Steve Drummond is a senior editor and govt producer at NPR, the place leads the schooling reporting workforce. A senior editor at NPR for over 20 years, he’s obtained three Peabody Awards, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award.
He’s additionally creator of “The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World Struggle Two,” which was revealed this month.
Forward of his media panel on the June 5-6 PR Each day’s Media Relations Convention in Washington, D.C., we sat with Drummond to every part from develop sturdy relationships with busy journalists to the perfect methods to spark curiosity in newsrooms on your information:
What’s the most important menace to the media right now as you see it— and what does that imply to the PR professionals who work with busy, harried and even apprehensive reporters right now?
There’s a great motive it’s the FIRST modification — it’s among the many most vital rights we’ve as residents and as a folks. That mentioned, the most important menace right now, I’d argue, is the disinformation and misinformation flooding the Web that makes it tougher for folks to determine what’s true and what isn’t. These different points are actually huge, however in my private opinion this can be a main menace.
How can the press earn again public belief amid all this dis/misinformation?
By doing what we’ve all the time executed — cowl the information pretty and overtly and truthfully. Sure that’s tougher to do than ever, however that’s what makes it extra vital to take action.
Are you apprehensive in regards to the potential impression of AI on journalism? In that case, how will we reply to that potential menace—what ought to newsrooms be doing?
I feel there’s a whole lot of hypothesis proper now about AI, and positively a whole lot of issues. Like so many technological advances, it has each the potential to do good and the potential to be disruptive and dangerous. As somebody who isn’t an skilled on the topic, I feel I’ll simply have to observe and wait and see how this challenge entails.
Shifting to the PR perspective, what’s your recommendation to media relations professionals about constructing a trusted relationship with A-list journalists?
Constructing a trusted relationship is a two-way avenue. Probably the most useful factor in my expertise is transparency — the willingness to inform the journalist what you’ll be able to, and to be open and sincere about what you’ll be able to’t or gained’t say. Probably the most irritating, and I feel dangerous, factor is when info or solutions aren’t forthcoming and there isn’t a great clarification for why.
Do you’ve gotten any storytelling recommendation you’ll be able to share with PR professionals?
Effectively, I’m in radio journalism and the medium is closely narrative pushed. Explaining how a narrative will have an effect on precise human beings strengthens the story for us tremendously. After all that doesn’t essentially imply discovering a handy individual to interview — that may assist, however it could possibly additionally seem to be spoon-feeding. That mentioned, an actual try to elucidate how an initiative, product or program will have an effect on our viewers straight is extraordinarily useful and is one thing PR professionals must also bear in mind whoever they pitch.
OK, digging deeper into that—any further recommendation for crafting compelling pitches?
I’d argue that what works finest are the identical rules that work finest for us in telling a narrative to our viewers: Keep away from the jargon of your commerce or occupation, hold the numbers to a minimal, clarify how the story impacts folks and supply the context and background that the reporter will want. Typically, the easiest way to craft a compelling pitch is to maintain the lanes clear by reducing down on the extraneous or superfluous pitches, so reporters know there’s a great motive whenever you attain out to them. That method, the pitch doesn’t get buried beneath all the opposite pitches in our inboxes.
Be a part of Steve Drummond at PR Each day’s Media Relations Convention in Washington, D.C. on June 5 and 6. He’ll converse alongside media and media relations insiders from The Hill, from the U.S. Navy, APCO, Mars Inc., Southwest Airways, Raytheon, The North Face and extra.
