PR Conference 2011 – Museum of London

Meet the NEWS journalists

Chair: Helen Beeckmans Panel: Peter Aspden (FT), Jill Lawless (AP), John Goudie (BBC Radio 4 Front Row), Jack
Malvern (The Times)

PA:
- It can be difficult to push arts into the mainstream. The FT is focused on ‘the movement of money’ but arts stories
can be about money – an opportunity to think laterally about culture.
- PRs need to have a nuanced approach to the press and tailor stories to specific journalists. They should take
time to get to know the paper they are pitching to.
- Gets more than 200 emails a day. Email, then call. Don’t leave voicemails.
- It’s important to have a multilayered strategy that takes in reviews, features and columnists.

JL:
- The London bureau is one of AP’s largest - she looks for stories that can capture the imagination of people who
don’t know the UK. Shakespeare, Stonehenge, Jack the Ripper and the Titanic will always do well.
- AP like stories that touch on British eccentricity and play to national stereotypes.
- They always enjoy stories about the ancient world that reflect on life today – telling us something new about the
modern world.
- Email as far in advance as possible and follow up with a call closer to the time.
- Embargoes work well for awards – AP is a 24 hour news service
- AP is news focused but understands the hunger for a good story – arts included.

JG:
- Front Row is a dedicated arts space with a 2.3m weekly reach and an average listener age of 54. An engaged
audience with strong views.
- They like to hear about things they can do themselves and are willing to travel.
- Editorially Front Row are aware of needed to provide a mix across each show – they are a magazine programme.
If there are 6 openings happening in one week they can’t cover them all no matter how big they are.
- Each story needs to provide a talking point, they often ask ‘what’s my second question?’ The story needs to
engage discussion and debate.
- Front Row do not do a lot of announcement stories – they can’t use pictures and find it difficult to cover one off
events.
- From Monday morning to Thursday afternoon he gets roughly one press release every seven minutes.
- Email is still the best way of getting in touch, but bear in mind they get a vast amount.
- Front Row are aware of the London bias and do try to avoid it.

JM:
- The hierarchy goes: reporters, news editor, overall editor in morning conference.
- His aim is to raise a smile, a laugh, or an eyebrow
- Stories are filed in the second half of the day and are at the mercy of the people who actually put the paper
together.
- As a news journalist he doesn’t write about exhibitions or prizes unless they are already in the public
consciousness. He finds prize stories samey, it’s difficult to find an angle.
- Likes stories that challenge readers’ preconceptions and prejudices. But it can be equally enjoyable to confirm a
prejudice. Everyone likes controversy.
- Journalists feel guilty if they think they are just doing free publicity.
- He likes to talk to his editor about a story at about 10am in time for the 11am conference. If he knows about the
story the day before he can do some research - so for a story that you want to run on Wednesday morning, call
on Monday afternoon.
- Gets annoyed if a story has been on the Today programme before it’s in the paper so make sure you coordinate
broadcast and print to run at the same time.
- The paper is bigger on Thursday and Friday, but mainly because it has more ads. On Monday and Tuesday the
paper is smaller but there is less happening. The Saturday paper is large but there is intense competition for
space so it’s best avoided unless you have a really good story. He loves to get a story on Friday or Sunday for
Monday’s paper.
- Gets over 100 emails a day and has around 100 people on an automatic spam list.
- It is galling when someone contacts you without knowing who you are and what you write.
- Think about the top line – reporters agonise over it. It is where you can lose the reader – and the news editor.
- Surveys are sometimes interesting but mostly not. They need to say something really interesting to work.

QUESTIONS

What is the best timing for embargoes and do you treat online differently?
JM: Times like to get all the information at once so give to print and online at the same time. Distributing info on a Friday
under embargo til Monday can work well as you don’t rely on the reporter being rota’d on for the weekend. But there is
generally only room for one arts story on a Monday so there is a chance that you’ll get bumped for a bigger story.
PA: Friday for Saturday works well for arts stories in the FT.

Has the paywall changed the Times?

JM: It has made them more keen for additional content but hasn’t changed the type of story they go for.
JL: In terms of online AP want more videos and pictures.
PA: There’s a big appetite to do things they haven’t done before. They have an arts microsite so are doing podcasts and
vodcasts.

Can online content translate to the paper?

PA: Not really but sometimes. It’s going to be more important to get videos, pictures etc together for a story.
JG: Entertaining videos are the most popular. The BBC news website is interested in repackaging Front Row stories for
the new but celebrity angles work the best.

How can PRs combat London-centrisim?

JG: Front row are very aware of this problem. It’s a structural UK problem as so many galleries and museums etc are in
London. They have to ask themselves if they would cover this story were it happening in Dundee. Front Row has a
Manchester based producer. They are interested in covering things outside of London but have limited resources. They
need to get their presenters out to do things as they don’t like to talk to someone about something they haven’t seen. PRs
should make use of regional correspondents.

What times of year are good?

JG: August is a hard time to fill the show. Edinburgh is the only game in town but a lot of their listeners will not go there.
Early January was slow this year – a lot of film but not much else. December – Christmas is thin for performing arts. You
have to ask yourself how many Reviews of the Year people can stomach.
PA: Agrees with JG. The busy periods are busier and longer now – a consequence of the amazing way that culture has
flourished.
JL: December and January are quiet – she’d like more stories then.

What times of the day / days of the week are good for press views?
PA: Very hard to get a clear day. Press trips are a good idea but he has to decline loads.
JL: Early in the day and early in the week is best.
JM: Monday is good because the paper is smaller so there’s less pressure.

Do broadcast and print compete?

JM: Less likely to cover something if it’s already been broadcast. His editor listens to Today so if something has been on
there that’s a problem.
JG: Any single guest can only appear once on the network. Sometimes they follow today but it needs to be good. But can
cover the same things in a different way i.e. Today do a news story and Front Row do a review. If it’s already been on the
front page of G2 it will put him off.
JL: AP like their own story, but Today is very influential in putting things on the agenda
HB: Marketing departments love to have a media partner but it can all end up being about who goes first.
JM & PA: Happy to run on the same day as others but not after.

How will 2012 affect arts coverage?

PA: The Cultural Olympiad gets and incredibly bad response. It had a terribly worthy launch.
JM: Has never mentioned CO for the same reason. Feels a bit Millennium Dome-y.

How do contemporary culture stories go down?

JL: Heritage is easier but big contemporary can work and they like the money / art market angle.