It's PR Darlings

Wrapping up Season Two and a shameless plug for our upcoming webinar in partnership with Medianet

🦠 During this wrap-up of Season Two Co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn have heard from journalists and industry leaders about the way the pandemic is changing work lives, media content, newsworthiness and even shaping how our news is delivered.

🦠 It’s becoming clear that Covid-19 isn’t going away within the foreseeable future and businesses need crisis management plans that can adapt as quickly as mutant strains. So during this mini-episode, Greer and Jo also talk about an upcoming collaboration with Medianet to present a webinar with live Q+A on the topic “Crisis Communications for a Covid World”. Event link here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/crisis-communications-for-a-covid-world-tickets-168883459975

COVID is the gift that keeps on giving.

Greer: We’ve found that even 18 months on, we’re still helping clients with crisis strategies and internal and external communications issues almost every month,” Greer says. The pandemic isn’t going away and if you think that because you’ve managed to dodge a COVID catastrophe so far that you’re in the clear, think again.

Jo: It’s awful because we sometimes get calls in the evenings or on the weekend from organisations desperately seeking PR help because a crisis never seems to happen during office hours during the week does it! And more often than not, they’ve never even thought ahead about how to handle adverse media coverage or a COVID-10-caused crisis.

Greer: In recent weeks we’ve seen influencers breaching COVID-19 restrictions for parties and brands then subsequently publicly dropping them. We’ve even seen well documented super-spreader events that have led to humiliation and reputation damage for attendees and organisers.

Jo: Yes, we’ve also seen organisations facing staff backlash over mandatory vaccinations.

Greer: So in this short podcast, we’re wrapping up Season Two with some of the top takeaways from our guests and we’ll end with our top three tips for PR crisis planning in the pandemic.

Jo: Let’s start with Andrew Drummond from AAP – that was a great insight into this vital Australian news wire service, which is a bit of a secret weapon to have in your PR tool kit.

Greer: The news deserts he was talking about across Australia are only broadening after all the COVID closures, so Andrew’s pitching brief will be a huge help if you want some AAP traction. NewsCorp’s AT Home magazine flipbook is a direct response to the pandemic and Editor Kelly Baker told us that PR people need to know that while it’s lifestyle-focussed, it’s still anchored in news values.

Jo: And it was magic talking to Mel Carrero from Spell – talk about a brand at the cutting edge. What they’ve been doing with content creation has been so innovative – there are a lot of ideas in that chat PR’s can learn from. It was also great to hear from Starts At 60 founder Bec Wilson. Her platform is the largest in the country for the over 60’s and there is a lot of pent up demand in the travel sector particularly so that’s a consumer group that shouldn’t be overlooked for lifestyle and travel products.

Greer: And of course, there was the interview with Daniel Doody from Studio 10. He was all about the media release and the pitch – and there are amazing national opportunities for the right story.

Jo: In each episode, we demystify a little bit of jargon from the media world – things like noddies, embargo and backgrounding and in this episode we are turning the tables a bit, but I guess the jargon term for this segment could be COVIDIOT – someone who ignores or breaks public health orders. And if you are in a comms role for any business or organisation, you know that it only takes one COVIDIOT to cause a crisis. So with this in mind, we thought we would give you the PR Darlings top three top tips for crisis communications plans in the era of COVID.

Greer: These are just a couple of the things we’ll be discussing in an upcoming webinar in collaboration with Australian media database company MediaNet on October 6, 2021, which is all about crisis communications, albeit with a COVID twist. Now, Medianet is a must-have service for PR firms – their database keeps you up-to-date with all the platforms, papers and programs in the Australian media, but also all the contacts you need. This brings us to our first crisis communications tip – making sure you have updated contacts. You need to know the journalists who are likely to be working in your patch. You don’t want to be scrambling for a mobile number at the last minute.

Jo: Updating contacts is also important for your internal team. ...

