by Anna Hovind
Besides the intense ego and obvious lack of intellect that
make Ron such a foil for the TV news industry as a whole, there’s something
that all of us in the PR and broadcast PR business can learn from Ron.
“I immediately regret this
decision.” — Ron Burgundy
There’s a big difference between what is “news” in the eyes
of the media versus the perception of “news” as seen through the eyes of a PR
person who’s never set foot in a newsroom.
And just like Ron Burgundy’s co-anchor Veronica Corningstone, those of
us who’ve worked in the rough-and-tumble newsroom environment can spot a fake a
mile away. You can’t just expect the media to eagerly grab your pitch and run
with an overly commercial, self-serving message merely because you and your
client think it’s newsworthy. Or, let’s say you successfully pitched the story,
but after the outlet has done the interview, they realize it’s just a sponsored
segment masquerading as a news story. They are under no obligation to run the
story just because they conducted the interview, and chances are you’ve just
wasted both your time and that of the media. Back in my newsroom days, I used
to have a “three times and you’re out” rule.
If someone pitched me three stories in a row that were commercials pretending
to be news, I would never take a call from that person again.
"I look
good. I mean, really good. Hey, everyone! Come and see how good I look!" – Ron
Burgundy
A great interview
is much more than an attractive spokesperson or a celebrity who’s hawking a
series of attractively displayed products. People can see through a
thinly-veiled commercial quicker than you can say “Stay classy, San Diego.” So
the best way for you to stay classy, is to give your news outlet something
substantive, some meat along with your client’s “key message” potatoes. At the end of the day, a great TV interview
is one that provides timely, meaningful, useful or interesting information. The interviewee provides expertise, wisdom,
and hopefully leaves the audience with news they can use. The minute your
talent begins talking exclusively about brand-name products and only the
sponsor’s brand-name products, your credibility goes out the window.
“You
know I don’t speak Spanish.” — Ron Burgundy
One of the biggest
mistakes we see in TV and radio land is when a spokesperson (aka, the “talent”)
has been overly media-trained, often to the point where a question that
deviates even slightly from the memorized key messages can literally render the
talent speechless. That tongue-tied response happens because many media
trainers erroneously teach the talent to either 1) immediately hijack the
interview and never let the anchor get a word in edgewise; 2) make certain to
mention their sponsor or product right out of the gate; and 3) continue to
mention the product or sponsor in the response to every single question. Yikes!
In the language of news, this is the best way to sound like a commercial and prevent
your story from being aired.
"I don’t know if you heard me
counting. I did over a thousand.” — Ron Burgundy
If you really want to be a valuable news source to the media, the trick is
to share content that has solid news value.
End of story. That type of PR person is worth his or her weight in gold
to the media. If you can become a
reliable source, if you are the person with a great story angle and can pitch
an awesome, seasoned spokesperson who is capable of delivering quotable quotes
or tasty sound bites, you’ll find that reporters will do more than take your
calls: sometimes, they’ll be the ones calling you.
Anna Hovind is an Executive Producer with Firstline Creative & Media in Atlanta,
Georgia. Prior to Firstline, Anna worked as an anchor at CNN, appearing on
Headline News, CNN International, CNN Airport Network and CNN Radio. Anna started her broadcast career in the
newsrooms of the late 1970’s, where she worked with more than one Ron Burgundy
wanna be. Anna can
be found on LinkedIn.
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