A Picture Equals a Thousand Words
One of the important things I learned early in my PR career was the power of great photographs. My PR mentor, Chip Carey, taught me to always try to include a photograph with a press release for the media. Sometimes that slowed me down (and those of you who know me know that I don’t like to be slowed down at work!), because I had to look around for a good photo, and back in the day, I had to make duplicates (sometimes by myself in our own darkroom!….talk about time consuming!)
I am now more convinced than ever that a great shot adds enormously to a press release. Sometimes, particularly in dealing with travel editors, having a great image means the difference between a cover story in the travel section or being buried in the back of the section. Or sometimes it means your story being placed above the fold rather than below the fold. And obviously when dealing with television news, they need great video. When pitching a story to a TV news editor it’s important to describe what the visual images will look like. TV people thrive on images, not on words alone.
The photo above is the Saddleback Maine Base Lodge at night. Isn’t it beautiful? It was taken by my friend and professional photographer Gary Pearl. I think it’s very appealing. It would definitely draw me in if I were to see this image in a newspaper or magazine story. By the way, Saddleback is one of my clients for PR so I’ve enjoyed spending more time over in Rangeley this past winter than ever before. What a great area of our beautiful state!
The reason I was thinking about photography today is that I was reviewing some photographs submitted to us by our client at the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. They sent us the photo at left of the kayakers looking a cows. This photo was taken by Northern Forest Canoe Trail board member Lisa Dyslin. I think this is a great shot because it’s quirky. You don’t think that you can go canoeing in the wilderness and get this ‘up close and personal’ with a bunch of cows standing by a quintessential old New England barn.
But that’s just the kind of experience that the people at the Northern Forest Canoe Trail are trying to promote….the opportunity to paddle along a water trail from the Adirondacks of New York to Aroostook County, Maine and pass through wooded wilderness, charming villages and towns, and farmland like you see in this photo. So I believe that this is a perfect photo for us to use with our press releases about the canoe trail.
The next time you are trying to tell a story, think of how you can complement your words with great images. A picture truly is worth a thousand words. Sometimes I fail to include a photograph with my blog posts, but then when I look back at the blog, I always regret not taking the extra time to post a photo. I believe that blog posts with photos are far better than those without, don’t you?
Hi Nancy,
Because of the dreadful financial situation that much of traditional media finds itself in, your suggestion of including photos is now more important than ever.
In the past many newspapers would not consider using photos submitted by public relation firms. It went against a belief of using objective materials. Also, a press release might be a seed for a story, but the information in that release would be “massaged” by a reporter, before it made it to the printed page.
Now, with layoffs and buyouts the norm in traditional media, staffs are stretched so thin that many newspapers not only welcome submitted photographs, they request them.
As and old time newspaper guy, there are things in print that make me crazy when I see the source, but the economic reality is that this is what newspapers need to do to survive. As a public relations person you are wise to suggest to your colleagues that they feed the beast, especially at a time when the beast is so hungry.
Martin
Martin: Your words are oh-so-true. Thanks for weighing in. Glad you made it back safely from Quebec. We had a great time up there skiing with you and the group.
Nancy
We talk as much about photos in news meetings as anything else and as I work at a small paper, we’re always looking for photos, especially good ones. :^) Great idea to include them with press releases. Makes me think we’d be more likely to run it….
Nicole: thanks to you, too, for weighing in. I am so lucky to have newspaper professionals reading my blog. My PR peers will benefit from hearing from people like you and Martin about the importance of good photos in putting together a newspaper, whether it’s a daily or a weekly.
Nancy