The key is that analysis must at least appear to be objective and accurate.

The analysis allows reporters to take your story seriously. It also gives reporters a subconscious excuse to listen to their feelings.

3. Crisis is inherent conflict within story. Without conflict, there is no news. This is what reporters mean when they talk about getting “both sides of story.”

Every story must have at least two sides. Ideally, for news media, story has a hero on one side and a villain on other.

You want portray your company as a hero that is solving a problem.

4. Energy is what results from mixing feelings, analysis and crisis in right proportions.

Energy is what drives story.

It is what compels reporter to want to write story. It is what compels editor to give story good play.

It is what compels reader to finish story, to remember your story, to pass it along to friends.

The PR Rainmaker knows: You never take on media without putting on your game FACE.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

If you want to create a story that will appeal to a journalist, you must begin with both of these cards in your hand.

Without newsworthiness or without timeliness, you should fold your hand. You have little chance at victory. There is no point in betting your time, money and effort trying to bluff your way to a win. The odds are stacked too heavily against you.

What does it mean to be newsworthy?

First, to be newsworthy story must have significant impact upon news audience. The fact that story interests you, or your client, or your CEO is irrelevant. This qualifies story only for your company newsletter.

To qualify for news media, story must interest readers, viewers or listeners. If you want to place a story in an engineering trade magazine, then your story must interest a broad range of engineers. If you want to place your story in USA Today, then your story must interest a broad range of general public.

Second, to be newsworthy your story must identify a conflict, signal a change, deal with a problem or point out an oddity. A story that lacks at least one of these elements, by definition, cannot be newsworthy.

What does it mean to be timely?

To satisfy need for timeliness, you must provide reporter with a news peg: a reason to tell your story right now.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, there was little interest in news media in Taliban. After Sept. 11, that lack of interest turned into a frenzy of interest.

What changed? The story became timely.

The Taliban issue had developed a news peg. There was now a reason to tell story.

That’s an extreme example, but lesson holds in any story situation. It’s not news that Xerox hired a new CEO two years ago. It is news that Xerox will get a new CEO this afternoon. The difference is timeliness.

By definition, news is timely. If you can’t tie your story to breaking news, or at least to very recent events, then shelve story. Your best bet is to wait for a future event will make your story timely once again.

PR Rainmakers play “tight and aggressive” at all times. They never let ego, emotion or outside pressure push them into betting on a losing hand. They insist that every story they take to news media include two essential cards: newsworthiness and timeliness.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.