I was in the media for more than 30 years and the first rule is PR and journalism don’t mix. If you want to do PR, you leave journalism. Simple.

In 2011, I was a consumer reporter at CTV and was offered a job as Premier Christy Clark’s press secretary.

When I accepted the position I told CTV immediately, even though the job didn’t start for two weeks, and that brought my TV career to an abrupt end. My story for that night was cancelled; I was allowed to thank all the great people I worked with, clean out my desk and record a 20 second thank you to viewers.

I offered to continue to work off-air for two weeks before I started with government, to assist a new reporter stepping into my old role and CTV politely declined. Its rules were strict and I applaud them.

At CTV, we signed a document which spelled out potential conflicts and the consequences which were dire and immediate. All CTV personnel knew the rules and many like me made career choices.

It appears Toronto Global TV anchor and executive editor Leslie Roberts didn’t make that difficult choice.

According to a Toronto Star investigation, Roberts is the co-owner and creative director of a Toronto PR company BuzzPR and some BuzzPR clients appeared on his show. The Star disclosed Roberts tweeted about some clients to his more than 19 thousand followers and other clients appeared in Global news stories produced by other reporters. In fairness, some of those clients also got stories on other TV stations, which legitimizes their news value.

Global news has suspended Roberts indefinitely while it investigates the allegations.

Roberts’ says he never received direct payment from any client for appearing on his newscasts and never took a salary from BuzzPR, but those clients did pay BuzzPR of which he is a part-owner. He told The Star he went to BuzzPR everyday and conducted media training for clients and helped write media pitches. He told The Star he is resigning from Buzz PR effective immediately.

Global viewers trust the news they see. Primarily they trust that there is a separation between the journalist and businesses or guests featured on news programs. They trust that the people they see interviewed, particularly those playing an “expert” role, are chosen for what they know and not who they know.

How would those viewers have felt if full disclosure had been made such as “my next guest is an expert in widgets and his widget firm is a client of the public relations company of which I am a part-owner and creative director.”

Critics of the media have often charged that advertisers or others use their financial clout to influence the news. In my experience those critics are wrong. I was never prevented from doing any story that positioned an advertiser in a bad light. On occasion, my stories in radio and TV cost my employers a good client and a lot of money, but as an old boss at CKNW used to tell businesses “buying advertising is not news insurance.”

Also no sales person ever suggested to me that I should do a story on a particular business that was an advertiser. We kept sales and news separate. Roberts is a veteran award-winning journalist. He should have known that what he was doing at the very least had the appearance of a conflict of interest.

If we accept his word that at no time did he cross a line, that he was surprised when BuzzPR clients appeared on his show or elsewhere on Global news and that he had nothing to do with those appearances, that still does not explain other findings of The Star investigation: his tweets supporting BuzzPR clients and an apparent positive ad-lib on air about a client with a coupon app.

In my opinion, Roberts had a duty to viewers to disclose any conflicts and he failed in that duty.

Back in September reporter Charlo Greene  of KTVA-TV in Alaska famously quit live on air as she disclosed she was the owner of a medical marijuana business, Alaska Cannabis Club, which she had just finished doing a story on.

Greene’s conflict is direct, Roberts’ is one step removed. Both are serious, in my opinion. Roberts’ credibility as a journalist has been irreparably harmed. I fear the reputations of his clients may be in danger of being tarnished as well because the public may wonder if the reason they got airtime was because of the Roberts connection. That would be unfortunate.

Tags: CTV, journalism, media, media relations, Public relations, reporter

When a well-respected newspaper reporter at a major paper says he received “the saddest press release I’ve ever seen,” it’s definitely worth looking into.

The short email pitch in question promoted the latest book predicting the end of the world, from an author who had incorrectly predicted the end of the world in 2012. Vancouver Sun reporter Douglas Todd, who received the pitch in his inbox, wrote, “I am speechless. The things that publicity companies will do for their paying {delusional} clients.”

Reporters get a lot of releases. On a single day as assignment editor at CTV in Vancouver in 2001, I got over 2,000 pages of faxes, all claiming to be news. Today the internet has made it even worse, because delivery is easy and free.

So here is my top-10 list for getting noticed and avoiding becoming “the saddest press release I’ve ever seen.”

A news release needs to be actual news. That’s why we call them newsreleases. They need to be a news story that meets the standards of the particular outlet, including bloggers.

Link it to a current issue. The media don’t really care that you are opening up another restaurant in a city full of them. But these days, if you are training local workers and providing opportunities for the unemployed, that is news.

Solve a problem. Too often news stories present problems without solutions. The public craves solutions. I was a TV consumer reporter for almost 10 years and many of my stories showed viewers how they could solve issues themselves in the real world. In news-speak it’s “news you can use.”

Focus on those affected, not on yourself. The more people affected, the bigger the story. If your news release is all about you, the newsroom won’t care. Show the individuals who are positively affected, what assignment editors call “real people,” and give reporters access to them as part of your pitch.

It’s not an ad. If your news release reads like an advertisement, the assignment editor is going to say “go buy an ad.” Replace your company name with your competitor and then see if your family would watch or read that story. If not, it isn’t news.

Give it context. I worked with an assignment editor who would ask the same short questions every time you went out on a story and when you returned: “Biggest ever? Worst ever? Best ever?” He was really asking reporters to give the story some context so the public understood its importance.

Facts are good. You don’t need to overwhelm reporters with facts but key facts that support a story are welcome. If you don’t provide facts, reporters will go looking for them on the internet and as we know many internet “facts” aren’t true. So do some of that research for a reporter and provide them with the facts they need.

Timing may be everything. If you have the greatest school backpack ever made, that ensures children don’t get sore backs, it makes sense to tell the world when parents are out buying for back-to-school, not at Christmas.

Be the good example. Many businesses large and small give to charity and they hope to get a mention in a charitable foundation’s thank-you news release. Next time, take a leadership role by encouraging others in the community to join the cause and show how giving impacts real people. You see the difference? It’s not about you and the big cheque, and getting thanks for it. It’s about the real people that benefit as a result. They represent the larger picture.

Pick the right media targets. Not all news releases are suitable for all outlets. So being more selective can improve your results. Customizing the release and its style can improve pick-up as well.

If I were choosing the saddest news release, it would be the one that follows all the 10 points, gets the media all excited, after which the client says they are too busy for interviews. Getting media pickup is not easy and you don’t get second chances.

Tags: current events, media, news release, newsworthy, press release, Writing