When to Hold A Press Conference
Welcome to Mitch's PR and Media Spotlight podcast ... where we talk a little about public relations and a little about Atlanta media twice a month.
This month we're going to talk about press conferences, when to do one and when not. Contrary to what you might think, not every bit of news from your company is worth staging a press conference. The trick is deciding when your news reaches that point and then setting the correct time and place to deliver your message.
Obviously, important breaking news events often merit a press conference. Natural disasters, public safety issues, and governmental emergencies are a few. When it's important to get your news out quickly, to as many media as possible, then a press conference should be your choice.
A few fun facts about press conferences:
• Legend has it that P.T. Barnum was one of the first to gather a large group of media together to hype one of his shows, calling it a "conference of the press."
• President Dwight Eisenhower is credited with holding the first television press conference.
• Presidential press conferences have a specific order, with the first question traditionally going to the wire services and then working down the order of importance of the media, from national outlets to smaller local papers.
But some stories aren't worthy of a press conference.
• If you don't have much to say and aren't going to answer questions about an issue, then it's not the right choice.
• If you want to offer an exclusive or an advance to one media outlet, then you certainly don't want to give it to everyone at the same time.
Press Conference Do's and Don'ts
You'll hear in a moment some comments from local media about press conferences, but here are some dos and don'ts:
• Don't schedule a press conference and not tell the media the subject. Unless you're the President, that's a sure way to get them to stay away.
• Don't schedule a press conference for a specific time and then start half an hour late. Start promptly for those media who made the effort to be there on time. (of course, you can still wait five minutes if a reporter calls and tells you they're on their way!)
• Don't have your "talking heads" drone on for any hour discussing every new details of their new product.
• Don't schedule a press conference too close to deadlines. That means avoid late afternoon or around the Noon, 5 p.m. 6 p.m. hours. There are exceptions to that of course.
• Do ... If you have a new product, Show it!
• Do ... Think about how to add something visually interesting at your event. Could be an unveiling, a product or service demo, large graphics, scale models of a new building, etc.
• Do ... Leave plenty time after the press conference for one-on-one interviews. Often reporters save their best questions for the one-on-ones because they don't want all the other reporters to hear.
• Do ... Make sure you have proper audio/visual connections to media. Also make sure the lighting it good. If it's too dark, the cameras won't get as much.
• Do ... Make sure to have hard copies of press materials or speeches to give to attendees. Often a TV station with send a photographer but not a reporter, so they'll need the background in a concise format to bring back to the station.
• Do ... Make sure you have someone available to answer calls following the press conference.
So there's the theory, but thought the best advice would come from the media themselves, so I did one of my "One Question Surveys." Here's what I heard back.
Jennifer Brett, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Social Butterfly:
• When to hold a press conference:
• Probably the best example is law enforcement, amid breaking crime news - suspected serial killer on the loose, child's been kidnapped, weather disaster has struck, huge manmade disaster (9-11, etc.) has struck. Basically anytime there's an urgent situation that the public's got to know about NOW.
• For corporations, when there's some crisis brewing - your product is alleged to have harmed or killed people, your CEO just got led from the boardroom in handcuffs, etc.
• When you're the governor of New York and you're fixin' to step down after keeping time with paid escorts.
• When NOT to hold a press conference:
• When you're pitching something lame that no one's going to care about.
• When you're planning to spin a bunch of baloney and then refuse to take questions or answer them honestly.
Erika Facey-Palmer, Assignment Manager, WXIA-TV:
• 1030 a.m. ish is a great time everyone can have it before the noon show. That also gives us the opportunity to "build" on it and turn it into something more.
• Send the advisory the day before and make sure someone calls us the day of the event to ask if we are coming. That is never a bother, but if you send the advisory the day of the event -- perhaps even one day before -- that may cause crew to rush to a location when they could have gotten an earlier start.
• Unless it's breaking news, it's not a good idea to schedule a news conference during a newscast.
Dana Fowle, I-Team Reporter, WAGA
• I think any PIO should know that holding a press conference at 11 a.m. or 4 p.m, just an hour before the show puts everyone in a jam. It also short-changes the person trying to get out the message. You risk reporters walking off before you're finished in order to make slot for noon or five.
• Additionally, if you are timing an important presser to be live at five or six, then show when you say you plan to show up. Do not say five o'clock than meander in there at 5:20. This could put your important press conference starting at the same time as a commercial break starts. And guess who misses out? Certainly not the company PAYING to be on TV.
If you'd like to learn more about media in Atlanta, subscribe to my Leff's Atlanta Media web site. You'll get the most up to date database of Atlanta media contacts, plus templates for commonly used press materials. You can sign up online at www.leffsatlantamedia.com.
See you in two weeks for the next edition of Mitch's PR and Media podcast.
