Publicity versus Advertising

By Mary Hemlepp · Columnist: Public Relations · Back to Resources

If you think your organization is doing something newsworthy, should you buy an ad or try to get news coverage? What's the difference between the two?

In my nearly 20 years in the public relations profession I've seen numerous people confuse publicity and advertising. Some have suggested "buying an article." Others have asked how their public relations director could let a negative story get in the paper.

There are two sides to the media - advertising and news - and they don't work together. Here's how publicity and advertising are different and what you need to know when trying to achieve news coverage.

Who's in control?

As an advertiser, you are in control of what's said about your business. You buy the space or air time, you write the message, you decide how the ad will look and you decide where the ad will run. The downside is that you are the source of this information, which means there may be a lack of credibility in your message.

Publicity is different because you can't control what is written or said about your business. The upside is because the information is coming from a third party, consumers likely view it as having more validity.

In advertising, you are the buyer, but with publicity, you are the seller. To obtain publicity, you need a good reason for a reporter to write a story about your business.

Public relations, of which publicity is a large part, is focused on making sure an organization is seen in a positive light. This doesn't mean using false statements or exaggerations to make a company look good. It means having a good story to tell and being open, truthful and available when the media call.

Through interviews, press releases, websites and fact sheets, you can provide your story to reporters. Ultimately, the reporter and his or her editor determine what is written.

Realistic expectations

Most of us like to think everything we do in our business or non-profit organization is newsworthy. In reality, very few people are paying attention to what we do. If we want people to know about us, we have to think like reporters. In other words, we need a hook.

A news story should appeal to a wide audience. It must be locally relevant, and should contain an element of human interest. Bill Bryant, anchor and news director for WKYT, says he looks for those components along with a few others.

"There really needs to be a legitimate angle that will make some difference in the community," Bryant said. Some of the questions we want to know - Is it a first for the city? Will there be an economic impact that might ripple? Is it visual?

"Picking the right day for your event can be a factor too. Your chances of getting coverage are obviously less on a busy news day. It's always a judgment call for us whether a story merits coverage and whether it's worth the use of our newsgathering resources on a given day."

Who makes the cut?

Reporters and editors are barraged with story ideas and most media outlets do not have enough staff to cover all the news they would like to report. That's why your story idea has to stand out and be of interest to a large number of people.

Most media outlets have a morning meeting to decide what is covered each day. Section editors, news assignment editors, photo editors and others review all the news releases and events that are timely and sort through what they want to schedule for the day.

Although the daily news schedule is set in the morning, inevitably, something happens to change it - a fire, a crime, a major accident. This sometimes means the entire schedule changes, and sometimes right at deadline.

What this means for you is that even if your special event was on the schedule, you might be bumped for a bigger story. Again, it's all about what appeals to the most people.

Advertisers and news coverage

A common misconception is that as an advertiser, you are entitled to receive news stories about your company. This is absolutely false. The advertising and news divisions of most forms of media are totally separate. Threatening a reporter with pulling advertising because a story is unflattering gets you nowhere. Your ad dollars have no bearing on reporters' jobs as journalists.

This is a good thing. If the media determined what was covered based on how much an advertiser spends, would that be objective journalism? How much opportunity would a small business or non profit have for news coverage if only the big advertisers scored the stories?

The bottom line

So, what is news? In reality, it's whatever the media decides it is. They need our help, though, in alerting them to what is happening within the community. Keep in mind the elements reporters are looking for, your timing and how best to present your idea.

All this will increase your odds for news coverage. If those elements are not present, it's time to buy an ad.