Turning over a new (media) leaf

The media release was invented 104 years ago, when PR guru IvyLee convinced the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to release a memoto journalists about a train accident before rumours began tospread. And more than a century later, public relationsprofessionals are still using pretty much the exact same tool tocommunicate with media.

But as the media business transforms into something almostunrecognizable from what we once knew, do the same tools still getthe job done?

Not according to journalists, editors, producers and the newestmembers of the media club, bloggers. According to the PR Week/PRNewswire 2009 Media Survey, 90 per cent of journalists questionedprefer a simple email pitch to a media release. Survey after surveyshows that both the traditional media and social media alike areturning away from old fashioned tools like the media release,preferring to receive information from organizations in otherforms.

The media world is changing. And so must Dalhousie.

The Dal media team has been talking to people who report thenews from around the world for the last two years, asking what theylike or don’t like about the way Dalhousie sharesinformation. The results of these discussions became MediaNext, anew approach to media relations at Dal that recognizes the need toresponsive in an era when many traditional news outlets are eithergoing out of business, scaling back their operations, or changingtheir business model entirely.

This means moving away from communications tools like the mediarelease and even the traditional news conference—tacticsdesigned for a different era. Instead, we are focusing our effortson creating and sharing digital assets through our new mediacentre. We’re working to produce collateral to accompanyour stories: video clips, audio clips, pull quotes, photos, linksto key experts – all available for download in one place.This approach allows us to break down geographic barriers and makeit as easy for a journalist in Sydney, Australia to tell aDalhousie story as it is for one in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Being more strategic in the way we communicate with journalistsalso means making some hard decisions in determining what storieswe send. As much as a story may be relevant to the Dalhousiecommunity, journalists have to use what little time and resourcesthey have to tell stories that have a genuine impact the lives oftheir readers. We’re aiming to be much more critical inassessing what we send to media; we don’t want to be“the boy who cried ‘news.’” While this willmean fewer stories shared with the media, those that are sent tojournalists will receive much more care and will be easier for themto access than ever before: from spotlights on the media centre, toour Twitter account, to direct RSS feeds for certain types ofstories.  

In the end, a great Dalhousie story will always be worthtelling, no matter the technology, and the media team remainsfocused on always improving relationships with our friends in themedia and on making sure our best stories get to the journaliststhat want to tell them, now more effectively than ever.

Charles Crosby manages the media strategy and outreach forDalhousie.