Our findings from a Manchester PR agency/ journalist event

High-Rise Communications is a Manchester PR agency, led by experts in charity and social enterprise PR, with clients ranging from purposeful organisations to non-profits.

Yesterday, our team attended a talk held by Manchester PR agency Broadcast Revolution with BBC & ITV journalists.

The conversation was hosted by Mike Young, an ex-journalist who now heads up the news department at the agency. Content Hub Coordinator at ITV regional news, Sarah Colley and BBC central service news team Editor, Chris Brinders was also in attendance.

The panel answered many of our PR-related questions. Such as ‘are stories around national awareness days of relevance?”, to which there was a resounding “NO!”. But for brevity, each of us in attendance detailed our top finding below:

Positive news sells

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Broadcast Revolution event – the first event I’ve been to on broadcast media!

“Chris and Sarah were asked about what they thought the biggest story this year would be, and they both, unsurprisingly, said the cost-of-living. Sarah told us that they aren’t looking for stories just surrounding the topic’s doom and gloom, as they really enjoy receiving positive stories of communities lifting each other up.

“Hearing from local and relatable spokespeople was also something of interest to both Sarah and Chris, as viewers like to see those they can relate to on these programmes.”

– Sophie Berkley – Account Executive at High-Rise Communications

Content hubs allow for more coverage

“It was interesting to hear about the use of ‘content hubs’ by ITV. This is where a 10-minute package goes to a reporter who works on creating 11 versions for 11 regions. It began in 2019.

“As a PR, it’s good to know if you have regional statistics – it could get large coverage across many different patches. Obviously for TV, images are king – so whatever data you have, you must bring it to life with a brilliant case study.”

– Jack Gevertz – Senior Account Executive at High-Rise Communications

A one size fits all approach doesn’t work

“Having worked in PR for a few years now, I’ve seen how the process of ‘sell ins’ vary from person-to-person.

“One common approach is to target any and every journalist under the sun with a story. However, Chris highlighted that when receiving a pitch – he asks himself ‘so what?’. He advised that PRs really consider whether their story is actually of relevance. One good tip is to look at the content a journalist has written to see whether they would cover the story before firing off your email.”

– Olivia Titherington – Senior PR & Content Executive at High-Rise Communications

For more information about the work we do, check out our case studies.