Welcome to Mitch's PR and Media Spotlight podcast ... where we talk a little about public relations and a little about Atlanta media twice a month.
This month we're going to talk about press conferences, when to do one and when not. Contrary to what you might think, not every bit of news from your company is worth staging a press conference. The trick is deciding when your news reaches that point and then setting the correct time and place to deliver your message.
Obviously, important breaking news events often merit a press conference. Natural disasters, public safety issues, and governmental emergencies are a few. When it's important to get your news out quickly, to as many media as possible, then a press conference should be your choice.
A few fun facts about press conferences:
• Legend has it that P.T. Barnum was one of the first to gather a large group of media together to hype one of his shows, calling it a "conference of the press."
• President Dwight Eisenhower is credited with holding the first television press conference.
• Presidential press conferences have a specific order, with the first question traditionally going to the wire services and then working down the order of importance of the media, from national outlets to smaller local papers.
But some stories aren't worthy of a press conference.
• If you don't have much to say and aren't going to answer questions about an issue, then it's not the right choice.
• If you want to offer an exclusive or an advance to one media outlet, then you certainly don't want to give it to everyone at the same time.
Press Conference Do's and Don'ts
You'll hear in a moment some comments from local media about press conferences, but here are some dos and don'ts:
• Don't schedule a press conference and not tell the media the subject. Unless you're the President, that's a sure way to get them to stay away.
• Don't schedule a press conference for a specific time and then start half an hour late. Start promptly for those media who made the effort to be there on time. (of course, you can still wait five minutes if a reporter calls and tells you they're on their way!)
• Don't have your "talking heads" drone on for any hour discussing every new details of their new product.
• Don't schedule a press conference too close to deadlines. That means avoid late afternoon or around the Noon, 5 p.m. 6 p.m. hours. There are exceptions to that of course.
• Do ... If you have a new product, Show it!
• Do ... Think about how to add something visually interesting at your event. Could be an unveiling, a product or service demo, large graphics, scale models of a new building, etc.
• Do ... Leave plenty time after the press conference for one-on-one interviews. Often reporters save their best questions for the one-on-ones because they don't want all the other reporters to hear.
• Do ... Make sure you have proper audio/visual connections to media. Also make sure the lighting it good. If it's too dark, the cameras won't get as much.
• Do ... Make sure to have hard copies of press materials or speeches to give to attendees. Often a TV station with send a photographer but not a reporter, so they'll need the background in a concise format to bring back to the station.
• Do ... Make sure you have someone available to answer calls following the press conference.
So there's the theory, but thought the best advice would come from the media themselves, so I did one of my "One Question Surveys." Here's what I heard back.
Jennifer Brett, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Social Butterfly:
• When to hold a press conference:
• Probably the best example is law enforcement, amid breaking crime news - suspected serial killer on the loose, child's been kidnapped, weather disaster has struck, huge manmade disaster (9-11, etc.) has struck. Basically anytime there's an urgent situation that the public's got to know about NOW.
• For corporations, when there's some crisis brewing - your product is alleged to have harmed or killed people, your CEO just got led from the boardroom in handcuffs, etc.
• When you're the governor of New York and you're fixin' to step down after keeping time with paid escorts.
• When NOT to hold a press conference:
• When you're pitching something lame that no one's going to care about.
• When you're planning to spin a bunch of baloney and then refuse to take questions or answer them honestly.
Erika Facey-Palmer, Assignment Manager, WXIA-TV:
• 1030 a.m. ish is a great time everyone can have it before the noon show. That also gives us the opportunity to "build" on it and turn it into something more.
• Send the advisory the day before and make sure someone calls us the day of the event to ask if we are coming. That is never a bother, but if you send the advisory the day of the event -- perhaps even one day before -- that may cause crew to rush to a location when they could have gotten an earlier start.
• Unless it's breaking news, it's not a good idea to schedule a news conference during a newscast.
Dana Fowle, I-Team Reporter, WAGA
• I think any PIO should know that holding a press conference at 11 a.m. or 4 p.m, just an hour before the show puts everyone in a jam. It also short-changes the person trying to get out the message. You risk reporters walking off before you're finished in order to make slot for noon or five.
• Additionally, if you are timing an important presser to be live at five or six, then show when you say you plan to show up. Do not say five o'clock than meander in there at 5:20. This could put your important press conference starting at the same time as a commercial break starts. And guess who misses out? Certainly not the company PAYING to be on TV.
If you'd like to learn more about media in Atlanta, subscribe to my Leff's Atlanta Media web site. You'll get the most up to date database of Atlanta media contacts, plus templates for commonly used press materials. You can sign up online at www.leffsatlantamedia.com.
See you in two weeks for the next edition of Mitch's PR and Media podcast.
