PR Newswire’s Meet the Media Event
An evening with Simon Jack of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
LONDON, February 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The first Meet the Media of 2015 was hosted at One Great George Street, the home of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and featured Simon Jack giving an insight into the workings of the Today programme.
Simon has worked across every outlet at the BBC, presenting business news on the one o'clock, six o'clock and ten o’clock news and as the face of BBC Breakfast’s business news. He is currently the Business and Economics Presenter on Radio 4's Today Programme.
The reach of the programme dwarfs that of national newspapers with an audience of 7 million. Simon hosts the business slot at 6.15am which is listened to by an audience of almost exclusively ABC1 professionals. Simon explained to the PR and communications professionals attending the event that this is the opportunity to “talk about issues that affect you and your clients”.
Media Gallery
The Today team are always looking for stories which will migrate listeners from Radio 2 or Radio 5 Live, so items that will appeal to a broad audience are ideal. Thematic pieces work well for the programme and stories on housing, energy, banks and personal finance are perennial favourites.
Simon gave some useful tips on the type of content that will work well and the best way to pitch the team:
“What we want to know is there is something that the business community knows that we don’t know for ourselves. For example, the Marks and Spencer boss telling us the nation’s favourite sandwich or the boss of Dulux the favourite colour that people paint their walls. These may sound like frivolous examples but people love these stories and you hook them with those kinds of insights.”
“And don’t ring up with a story idea at 9.15am which has been on at 8.10am!” he added.
PRs should familiarise themselves with the content of the programme, the powers that be want to know you’re a listener before giving you airtime.
“Today’s listeners are incredibly sensitive to spin so don’t talk to your clients before they come on air”. Be ready for a conversation, not a pitch.
Simon also revealed that they don’t use phone interviews on the programme, all items are broadcast face-to-face from the studio so the team can chip in and add to the warmth and conversational nature of the programme.
After Simon’s talk there was a lively Q&A with the audience followed by drinks, nibbles and networking.
The goal of Meet the Media is to enable communications professionals to hear from leading media organisations on how their respective companies work, providing insight into their specialist areas, giving advice on achieving coverage and informing them on effective targeting of journalists within their sector and how to build a mutually beneficial relationship.
The next Meet the Media will be held in London in the spring, details to be announced soon.
Communicate magazine are running a series of Meet the Media interviews with key journalists to complement PR Newswire's events. https://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/currentissuemenu/5811-meet-the-media-toby-green
To register and receive more information on future events email [email protected]
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