Last week, our chapter cohosted with North Florida PRSA the Annual Media Roundtable. Our members and guests had the chance to network with media representatives from print, radio, TV and online platforms around Jacksonville. Dr. Courtney Barclay, our chapter president, moderated an opening panel featuring Melissa Ross - WJCT, Anthony Austin - First Coast News, Karen Mathis - Jacksonville Daily Record, and Frank Powers - News4Jax. Here's a roundup of some tips from the experts:
Getting in contact.
Know the journalist you are trying to reach. Some prefer emails, while other admit emails will get overlooked and lost in the clutter. A follow up phone call or text can be a good way to bring attention to your email. Or, skip the traditional and head straight to your social DMs, especially Twitter.
Have your multimedia collateral ready.
The pandemic did leave some flexibility in news reporting.
Following this panel, the media professionals joined small group conversations with PR professionals. We listened in on the conversations and heard great personal recaps of professional backgrounds, upcoming story pitches, and interesting discussions of the state of the news industry, social media challenges, and more!