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BIG media and small media

I write about strategies to turn fans into customers and customers into fans. I also share ways to use real-time strategies to spread ideas, influence minds, and build business.

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Marcelo Bielsa 2My friend Biagio Carrano points us to an interesting quote from Marcelo Bielsa, an Argentine football (soccer) coach who has managed football clubs and also the national teams of Argentina and Chile.

Bielsa, known for his lengthy press conferences after matches where he answers every last question posed to him even if it takes many hours says: “Every section of the media should get the same attention from me, from the capital’s most prominent TV channel to the smallest newspaper in the provinces.”

BIG media and small media

I frequently witness media relations professionals discriminate towards large, famous media. They spend inordinate effort pitching big media and ignore the little guys.

I’ve been inside strategy meetings where people will talk for an hour about how to reach a particular Wall Street Journal reporter. Yet the same people in the same meeting reject requests from independent bloggers for an interview.

Yes, I know that time is valuable and sometimes it is impossible to help every reporter and blogger with their stories. But I also know that the little guys break news and in many markets have influence way beyond their raw numbers.

I’ve seen both sides of this. I’ve scored a 15-minute interview with the CEO of General Motors. And I’ve been turned away by tiny organizations of a dozen employees. Go figure.

photo credit: Alejandro Vasquez Nuñez via photopin cc