News: What It Is and How It Gets to the Public (part C)
by
Charles Lamson
Hard Versus Soft News
News generally falls into one of two categories. Hard news most often happens by itself. An explosion or category-5 hurricane is hard news. The results of a board meeting can be hard news. A strike at the factory is hard news. This is news that the public needs to know. Soft news is a story about a teenager who volunteers to help the elderly. It is the dedication of a war memorial. It is the story of a blind operator at a keyboard. Soft news is called "evergreen" because it most often has a long shelf life and does not have to be used today. Hard news must be used immediately or it perishes.
Media relations practitioners probably will find, if they examine their placement activities, that they deal most often with soft news. Hard news items that must be planned for and placed each year are easily determined: annual meeting results, quarterly earnings, election of new officers, opening a new office, launching an online business, announcing a new product, global expansion, increase of services or merger/acquisition. These items constitute a small percentage of the practitioner's effort. The bulk of work likely deals with soft news placement---trying to interest the media in timeless material that can inform, educate or entertain readers or viewers.
Many practitioners fail to take advantage of soft news placement opportunities because of the preconceived notion that the media would not be interested in the story of a company-sponsored refurbishing project or the planning involved in setting up a major exhibition of agency services. To keep from falling into this trap, remember that what may be "old hat" to you because of familiarity may be considered news by an editor unfamiliar with your organization.
*SOURCE: ON DEADLINE: MANAGING MEDIA RELATIONS, 4TH ED., 2006, CAROLE M. HOWARD AND WILMA K. MATHEWS, PGS. 26-28*
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