Irresistible News Angles

Debra Phillips, a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, receives so many phone pitches about entrepreneurs it's hard to get her to sit up and pay attention.  Recently in her column, she named a New York City furniture distributor who earned twelve column inches and a photo through an outrageous-sounding statement.

Roger Abramson defended the business practice of threatening to fire employees who asked for a raise.  Phillips wondered why, and then she was hooked.  Employees participate in a generous profit-sharing program, Abramson explained, making his attention-getting statement less outrageous.

Journalists can't ignore such hooks.  Surprising claims interestingly defended make compelling copy.  Some others:

• No one should own life insurance.  (The claim turns on the word "own.")
• Diversity training is a mistake.  (Perhaps:  Emphasizing diverse hiring works best, with or without training.)
• Companies that spend millions seeking new customers are bleeding their bottom line. (Too often, they're ignoring the potential of existing and past customers.)

Select a controversial statement, defend it, contact an appropriate reporter, producer or columnist by mail or phone, and thereby use the "What's that you said?" factor in your favour.

Another method of generating newsworthy angles involves taking off from current headlines. In the winter of 1998, Barry Murray landed his company, Truly Nolen Pest Control, in practically every major newspaper in the United States and on more than 70 television stations by issuing a news release tied into that year's newsmaking weather pattern.

"El Nino's Unwelcome Impact:  More Bugs," read the headline.  The release quoted noted entomology professors predicting that El Nino would cause an increase in termites and other unwelcome insects, and provided perspective from Murray's pest control company. Keep in mind that when a natural, political or social event remains in the news for a while, journalists become especially desperate for a fresh angle on it.

Stay alert for connections you can make between what you do and stories in the news.  For instance:

• Tornadoes devastate a community:  If you sell insurance, this is the time to issue an advisory on how people anywhere can determine whether they're adequately covered for a natural disaster.
• The latest blockbuster movie:  A real estate agent in Woburn, Massachusetts, got quoted in her local paper on the question, Would the movie A Civil Action, depicting a toxic waste case in her town, affect local real estate values?
• Political news:  When King Hussein of Jordan designated a different son as his successor shortly before he died, I told a client who serves as a consultant for family businesses to make hay out of the monarchy being Hussein's family business.  What can commoners learn from the King's succession decisions?
• Surveys, polls or statistics:  New figures on working mothers, people who hate their jobs or abandoned cats come out, and if you're a daycare center owner, a career coach or a veterinarian, respectively, jump on them.  Haste wins the day whenever you spot a news connection!  Next week the media and the public will have their minds on a different issue.