October 22, 2008Comments are closed.marketing
Last week I wrote about the dangers of bad news and why you should avoid the media when their sole aim is to expose sad, sick or abused rescue pet stories.
Today, in an amazing stroke of blog imitating life, I received this email;
Dear Sir/Madam,
Am a journalist and dog lover with the. Could you contact me directly re: doing a story this week on “special needs dogs” wanting to be adopted. I found two afghans that needed a home, plus an old fellow Chad with a heart murmur, and am sure you have other animals that need publicity to get re-homed.
I rang this journo and explained that while I appreciated her intention was to help out rescue, that we tended to shy away from stories that may re-enforce the perception in the community that all rescue pets are ‘faulty’.
She responded with an unreasonably venomous tirade “well clearly you don’t have any idea about what’s required to get a story in the media – I don’t have to bust my hump trying to help you – do you want the exposure or not?
Okay, sorry no.
I’ll just go to the Lost Dogs Home then” and she hung up!
While it might seem like any media is good media, it’s simply not the case. There are good quality stories and bad quality stories. There are bad reporters like this one and fantastic ones like the ones I’ve spent the last week and a half with.
The media is a tool to use to benefit you and your group. You don’t ever have to be part of a story that you don’t feel reflects what you are about. Take the time to think about what stories you will do and those you won’t do and most of all don’t be afraid to say no if it’s not the right fit.
And when they ask you the question; tell me about some of your most abused or sad pets – just smile and say “our pets are fantastic!”