Australia’s breakfast TV wars have been dominated by Channel Nine’s Today Show and Seven’s Sunrise. Other stations have tried but these two early morning juggernauts have had decades of loyal followers always battling for the top spot – until now. The ratings have become a closer race during the past two years after one of ABC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, Walkley award-winning journalist and author of a new memoir called Daring to Fly Lisa Millar took the helm alongside reporter Michael Rowland. For the first time during its 14 years on air, ABC’s early morning flagship News Breakfast program has toppled the traditional big guns.

And for those in public relations and communications, this means looking at the program with fresh eyes and assessing when and how to pitch what stories.

Inclusion and diversity are key to ABC’s charter, so PRs should consider gender, ethnicity, location and socio-economic diversity in their pitches.

Lisa also shares moments from her memoir Daring to Fly which tracks the journey of a kid from a tiny Queensland town who goes on to cover some of the world’s most impactful events, including September 11, all while battling a fear that almost grounded her career.

It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.

Contacts:

[email protected]

[email protected]

We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the past 18 months, our homes have become, not just places where we live, but also places where we work.

We’ve all become obsessed with stories about skyrocketing property prices.

And watching live-streamed auctions on a Saturday is the new reality-TV binge.

So after a year of belt-tightening and closures across media outlets, News Corp Australia came out swinging, launching its new property platform and magazine lift-out At Home in January.

It’s PR Darlings has the great pleasure of welcoming At Home Editor Kelly Baker onto the podcast.

Kelly’s edited and contributed to some of the country's best-known titles, including Body and Soul, Nine Honey, New Idea and Who Weekly, to name a few, during her illustrious magazine career.

PR professionals and aspiring magazine writers tune in – Kelly’s opening the door wide-open to It’s PR Darlings’ listeners so you can learn how to pitch a winning cover shot or craft an enticing story.

But just because it’s magazine-style, doesn’t mean it’s not anchored on the principles that govern all media: news values.

You’ll also hear about Kelly’s journey to earn her hard-won skills and the mentors who’ve taught or supported her along the way.

Finally, today’s jargon gem is the complex media convention known as “backgrounding”. It’s different to “off-the-record”, although some people confuse the two. Listen until the end to find out what it is, when to use it and how to do so ethically. This is a technique that’s applied during very specific circumstances and not to be misused. It's a high-stakes strategy and one we believe is best suited to the more "seasoned" professional.

Thank you for tuning into It’s PR Darlings. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review.

It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.

Kelly’s social links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellybakermedia?s=20

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-baker-a046b02a/?originalSubdomain=au

It’s PR Darlings

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Contacts for story ideas:

jo@stick...

“You're surrounded by fires. It's still burning. There’s smoke in the air. You can't breathe. My wife was about 10 months pregnant, so I was worried and I said to her, ‘look, you can't be here’...I had a bushfire evacuation plan in place...If the fires were going to come through Bega, my car was already packed. So I told my wife...‘you need to go stay with my parents in Sydney’... I [stayed] home with our two dogs and the cat and I was scared. Don't get me wrong. I was very, very scared.” -Daniel Doody, Studio 10 Roving Reporter

What happens when the community you know and love is on fire, your wife is full-term pregnant and you’re out in the field reporting, while still working as an SES volunteer?

The stakes couldn’t have been higher for Bega-based ABC journalist and now Studio 10 roving reporter Daniel Doody during the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires.

And while it’s been a while since the event, it’s clear the experience hasn’t left him.

“There was a couple of days where I was hearing one tragedy after another,” Daniel says. “And I'm not just talking about the loss of life. I'm talking about people losing their homes, being burned to the ground, losing everything. And because they knew my character...they could really confide in me. They knew that I had a sense of empathy and I was with them all the way.”

Journalists are humans too

It’s PR Darlings co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn offered Daniel the option to remove a section of his interview, but he graciously said he was comfortable sharing his vulnerability. This episode is an important one that touches on the issue of trauma on the job (see links to resources in show notes).

“Journalists and PR professionals are trained to tell the stories of other people,” Greer says. “They’re trained not to become the story themselves. And while they do an amazing job at that, it’s important to remember they are still very much human.”

Journalists and media crews are often on the front lines and are witnesses to some of the worst suffering of humankind.

