By Danny Sullivan
If you are working in PR in today’s high-buzz technology media market, then you will be very aware of the requirement for proof points in order to secure quality media coverage. Gone are the days when an unproven company could announce a new product months or even years before it was available and yet still generate plenty column inches. And that’s a good thing for everyone.
However, it’s still refreshing to see news like yesterday’s story about the $195 laptop, which, despite the company not revealing much detail about the technology specifics, still generated a lot of press interest. It shows that the right kind of content can still elevate your news beyond those editor-imposed rules of “no proof, no story”.
In this case it was the charitable nature of the story that gave it that extra news value, but there are also other factors that can help make a story more appealing to the newsdesk. Perhaps there is a topical issue that can be factored in, or a human interest element that can be drawn upon.
Of course, these extra elements of the story must be real – nobody (least of all an editor) wants to hear tech companies inventing human interest stories about their products, where clearly none exist.
Ultimately, having a good supply of strong, evidence-based stories is always going to be the best way to secure good media coverage, but don’t forget that there may be extra elements to your story that are just as powerful.
