Author: Tom Unger

My holiday gift to you: a media placement tip

‘Tis the season for easy news media placements! This is due to a few factors: 1) Newspapers typically run “fatter” this time of year because their ad sales are up (due to the holiday retail sales season). So editors face a situation where they need to fill more pages with news content. 2) Many news…
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December 23, 2011
Your target audience consists of one person

When you’re writing a news release, your target audience consists of only one person. Can you guess who it is? It’s the news editor who is going to receive your release. The news editor has the ultimate decision on whether or not your release is going to get published or aired. So your news release…
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December 10, 2011
New crisis management guidebook includes chapter by Tom Unger, APR, ABC

PR News Press has just published a new “Crisis Management Guidebook Vol. 5”. The 233-page book includes a chapter by Tom Unger, APR, ABC, on the importance of communicating with employees during a crisis. Tom drew upon his more than 32 years of communications experience in writing the chapter. It focuses on maintaining internal communications…
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November 12, 2011
Use target audiences’ established information sources

Many target audiences possess unique expectations and characteristics and sources of information. As a communications professional, you must be aware of them in order to reach the desired audience. For instance, in many large metro areas numerous ethnic groups have their own newspapers, radio stations and television channels. This is good for a communications professional…
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August 7, 2011
New media training guidebook includes chapter by Tom Unger, APR, ABC

PR News Press has just published “Media Training Guidebook – Vol. 4” that includes a chapter by Tom Unger, APR, ABC. Unger drew upon his 10 years as a news reporter and his more than 20 years of public relations experience to write a section for the book about relationship building with reporters entitled “7…
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July 25, 2011
Stop, Think and Consider Before Writing, Sending A News Release

Communications professionals can learn a valuable lesson from reading about the boy who cried “Wolf!” too many times. I’ve heard editors complain about organizations that send out so many news releases that they reach a point where the editor doesn’t pay attention to them. So before you write any news release, ask yourself if the…
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April 5, 2011
Add the Power of “ST” to your news writing

If you can apply an adjective to your announcement that ends in the letters “s-t”, you stand a better chance of success. Those adjectives are very powerful when trying to gain the attention of the news media. Let me explain. Is your organization the first to market with a product? Is it the first to…
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April 3, 2011
8 Tips for Winning A Communications Contest Award

Winning a communications award is a great way to boost your self confidence. It’s validation of the quality of your work and lets others know you are a superior communicator. It can also boost your career. Years ago I lived in Los Angeles and applied for a job at a major company. I didn’t hear…
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March 20, 2011
Successful News Placement Depends on Win-Win Situation

One great way to increase your chances of success when trying to place a news story is to study your target news outlet to see what type of news it covers on a regular basis. If you have news that fits into the news outlet’s existing format, you stand a good chance of success. Let me…
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March 6, 2011
The Importance of Developing Your News Writing Skills

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) publishes a high quality, monthly tab newspaper called Public Relations Tactics, which is filled with great articles about the industry. Every so often the publication runs a special focus edition on writing. I’m a big fan of Public Relations Tactics and feel it is one of the best benefits I receive…
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March 5, 2011