The Power of Publicity & Media Relations

February 2, 2025 - 11:41pm - by Luke Thiessen

Traditional media coverage used to be a sort of “holy grail” in the world of marketing.

It’s easy to see why: normally, you pay for advertising, which is tucked around the edges of the main media product, whether that’s the news or some form of entertainment on the radio, television or in print. But when you get on the news, you become part of the main event – plus, it’s free!

This makes traditional media coverage very valuable, but it can also be frustratingly difficult to get, as there are never any guarantees. You couldn’t pay for it even if you wanted to, and you are always at the mercy of the journalists, producers or hosts who decide what to cover and publish.

The changing role of traditional media

It’s no great secret that traditional media like newspapers, radio and television have lost some of their power and influence. The vast majority of these outlets have been losing readers, listeners and viewers to new platforms made possible by the internet, like social media and podcasts. In many ways, the new “holy grail” of marketing is having something go viral online.

In Canada, we have the added disadvantage of being unable to post links to news stories on Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), which even further limits the reach and potential benefit of any news story about your business or organization.

However, there is still value and benefit in getting earned media (another term for media coverage which you did not pay for). I spent several years in radio newsrooms followed by nearly a decade in publicity and media outreach, and as a veteran of both sides of the game, I have seen the changes firsthand. 

With the right strategy in place, integrating your marketing to properly leverage each piece, I believe media relations is still a crucial tool for any organization with the appetite to try it.

How to do media relations

At its most basic, media relations is three things:

1. Writing a news release
2. Sending it to a list of media contacts
3. Being available for (and doing) interviews

A news release (also known as a press release or media release) is basically a sample news article that includes all the important details of whatever it is you’re wanting to say. They are generally formatted like news stories (with a few specific exceptions), and are written in such a way that a journalist can quickly and easily understand the subject – while also convincing them that it’s an interesting or important story to cover.

Once you have your news release created, you’ll need to send it to a list of media contacts. This can be the biggest barrier for a lot of people, since if you don’t already have a list of contacts, you’ll need to build one. 

My suggestion on this is generally to start broad and then start zooming in on individuals. Most news outlets will have a general news or tip line listed on their website, so before going any further, copy those down. Those email addresses will generally forward to at least a few journalists, editors and/or producers at that outlet.

Next, I recommend searching for accounts on social media (especially X, formerly Twitter, and its competitors like Bluesky and Threads), using search terms like “journalist,” “reporter,” “producer,” and the name of your city or region. Many reporters will have contact information listed in their bio. Be mindful of the subjects they cover too – you want to cast a wide net, but not annoy someone who doesn’t even cover the kinds of stories you are pitching.

There are also subscription-based services that collect information about journalists and can help you find and reach people who might be interested in your story. I don’t often recommend these as they tend to be out of date and don’t provide great value, although if your organization is national or international in scope and you have the budget, there can be good use cases.

Finally, once you have your news release and contact list ready, you will need to decide on a spokesperson who will take interviews, and ensure they are available on short notice. This person will need to be able to speak comfortably and knowledgeably about the topic. And, since the turnaround on most news stories is less than a day, they’ll need to have an open schedule.

You may also want a second person available for interview, depending on the nature of the story. This can be a volunteer with your nonprofit organization, a customer of your business, or an employee whose work has some connection to the story – many news outlets require two separate “voices” or interviews on any given news story, and having one to offer is always helpful.

Integrating with other marketing

Given the reality of traditional media losing some power and influence, getting news coverage no longer acts as a huge cherry on top of whatever else you’re doing – you need to be more strategic with it, and ready to capitalize on it if and when it comes.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that any media attention you get can help strengthen the impact of any other current or recent advertising and communication. Having these things planned together, unified and complimentary to each other can really help your advertising dollars go further and your earned media mean more to its audience.

You also need to consider how you are going to leverage the coverage you get, especially when you can’t post links to most news on social media (at least in Canada). A good workaround for this is having a good website with a blog or news section; you can paste links, excerpts or a summary there, and then share that specific post/page to social media. (It helps too if your website is built so that these posts are easily shareable!)

Ultimately, fewer people may be seeing these news stories on the platforms where they originally air or publish, but it’s still valuable free space if you can get it, and lends some credibility that is hard to achieve any other way.

Telling the story

Now, all of the above is only helpful if you have a good story to tell, and the ability to get the media’s attention. If you need help telling your story or getting news outlets to notice, Starling Social can help.

One of the new things I’m bringing to our clients here at Starling is a great depth of experience in media relations and integrated marketing. This allows us to start offering clients our help building media campaigns and marketing major announcements, as well as training for teams who have the capacity but could use some expertise on how to maximize their impact and results.

If you are interested in getting help with an upcoming project, or would like to learn more about training opportunities, get in touch – we would love to work together!

---