Tales From the Beat

Not exactly the Jets vs the Sharks but I'm ready to rumble with PR types who decide to gang up on my inbox pitching the same story. It's happened before, it happened just this week and it was time to put on my best Riff and rough it up a little.

Hiiiii...are you busyyyyyyy???? Sound like an underwater guy who's also a sponge, and like a sponge, sucks up everything it touches, including your time? Sometimes PR people are SpongeBobs when suck up a reporter's time by starting their story pitches like SpongeBob using what I call the "SpongeBob Salutation."

The PR people keep offering me "exclusives" but Webster must have changed its meaning because judging by the pitches I'm receiving hacks among flaks seem to think "exclusive" means "everybody." Maybe because both words start with "e?" Who knows. I spend a little over 7 minutes regaling you with three actual cases. I bet if journalists check their emails,...

What happens when a hacking, disgusting cough sabatoges a story? The true Tale of just such a situation and how the results are nothing to sneeze at.

They missed the boat. Weren't even on the dock. Now they're whining and saying to the effect, "jeez!" when you tell the PR people their pitches are ill-timed or simply too late. Got lots of them lately. I tell the Tales and offer some advice on how to avoid missing coverage opportunities.

What do you do when you receive a story pitch that's way off target or not even remotely related to your beat? Have some fun. As my old CNN boss used to say when he wanted us to use video that didn't exactly fit the story..."Back Into It!"

Lively conversation with Natalie Bartels, Senior Account Manager at San Francisco-based PR agency VSC about her shop's unique, literally, no-bullshit culture, how it translates that culture into success, creating strong relationships with reporters and what drives her crazy about reporters and how she and the agency deal with it.

A guy on Linkedin bitches when freelancers who are both reporters and PR people represent themselves as such, alleging you can't be both? I make the case through my personal history and experience as one of those people the boy's head is firmly in a dark, moist place.

In this week's episode of Tales From the Beat I take a look at the deep guano Fox News is in for making editorial decisions based on ratings, even if the information is false. It's a crisis, alright, as the network faces a mega defamation trial. How to deal with a PR crisis and a personal anecdote of why I actually quit a news job because the publication put $$ over truth. 

 In this week's episode of Tales From the Beat I tell a story of what I did when an executive I was interviewing for CNN sounded like his responses were conjured by ChatbotGPT instead of a human being. Why? Bad media training. I'll talk all about when media training goes wrong and how to avoid turning trainees into chatbots. 

What do Bob Dylan, Stephen Bishop and the Broadway show Rent have to do with story pitches longer than the Iliad? It's all here in this week's tight episode of Tales From the Beat. 

Two parter this week: Just in time for the opening of MLB spring training, a perfect pitch from a west coast PR agency, and a personal recollection of the time I got to spend some up close time with former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn as a CNN correspondent. A day I'll never forget as the former President's days are coming to an end. 

Craig Daitch has always been a wildly creative PR pro and marketer having once created a release for GM consisting of only emojis. His latest creation is the barrier-busting virtual agency called Telemetry that's getting amazing results by breaking all barriers. We discuss all during this 28 minute episode of Tales From the Beat. 

It's all about balloons and ballooning this week. The ballooning size of a story pitch to almost Iliad lengths and a crazy recollection from deep in my professional past as a young radio DJ about a contest involving dozens of balloons and a phantom grand prize. 

Must be time for Sherman to set the way back machine. At least that's what the lack of timlieness of pitches I've received makes it seem. Months old vehicles, weeks old studies, interviews with no news peg. Gotta be fresh..not cold pizza. 

There's no joy in being laid off. I know. It happened to me. It may not seem so right away, but a layoff can become a stroke of luck if you use the one thing you already have. In this episode of Tales From the Beat I reveal all through my own personal experiences and coming out on top after losing the only job I ever wanted

What's it all a-bot? They can sound stiff, unwieldy, inhuman even. Yes, they're those canned executive quotes PR pros are stuck writing to be included in news releases. They don't have to sounds like words intoned by robots. Some examples of bad ones, good ones, advice to write better ones and I even have a quote a real person gave me that made a bad canned quote look good.

After years as a top automotive journalist, several years ago Dale Jewett made the jump over to PR joining the then, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles digital communications team. Now the company is called Stellantis and Dale handles technology and propulsion communications. He's seen things from both sides of the scrimmage line and we have a lively discussion about his perspectives and how the hell he go...

What was once known as the Consumer Electronics Show has grown far beyond a showcase for cool gadgets into C-E-S, a sprawling, giant exhibition that now includes the automotive and marine industries triggering a PR death match for coverage. Indeed, I'm not even attending this year's show but it doesn't mean I haven't been the target of an intense bombardment from my hard-working friends on the PR...

From Jennifer Aniston's eggs to what soda makes you fizz to the biggest spike for an unlikely fast food item, I got dozens of story pitches in 2022...that had nothing at all to do with what I cover, which is autos and mobility. In this year-end edition of Tales From the Beat I have some fun, and vitriol, over some of the best/worst pitches of the year. 

An enlightening and entertaining interview with Susan Donahue and Megan Kathman of Skyya Communications. Susan is a co-founder and managing partner and Megan is an account director with whom I've worked on many stories over the years. Over the course of 31 minutes or so we talk about Skyya's unique approach to training, quality control and forging productive relationships with reporters, how the m...

The "geniuses" at CNN killed the last live programming at sister network HLN, which began life in 1982 as CNN2, then CNN Headline News then HLN. I was one of the original producers that launched CNN2, which started as a fantastic fast-paced news service. I spend some time talking about how I got connected with the network, some experiences, how the thing devolved, the current news climate and what...

In this episode I speak with two stars from leading Detroit PR agency, Franco PR--Integrated Communications Supervisor Rachel Burnard and Integrated Communications Director Dan Horn. They are not only dynamic, creative PR pros but also host Franco's wonderful bi-weekly podcast, "Frankly," where I also appear. In this "Tales From the Beat" Rachel, Dan and I talk about the dyanmics between reporters...

In this week's Tales From the Beat episode I speak with the very unique Elliot Katz. He's the co-founder and chief business officer at Silicon Valley startup Phantom Auto. Elliot definitely marches to his own beat when it comes to dealing with the media in promoting a company that created a technology making it possible to operate warehouse equipment from thousands of miles away, opening the door...

No better guy with whom to compare notes about our experiences as both journalists and PR guys than Brent Snavely. I admired his auto reporting the the Detroit Free Press for many years and now pleased to be able to work with him in my capacity as integrated media consultant at Franco PR in Detroit where Brent is VP of Media Relations. I hope you enjoy our conversation!