I’m not writing this post to be snarky, or to be mean. I’m doing it to try and help the news industry advance. I’m doing it because this needs to be said, and no one else seems to want to say it. In the words of Jimmy Buffett, “someone’s got to raise some hell it might as well be me.”
Sports teams, schools, college sports associations, and most importantly sports television networks, listen up now, because I’m about to give you some advice that if followed, will help out everyone. We are here to promote your network/team/league, but you’ve got to give us something news-worthy in your press releases in order to do so.
@PaulMBanks Nothing but PR spin by the networks/local stations/cable networks. Wait 'til September when premiere week rolls around. Ugh
— T Dog Media (@tdogmedia) May 26, 2015
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/603262594137378816
We journalists/reporters/content providers etc. know that all “articles” or “feature stories” on TV ratings records or awards do NOT MOVE THE NEEDLE AT ALL. Hence there is no point in writing these stories, since we don’t run non-profits here. You understand that ratings are everything. Well, unique visitors are everything to us. So we can’t waste our time writing about stuff that the masses won’t be interested in.
Therefore, those emails with press releases on awards and ratings get instantly deleted; without even being read. So what I’m telling you is, don’t even bother writing them. Because only people who work for a television network/station care about ratings and only players and coaches themselves care about awards.
This is not directed at the PR people and SIDs who compose these things. They are just following orders from their bosses. That’s who this posting is directed at- the decision makers. You’re wasting your own network’s time and resources by doing these masturbatory, self-congratulatory emails. I’m trying to help you out here. I’m trying to do a service for team/league/network communications people. You men and women deserve to have the press releases you worked so hard on, spent all that time writing, to have them actually get read by the media professionals on your email blasts. We should spend the time to read it, and we definitely will when these press releases contain something that sports fans are interested in.
However, as long as subject matter remains these topics….we just won’t. Like I said before, we are here to promote your network/team/league, but you’ve got to give us something news-worthy in your press releases in order to do so.
This stuff just doesn’t cut it.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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