Reporters, consultant and public relations staff discuss what makes news

Working with the news media is all about building relationships —there must be a good relationship between the University and the media in both good times and bad.

That was the message of two veteran Richmond area journalists who spoke during a workshop for faculty and staff March 17 on how to work with the media. The program was sponsored by the Media and Public Relations Office.

Gary Robertson, a Richmond alumnus who covers the University for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Mike Porter, chief political reporter for WWBT TV-12, also said they are looking for compelling stories. The media relations office should find “the essence of the story,” said Robertson, and pass it along to the reporter.

“What’s the hook? Why would somebody sitting at home care about the story?” added Porter. Other considerations include proximity, or how the story ties into the local community, and what else is happening at the same time.

He said that television news is looking for sight, sound and emotion. “We don’t want an egghead interview—it’s boring and people will tune out. Get us into the classroom or tie the idea into a national event.”

Peter Rooney of Gehrung Associates, the University’s national media relations consultant, also spoke, saying that to sell story ideas to the national media, “the bait has to be tastier.” National journalists are looking for something topical or something counterintuitive. Trends, new discoveries or ideas that go against the grain sell better to national media, he said. Things that all universities already should be doing do not make news.

Some successes he has had for Richmond include a trend article on the decline of Friday classes and what Richmond was doing to counteract it; leasing a building to Philip Morris, which became a national real estate story; and Craig Kinsley’s research on mother rats.

Concluding the workshop, Randy Fitzgerald, senior writer in the Media and Public Relations Office, discussed Profnet, a computer-based service that matches journalists with experts, and Linda Evans, media and public relations specialist, discussed the University’s online and printed faculty experts guides.

RICHMOND MATTERS