Don’t make it pretty

I have a story to tell you and it is a wonderful tale, in fact, it is the best, and the latest, and the most luxurious. Indeed, it is awesome. 

I could insert quite a few superlatives here, but you get the point. 

As a journalist for several decades, it was a daily occurrence to spike a lot of press releases without reading much further than the subject line or first sentence. 

All too often they were just gussied up words paying tribute to whatever the PR agency’s client was launching. 

They were pretty. Journalists don’t like pretty. Journalists want news stories that will interest their viewers or will encourage someone to pay to read a news story. 

If you want to get your message across in the media, you need to have a strong story to tell. It needs to interest readers and viewers. That means you ditch the flowery language and tell it like it is. 

You need to get to the point and get there quickly. Don’t meander with an introduction like the one at the top of this post. 

The journalist or editor or news director needs to know two things quickly – is it a news story and will it interest my audience. 

Simply, get your message right, get your facts right and aim for the right audience. 

As experienced journos, we can help you deliver a message the media will want to read. 

Get in touch with Bespoken here.

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