The internet is a great source of information-some say too great-and journalists have not been slow to get involved. Researching a story used to mean wearing out shoe leather and telephones getting interviews and comments from company officers. Nowadays, there is little need to go out in the cold, since most information can be gleaned from corporate websites: journalists can be safe in assuming that companies will not complain about the accuracy of the information, either.
In the absence of good information on a business website, journalists might have to look additional afield, using sites like Wikipedia to offer information, or even going to "McNitemares" or "suck sites" that have been set up by disgruntled clients or former employees. In these instances, the information will need to be verified and also the business concerned given a chance to respond-but this will put the business on the back foot.
Set up a special section on your website for journalists. You can put all your latest press releases on there, as well as being proactive in sending them out to periodicals: this will help fill in any gaps in your distribution, and also provides an archive for journalists. You can include your corporate history, the CVs of your top management, situation studies from satisfied clients, in reality everything a journalist might need to construct a story.
Provide as much corporate information as possible on your website-and don't be afraid to offer a "warts and all" picture, simply because the internet means that individuals will find that stuff anyway. Better that it comes from you than from your enemies. You should also provide contact details for anyone relevant towards the press release or story-don't just refer everybody to the press office. This will enable interested reporters to verify details and fill in any gaps in the story.
PR can function both ways-for you and against you. Often your enemies will be on your situation, and in the electronic age they can do it very quickly and easily, online. In this chaotic climate, it is more important than ever to keep a close eye on the internet: enemy websites need to be monitored continually, and counteraction taken when things get out of hand.
Inevitably, there will always be some attacks, and in some cases they will be so unfair that you will come up smelling of roses-most individuals have a sense of fair play, and certainly anybody with direct experience of dealing with you is likely to be sympathetic. Of course, some firms have been creative in dealing with enemy websites.
Constant and consistent monitoring of organizations that could affect your business is a no-brainer. Countering their attacks or even anticipating them is equally sensible-but it's possible to go a stage additional.
One big firm went the distance by buying out a "suck site" that was attacking it, and paying the former owner a salary to run the website as a consumer feedback site. No restrictions were put on the former owner-he was welcome to run the website in any way he wanted-but by purchasing the site the firm had much more information in a much more timely way than would otherwise have been the case. Also, the guy running the website now felt a certain obligation not to be too vitriolic, nor to allow comments that had been overly damaging.
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01242011
1. Publicity stunts and ambush PR
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