For the large part, journalists are doing their best to tell the story they’re seeing and hearing, so their audience can be informed.

This is all done under tight deadlines and conflicting priorities.

“We thank Daniel for raising the issue of trauma for journalists because it’s something that’s very unseen and rarely spoken about publicly,” Jo says.

“The media regularly report on violent murders, traumatic deaths, catastrophic events, devastating natural disasters, brutal wars and car accidents, but as Daniel points out, sometimes it’s the sadness and suffering of those left behind that can leave the most lasting impact.”

A change of pace

A recent recruit to Studio 10’s national program, Daniel is kicking amazing goals so early into his career. His image was recently projected onto the Sydney Opera House sails in celebration of WOW (Wear Orange Wednesday) Day and the great work SES volunteers do.

While his current role with Studio 10 represents a complete change of pace to his time as a regional reporter covering the bushfires, a common thread remains: Daniel’s love of community.

These days, you’ll find him out in the field singing on boats, sampling cheeses and dancing to afro-beats. In the last month, he’s travelled to Mount Isa to cover rodeos and almost to the moon and back, thanks to Qantas’ supermoon flight.

“I love covering the community feel-good stories,” Daniel says. “I love meeting different types of people within our community. We live in a multicultural society, so it’s just so heart-warming and so great to see people that are passionate about a certain product or a certain cause.”

Daniel explains the latest jargon

Given Daniel is up-to-date with the latest industry lingo, Jo and Greer “mixed things up a little” this episode and handed the “jargon gem” mic to Daniel.

“Daniel is going to tell us all about grabs, IFBs, eyelines, but we’ll do a throw at the end of the show so he can explain...oh, we might get him to tell you what a “throw” is too,” Jo says.

“If you don’t already follow Daniel Doody on Twitter, we highly recommend you do...his broad smile and outgoing personality literally make you want to giggle and dance with him,” Greer says.

Resources and support

The Dart Center has many resources to help media deal with trauma exposure of many kinds. It’s also a good resource for public relations professionals who can sometimes also be at the coalface during a disaster and may need to help journalists they’re working with or might need some support themselves.

As well as the Dart Center, there are other resources too including Lifeline and Beyond Blue. We’ve put links in the show notes to these resources. We thank Daniel for the role he played to provid...

“One of the really key sentiments that came out [of Medianet’s 2022 Media Landscape Report] was the most important aspect of a pitch...is that the story’s original, newsworthy and relevant to that journalist’s specific field of reporting and audience.” -Amrita Sidhu, Director of Media Intelligence, Medianet and Mediaverse

From pet peeves to journalists’ preferred days and ways to receive media releases, the impacts of Covid-19 on reporting to media trolling and gender pay gaps, this episode offers a deep dive into 2022’s complex media landscape.

Taking us through the insights, based on a survey of almost 1,000 Australian journalists, is Medianet and Mediaverse Director of Media Intelligence Amrita Sidhu.

While public relations and communications professionals won’t be surprised Medianet’s report revealed audience relevance was the most widely valued feature of a pitch, there were some surprising and somewhat disappointing findings too, including that 30 per cent of male journalists earn more than $100,000 per annum, compared to just 16 per cent of females and 12 per cent of non-binary journalists.

Also, honouring an embargo is no longer a given within today’s competitive and social media-influenced media world, signalling a continued trend of disruption of media conventions.

It’s PR Darlings Co-hosts Greer Quinn and Jo Stone also ask Amrita to discuss some of the newer or lesser-known features Medianet offers including media call-outs, an editorial service and Mediaverse’s qualitative analysis feature – something that is offering incisive room-reads in the lead up to Australia’s Federal Election.

Following on from the last episode featuring ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar, It’s PR Darlings hosts continue the theme of news values during their end-of-segment education session when the duo unlock the news value of “proximity”.

Download Medianet’s 2022 media landscape report here.

Undertake It’s PR Darlings/Medianet’s collaborative crisis communications micro-course here.

It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from www.sticksandstonespr.com.au and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.

It’s PR Darlings

www.itsprdarlings.com

Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/

https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings

https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/

We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.