The holiday crush affects newsrooms, too.
Our job as PR professionals is to push back against clients who want to ramp up the PR machine during the holidays as they try to boost news hits before the end of the year. But pitches without strong news hooks will probably never see the light of day.
Remind your clients that shorthanded newsrooms are even more stretched during the holidays, as editors scramble to fill programs and news pages around all those holiday ads. Here are a few topics that can legitimately be sold this week:
Black Friday. You can pitch stories for clients who are part of the shopping frenzy, but clients should be ready to offer an honest take on the day’s business. Reporters and their audiences hate businesses that paint an overly optimistic picture that is not borne out by facts.
Cyber Monday. Online retailers, and those who keep them running smoothly, are quickly taking center stage as shoppers avoid crowded stores and misleading door-busters.
Cutting back. What are you clients doing to cut back this holiday season? Remember the economy is still sluggish, and tips on doing more with less will usually get an editor interested.
Holiday hiring. This includes full-time and part-time. Given the tight job market, any news about companies that are creating jobs, particularly around the holidays, is newsworthy.
Holiday features. News editors are always looking for upbeat, off-the-wall news to further holiday cheer on television or in the news pages. Bus crashes in Kuala Lumpur just don’t move the needle.
