How PR and Business Owners Can Think Like Journalists: A Quick Guide to Newsjacking Pr…

If you are a PR professional or you run a business and you want to engage in media relations but don’t have the budget — or desire — to outsource that task, my top tip is for you to become your own journalist for your business or organization.

So many times in my career, I’ve met PR professionals who say that they know how to deal with the media, and they don’t and have often never even worked in the media — and some fantastic PR people who clearly understand the sector. My in-depth knowledge relates, of course, to the media in the UK. However, many general rules apply worldwide when it comes to working with the media.

First of all, you need a good understanding of what the media actually is these days. It is newspapers, TV, radio, or magazines, yet it’s also now online publications like this one, guest blogging opportunities, podcasters, and other influencers. Often today, you can find media opportunities in the very room you are in right now — if you only ask the right questions. If you want a good place to get a feel for all of this, head over to X and use the term #journorequest.

That aside, a very effective way to get media coverage, particularly for those of you reading this who want to be thought leaders in your profession, is to embrace “newsjacking” or “newsjacking PR.” This is a PR term for commenting on news stories that are happening anyway and are being discussed as a topic. This can be a local, regional, national, sector, or even international topic. The best way to take advantage of this is to anticipate topics that are trending or likely to be trending.

The News Cycle & Your Company PR 

Planning is important here, as is flexibility. A  social media diary and planner is helpful as it allows you to plan ahead for upcoming topics.  There are some themes that are easily predictable, such as Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Remember, “news” tends to be cyclical, and topics will keep coming up again and again. Identifying probably media topics is very helpful because, when you have a good media list, you can email a journalist in advance to let them know you can comment on this or that topic.

If you are working with a good PR provider then they should be managing this for you as a matter of course, unless it’s not part of your PR strategy or you’ve indicated you are not interested in this kind of fast-moving opportunity. If that’s the case, I’d have to ask, “Why?”

Awareness days, weeks, or months can work for this if they are relevant to your expertise. Again, plan ahead and email your relevant journalist contacts to let them know that you can comment if they are writing, recording, or filming about this topic. None of this requires a press release — an email and (if they don’t know you yet, a brief rundown of your credentials. You can also send one or two blog links if you’ve written about those topics previously). Also, make sure you tell them that you have a good headshot (photographs generally should be in jpeg format, in color, at least 1mg, and in landscape unless you are asked for something different).

An example of how this works is that an accountancy firm in the UK today that is PR savvy will be planning a response to any UK Budget (this could be their predictions or wishes and then reactions to a Budget) or, right now, a reaction to the General Election which takes place on Independence Day. If the General Election takes place on July 4, contact your relevant media contacts about a week before to let them know that you are willing to comment upon it. You could be asked to comment on the day, the day after, or even a week after. Once you’ve delivered once and your comments are used, then email the journalist concerned, thank them, and ask them to bear you in mind for other stories. You can even send them a list of any other topics you can comment upon with authority. None of this requires a press release.

Then there are the unpredictable stories — those that come up unexpectedly yet speak to your expertise. This involves keeping a bit of an eye on the news in your area, sector, or general. This could be because a celebrity has spoken positively or negatively about a service or product on their social media or in an interview, a big case has come to light that speaks to your expertise (court, some kind of legal matter), or it could be an event which speaks to a number of topics. One to consider is Paris2024 — the Olympics and Paralympics. It’s not just about sport — there could be moments that show things like teamwork, culture, kindness, support, toxicity, bad sportsmanship, success, failure etc, etc.

Remember, you don’t have to pass personal comments on any individual (this helps you avoid libel). You may just be sharing expertise to comment on the general situation, incident, or comment. Recent examples I’ve been involved in, in the UK, with clients include a client who has severe allergies commenting on three recent high-profile cases of people having anaphylactic episodes on an aircraft where it appears the proper safeguards were not in place to keep them safe. I myself have been asked to comment on Royal Family matters (I’ve never met most of the Royal Family. I’ve met and interviewed the King once, and he wasn’t the King then). Also, on a TV ad in the UK for a major hotel chain, which featured the actual hotel in my hometown of Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.

Once you become known as a “commentator” or “thought leader,” and you deliver comments on time or turn up on time and show up, I promise you those journalists will keep coming back.

How Do You Make the Most of These Newsjacking PR Opportunities? 

When these opportunities come up, you can turn these “spikes” of interest in you and your brand into something more. Once your comments have been aired or published, share the fact that you’ve done this on your social media. Take pictures (ask permission) if you are taking part in a radio show, say thank you to the outlet, and tag them (the truth is they will probably re-share that). Also, possibly write a blog for your website about why you took part, what you said, and the experience. If that blog is really long, split it into “part one” and “part two,” then make a note in your diary to remind people about it a year later. This sounds like, “We’ve just realized it was a year ago today that we were invited into the studio of xxx to talk about xxx… where has that time gone?”

You also need to remember that journalists are often freelance, may work across many outlets, and also move around a lot, so never, ever assume that they will remember you. You have to KEEP IN TOUCH. In fact, in my experience, many journalists don’t mind being on your email newsletter list as long as they are not bombarded every day. Over time you could even create a segmented list just for media outreach once a quarter, no more than once per month. That way, by sharing your own news, you become very cemented as an expert for what you do, even if they don’t respond to every newsletter.

The benefit of “working that opportunity” is that you start to become even more “searchable” around your expertise, and you will start to be more easily found in general internet searches made by others around your topics of choice. This aids credibility when a potential client is considering working with you or buying from you.

And Finally, Be Truly PR Savvy

There are some matters of etiquette to take into account when dealing with the media. Allow them to choose you. Don’t chase them to use you. Consider this: Do you like being chased? Trust that they’ve seen your offer of comment, and don’t keep hounding them.

Don’t promise you can take part in something or comment on something and then not bother, get distracted, or not meet the required deadline. If you do this, that journalist will never come back. If you are going to embrace newsjacking around an event, you must make yourself available at a moment’s notice.

If a journalist calls you and says, “Thank you for your email, we’d like to interview you at 2pm tomorrow,” say, “Yes” and change your plans to accommodate that. If you say, “That’s not convenient, I can talk about it at 2pm in a week’s time,” that too guarantees they will move on to someone else and they will never come back.

Newsjacking is a useful PR and visibility tool when it comes to thought leadership. Yet you have to understand how the media works and their priorities and flex with that. In most cases, they will not flex to your diary at all. Remember, there’s always someone else who wants that coverage.