Remember your Ps





Journalists are trained to address the five Ws – who, what, why, where and when. They are all vital building blocks in a story. But the keystone is surely ‘why’. Without ‘why’ all you have is a string of facts. ‘Why’ is the point of the story. Its purpose. And it’s why you read beyond the first paragraph. So, ‘a convention centre is being expanded’ is a fact, whereas, ‘a convention centre is being expanded after losing business to a rival’ is a story. You have to read on…

I’m also looking for the human interest. People are interested in people. It’s extraordinary how many press releases I receive that overlook this plain truth. Convention bureaux tell me how much their destination is going to gain in ‘delegate spend’, as though this were the single most interesting thing about a meeting. As though they couldn’t think of anything more pertinent to connect the destination with the subject matter, with the thousands of expert people entering their city.

That’s what I mean about half-arsed. For surely it takes only a little bit of digging to find a human angle – even if it’s just the fact that an ambassador has secured the conference for their hometown. A quote from them, and a little bit of personal background, would be enough to make a bog-standard ‘city-wins-bid-to-host’ story stand out from countless others in a similar vein.

Finally, I’m scanning the attachments bar for a picture. Not a grainy thumbnail or a corporate logo, but an arresting, well-composed, colourful picture that could almost be published without any words. Here’s another secret. Journalists can’t say no to a really good picture. They are too rare, too precious. We use them despite ourselves. We use them even if the ‘story’ doesn’t really justify their inclusion. Why? Because human beings are visual creatures. We like looking at stuff. Because if the art of journalism is concision, a single picture can tell a thousand words.

4 comments on “Remember your Ps

  1. Hi Michael, thanks for commenting.
    Totally agree on the obvious parallels between PR and content marketing: They are both about getting others to talk about you! Therefore you see that many principles apply to both.

  2. Pingback: 5 Reasons why destinations should take PR advantage of their ICCA rankings |

  3. Pingback: 5 Reasons why destinations should take advantage of their ICCA rankings (plus 2 Tips for publishing them) |

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