'Ten commandments' you don't want to break!

1. Thou Shalt discard the |Fluff Sluff' on news releases.

Giant packages overflowing with tapes, reams of background materials and trinkets are a waste of time and money and, believe it or not, a bit of an indignity.

2. Thou Shalt send news releases before the event! Believe it or not, it happens all the time. News departments actually get releases by fax or mail that are either outdated on arrival or have incorrect dates.

A television producer dispatched a news crew to a college event. Arriving on campus, the reporter was told the event took place a week earlier. A news crew can cost a station U.S. $1,000 an assignment. They get as upset as you do when you're wasted lots of budget.

3. Thou Shalt do whatever it takes to ensure a guest arrives on time for interviews.

Keep commitments to the media. If you've arranged an interview, follow up with written confirmation and with a reminder telephone call to the media contact and your client the day before the scheduled session. Believe it or not, some booked guests never arrive at the studio. If you've pitched the guest, it's your responsibility to make sure the interviewee shows up. If there's a problem, call the station or the newspaper

- 4. Thou Shalt make sure the interviewee can talk in layman terms.

First and foremost, make sure the person you've pitched wants and is able to be interviewed. A public relations firm for a community healthcare agency recently provided the phone numbers of several parents of disabled children who were considered success stories.

Believe it or not, parent No. 1 hadn't been told about the interview and was uncomfortable talking about her children. Parent No. 2 was excited about being on the radio but could only express herself with "yes" and "no" answers. Parent No. 3 considered the release of her phone number a breach of privacy. Strike out!

The PR rep responded by suggesting the agency's director would love to be interviewed - an understatement! I asked the director one question and got a prepared, five-minute dissertation to confuse even a bevy of Ph.D.s. Strike out!

Before scheduling guests, pre-interview them yourself. If you have doubts about their verbal abilities, don't pitch them. Burn a reporter or host once with a poor guest and your credibility becomes suspect.

- 5. Thou Shalt respond with haste.

Broadcasters make decisions quickly and meet deadlines every 25 minutes. They work quickly and expect PR reps to do the same. To a broadcaster, "No Problem!" from a PR rep may be a cue for danger.The corporate world works on an entirely different agenda and pace than the news world. Believe it or not, ASAP to the media means within five minutes. Help make media requirements a reality in the corporate structure.

- 6 . Thou Shalt make no guarantees you can't keep.

An east coast PR firm once requested that I "hold" a story about a major department store opening - an important commercial development for our city. "No one else will get the release until noon tomorrow," they said.

This gave me time to interview the store's manager and prepare a customized on-air package about it for our morning news hour. Minutes before we broke our "exclusive story," the morning newspaper was delivered with the headline on the front page of the business section, "XYZ's Department Store Heading Our Way." How would you feel? Well, felt worse! Numerous calls to the PR rep were not returned. Finally, I was told the story had been released with an "embargo time" noted on a cover letter. Believe it or not, embargoes are broken all the time. If you are forwarding an "embargoed" release to the media, never guarantee an exclusive to anyone, Once the release is out of your hands, it is out of your control and you'll burn a media contact.

- 7. Thou Shalt not pitch when the "sky is falling."

Within an hour after the Challenger exploded, believe it or not, a tea company rep contacted me: "Mr. Dahmen, we would really like to discuss our latest health teas on your radio show."

Know when things are too busy in a newsroom to pitch something less than an exclusive with a sole survivor of a plane wreck.

TV newsrooms are very busy during crisis news coverage and almost any bay during the hour before the early and late evening broadcasts. Radio newsrooms are especially busy before 9:00 a.m. between 4:00 and 6:30 p.m.

- 8. Thou Shalt feed quality audio.

In the late '60s and |70s, many radio stations would use prerecorded cuts that were fed by phone, for example, by congressional press secretaries. Although the sound was often inferior, much of the tape was aired.

- 9. Thou Shalt seize the opportunity with creativity.

For years I was one of the U.S.' top stringers for radio news. One NBC news producer actually dubbed me, "The King of String," earning more than the network's top executives. The accomplishment was all the more significant when you understand that I did it, not from Washington or New York, but, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Almost daily I pitched and sold stories to the major networks. I disciplined myself to find a hook to a story that would be meaningful to a national audience. Believe it or not, PR people can also seize the opportunity because of a clear and growing direction to lifestyle and consumer news. The media is always seeking stories about unusual products and services and popular trends. To seize the opportunity, however, you've got to know what the media believes is hot. Compare the media hot list with your own. Where there is a match, there is an opportunity to be seized.

- 10. Thou Shalt understand the needs and wants of the media.

Conduct an independent study of the media needs in your community. You probably already have the names of the local radio, TV and newspaper people. Try to schedule a brief meeting to gather information only. Listen to or watch their stations. Read their papers. Believe it or not, there's no point pitching an author on an adult contemporary radio station or a television station talk show with a reporter for a competing network. Study the media decision makers and their organizations. It's essential.