Finding material for articles
Any journalist will tell you that if a story is worth telling then it’s worth telling over and over again. The reason is simple; there’s very little around that’s genuinely new so we have to find new angles on old stories to fill our papers and news bulletins.
That’s why most of the stories you see in the media are merely variations on a theme that has been explored many times before. This can sometimes make life tough for journalists looking for new angles but it’s good news for any enterprising solicitor who would like several bursts of publicity from the same story.
As I discussed in my previous articles, it’s quite easy to get publicity in local papers by commenting on changes in the law. To get the most out of the story you should aim to tell us about it at least three times, preferably more than that.
The format for this is very simple: tell us what’s going to happen with this new legislation, tell us again when it’s happening and then tell us yet again when it’s happened.
How it works in practice is like this. As soon as you hear of a proposed change in the law, whether in draft legislation or a government statement, fire off a press release to your local paper warning what will happen should such a proposal come into force. It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against the proposal. As long as you can argue that it will affect the public one way or the other then the press will be interested.
Then in the week that it’s due to come into force, fire off another press release updating your views. It doesn’t matter if your views haven’t changed. You can say the same things again and still get coverage because by now, several months will have passed and the fact that the law is coming into force makes it news again.
Then, a few months later you fire off yet another press release saying what effect this new law is actually having now it’s a reality. You might argue that it has been a failure and should be scrapped immediately. Or you might say it’s been a triumph and more people should come forward to your firm to get the full benefit of what it has to offer.
It gives you three bites at the same cherry, but in fact there will probably be far more opportunities than that if you exploit other landmarks in a bill’s passage such as first and second readings, amendments and so on.
This process has been playing out over the last nine months with the new pub licensing system. At the beginning of the year local papers were full of stories from solicitors saying it would cause chaos because it was too complicated and very few publicans knew about it.
By early summer, enterprising solicitors were getting a second round of publicity by doing little more than updating the tense of the original press releases. Instead of saying it would be a problem, they were saying that it is a problem. Most pub landlords were still ignorant about it and very few had applied for a new licence even though the August deadline was fast approaching.
One firm in Wales even went so far as to say a third of Welsh pubs could be shut down by Christmas. That may seem a little extreme but what a way to grab people’s attention.
Now we are entering the third phase of the cycle because the August deadline has passed. Solicitors will now be getting yet more publicity from the same material, again by doing little more than changing the tense of the press releases.
This time, instead of telling us what’s going to happen or what is happening, they’ll be telling us what has happened. The story will be that that the new regulations have caused chaos and many licensees still haven’t filled out the necessary forms. Pubs will be closing everywhere unless those licensees consult a solicitor immediately to help them wade through those complicated forms.
If you’re a licensing lawyer who feels he’s missed out on all the publicity then now is your chance to catch up. Send off a press release to your local paper outlining the story as you see it and you might well end up with some valuable coverage.
This same principle applies to all areas of practice. For example, if you are a personal injury lawyer then you now find yourself at the start of a potentially good running story with the Corporate Manslaughter Bill. You could take a lead from your colleagues in licensing and track the bill as it develops.
APIL has already got the ball rolling saying the new bill may still let company directors off the hook. You could quite easily send a press release to your local paper expressing similar concerns or outlining your particular take on the story.
Then, as the bill is about to become law you comment again explaining all the implications as they appear at that time. Next, you wait a few months before telling us what effect the new law has had since it became law. This way you get several bouts of publicity from the same story.
Journalists on your local paper won’t think this strange. They make a living out of doing exactly the same thing. And remember, they need material as much as you need publicity.
back to Solicitors Journal articles
This article first appeared in the Solicitors Journal.
Nick Kehoe is a former News Editor with ITV. He now runs Media Coverage, a company offering CPD accredited media courses and providing press releases and newsletters for law firms.
Contact Media Coverage, Suites 1-13, Imex Business Park, Shobnall Road, Burton on Trent, DE 14 2AZ.
www.media-coverage.co.uk Email: nk@media-coverage.co.uk.
Phone 01283 566270.
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