I’ve been noticing a trend lately when working with editors and reporters. Many of them are starting to ask for more of our help in providing additional tools to get a story finished. Our publicists aren’t strangers to lending a helping hand. We are used to supplying statistics, talking points, clinical research or product photos. We call this “co-producing”, helping craft the story with the elements we want to make the story a success for our client.
But now we are often getting asked for help on bigger tasks: “Can you find me a patient for your client’s medical story?” “Can you tape some extra video we can show on air?” “Can you find a location for us to shoot the story?” This takes a lot of extra work on our end, but it’s becoming a necessity. With news rooms getting smaller, reporters are becoming strapped with bigger workloads and can’t afford to spend lots of time on just one story.
Although it can be stressful, this can also be our time to shine as publicists. We want to show the media that we can go the extra mile and help put together a great story from start to finish. This is also a good way to build a solid relationship with a reporter. We want them know they can count on us not only for good pitches, but because we will follow through and deliver what is needed to get a story done.
