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You needn't rely solely on a good story to get publicized. Other newsworthy ideas are often right under your proverbial nose. For example, when an attorney prepares a memorandum of law, he/she has created material that can be converted into a bylined article for a trade or professional journal, a news release, or an article for business journalists. The next step is finding the appropriate publications to target for placement of the memorandum-based article or news release.
If, for example, the memorandum discusses municipal finance structures, it can be rewritten in lay language for publications that reach local government officials and administrators; if the material concerns a new lease clause brought on by changing conditions in real estate markets, it may well be of interest to periodicals read by property owners; and so on.
Spadework
Once you've determined that you have one or more stories (or memoranda, or other relevant material) to "pitch" to the media, you must do some spadework. For starters, before approaching any reporter or editor, make sure you know well both his/her work and the medium for which he/she works. It's hard to over-emphasize this. You'd be surprised how many public relations people pitch a medium and/or reporter blind, having no idea of what kind of story that medium and/or reporter does -- and does not -- cover. This kind of behavior, by the way, has much to do with how poorly my profession is perceived by many in the media. (Alas, like lawyers, we have our own public relations problems!)
Then, you must become an expert on the idiosyncrasies of the press (for example, Margot Slade, recently legal editor of the New York Times, hates first-name calls from strangers). And it's important how you send material to a reporter or editor. Ms. Slade likes it mailed. Others like it faxed. Some prefer e-mail. Find out; it can be almost as important as spelling their names correctly.
But you also have to do some spadework at your firm: in particular, you must decide carefully which of your people are most qualified and most media-worthy (they are often not the same) to discuss which topics with those media. Make sure your spokesperson is not only knowledgeable about the subject matter and is available as promised, but is also prepared to talk. Your firm's credibility with the media may be seriously jeopardized if he/she turns out to be unavailable, or just stonewalls and refuses to say anything of interest. Hence, you must identify and develop some of the main points to be made.
Part of your spadework will be to devise quotable answers to questions likely to be asked. Assume everything you say will be quoted. Though you have the right to ask that parts be "off the record," you should anticipate that the reporter may refuse -- or even ignore -- your request. Expect that the reporter may ask something that's too sensitive; when that happens, try to avoid saying "no comment." Instead, tell the reporter you can't discuss the information, and offer a brief explanation why, or promise to get back to him or her. A "no comment" is no solution; the reader of your interview will probably become suspicious and assume that you have something to hide.
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