone call wisely
• Plan what you will say in advance.
• Most reporters will give you 15 seconds – maybe
30 – to make your case. Make those seconds
count.
• Avoid overwhelming them with jargon. Use a
striking fact, or mention the name of a prominent
person available for an interview.
• If they’re interested, they’ll keep listening. But
ifyou can’t capture their interest quickly, you’ll
lose them, and the story.

13. Follow up Calls
• You’ve spoken to the reporter, shared additional
resources and haven’t heard anything. Give a call, or
send a follow-up email.
• Ask if they think they are going to do the story, or if they
need anything else to help them decide. If they say no,
ask if you can stay in touch as things develop.
• Your efforts now may pay dividends later. If they say yes,
offer to help in any way that you can (identifying
spokespeople, providing background information, etc.).
• After the story runs, send an email or note thanking them
for their efforts.

14. Know your industry and reporters
• When you’re trying to persuade a reporter
to do a story about you or your business,
you’re much more likely to succeed if you
know how to “talk the talk.”
• No reporter will expect you to act like an
insider, but you’ll get a lot more respect –
and attention – if you can speak the
language of the newsroom.

15. Newshook
• Connecting a story to something that’s already in
the news makes it more interesting. For instance:
In my job, we develop professional standards in
real estate industry. A hot topic earlier in the
year was “The ICON” with poor real estate ethics.
The story about RICS Real Estate Agency &
Brokerage Standards captured news decision-
makers. My PR agency even suggested a Press
Conference which attracted record audience.

18. Local Angle
• Events happening on a national or even
international stage still can have local
impact.
• Example
Class:
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What are the local
What are the local
angles for Hong Kong?
angles for Hong Kong?

19. What news HK reporters covered?

20. Sound Bite
• It is characterized by a short phrase or sentence that
deftly captures the essence of what the speaker is trying
to say.
• Such key moments in dialogue stand out better in the
audience's memory and thus become the "taste" that
best represents the entire "meal" of the larger message
or conversation.
• Successful sound bites always make it on the headline
news.
Class:
Class:
Can you think of good
Can you think of good
sound bites? English or
sound bites? English or
Chinese.
Chinese.

21. Famous English soundbites
• “The only thing we have to fear is – fear itself".
(the most famous phrase in Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s first inaugural address in 1933)
• "Houston, we've had a problem." (said by James
A. Lovell in the Apollo XIII mission)
• “Elvis has left the building" was an
announcement often heard on the public
address system after an Elvis Presley concert to
disperse crowds lingering for an encore.

22. Famous Cantonese soundbites

23. Famous Cantonese soundbites

24. What’s the sound bite for this?

25. Remember who said this?
• Too simple, sometimes naive
• I have a dream
• 我爸是李刚
• 要赢人先要赢自己
• One small step for man, one big step for
mankind
• 我要做好这份工

26. Why are sound bites important?
• In a TV news, time is very previous
• TVB for example, noon time news is 17 minutes,
6:30 news is 22 minutes, late night news is 19
minutes
• Subtracting the weather, there is really not much
time for each piece of news (1 to 2 minutes max)
• Reporters always look for the “sound bite” that
best represent the interview
• PR practitioners should always develop an
obvious “sound bite” so reporters can easily
identify

27. Creating your sound bites
• Let’s find out how reporters look for them

28. Creating your sound bites

29. Common elements of sound bite
• Contradictions: ‘not this but that’
• Comparisons: ‘more this than that’
• Opposites: ‘black or white’
• Rhetorical questions: ‘is it not’
• Examples: ‘just like’

30. 5 common ways to win publicity
1. Human-interest stories. These are those stories that
evoke emotion, whether it’s about a person or a project.
One effective approach is to tell a poor-to-rich or a
success story.

31. 5 common ways to win publicity
2. Tie soft news with a big current event. This is called
‘piggybacking’ in the news business and is a great way
to take a recent national headline and tie it in with your
business, product or service.

32. 5 common ways to win publicity
3. The result of a customer survey or
research. The media is always interested
in findings of a research or a survey.

33. 5 common ways to win publicity
4. A top 10 (or whatever) list. The simplicity of a top XX
list is fun to read and sure to attract attention. Use your
area of expertise to create lists that will attract your
media of choice’s target audience.

34. 5 common ways to win publicity
5. Prove a popular
belief wrong. Take a
general assumption
and put a controversial
perspective to it.

35. Successful hopeless news

36. Assignment
You are assigned to host a press activity to maximize media coverage
from the following corporate news:
• Tony Leung (梁朝伟) becomes the Ambassador for HK
Entertainment Expo for the 7th year in a row
• CUHK President & Vice Chancellor Joseph Sung's 14-day service
trip to Uganda with medical students
• China Mobile becoming Apple’s partner
• Announcement of Miss Hong Kong 2012 Entry
• An official announcement from CY Leung to run for HK’s Chief
Executive Election

37. Assignment - requirement
• Objectives
• Elements in the presentation
– Who (list of relevant media and stake holders)
– What (the message)
– When (timing)
– Where (venue of press activity)
– How (packaging the press invitation)
• Rundown of press activity
• Sound bite
• Ways to attract publicity
• Measurement metrics

38. 3D Outline Tool
For PR Events
• Time
• What
• Audience
• Objectives
• How
• Checklist
• Why
• Who

39. Assignment - requirement
• Presentation of your media plan (15-20 min)
• Deadline – last lecture
• One hard copy and one soft copy
• All team members have to contribute, but not all
are required to speak
• Each team member will get the same grade
• Points will be deducted if:
– Any of the required elements is missing
– Presentation shorter than 15 or longer than 20 mins
– Error in use of language (spelling, grammar, logic)

40. Assignment - requirement
Marks also be given on quality of questions:
• Team 1 to ask Team 5 at least 2 questions
• Team 2 to ask Team 1 at least 2 questions
• Team 3 to ask Team 4 at least 2 questions
• Team 4 to ask Team 2 as least 2 questions
• Team 5 to ask Team 3 at least 2 questions