Understanding and Appreciating Journalistic Integrity

Steve Thompson
Thompson Communications

Journalistic integrity used to be taken for granted, but no more. 

Legitimate journalists who have produced quality, ethical work for decades have been attacked as "fake news" simply because the person featured in their stories doesn't like how he was portrayed. The same person has shown disdain for the free press in general.

The free press exposed the error of our very costly role in the Viet Nam war. The free press exposed the criminal activities of another president, and caused his eventual resignation of his office. The free press exposed our own government's separating children from their parents, then incarcerating them in centers, and holding them in cages.

In every instance, and many, many more, each of these actions would have continued were it not for a free press.

But in order for the free press to work, it needs to be coupled with journalistic integrity.

Journalistic integrity comes down to one simple element: Credibility.

We must be able to trust what we read, see, and hear from media outlets.

So how can an average person understand what is credible, and what isn't?

Substantiation.

My generation learned a lot about substantiation from the Watergate era: Woodward and Bernstein, and their editor Ben Bradlee, as depicted in the film All the President's Men.

To understand what takes place before The Washington Post publishes a story, check out their clearly defined editorial policies, which cover many elements, including fact checking.

Are they perfect? No more perfect than you and I, but when they discover a mistake they admit it, and publish a retraction or correction.

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Fact vs. Opinion; Fake News Isn't Opinion, It's Propaganda

Most media outlets publish both fact and opinion. 

Credible media outlets clearly identify opinion pieces. 

When legislation passes and becomes law, that's fact. It can be substantiated by the vote count, and the text of the bill.

But the law's impact is opinion. Many people use background information to support their opinions, but they remain opinions, until they can be substantiated with fact.

Less credible media outlets now routinely present opinion as unsubstantiated facts, because their audience doesn't know the difference, and probably doesn't care.

Here's a brief history, and debunking, of the recent "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory

That untrue conspiracy theory resulted in a North Carolina man entering the pizza shop in Washington DC in December of 2016, and allegedly firing an assault rifle inside the shop.

Words matter.

There are a few ways to determine whether you are receiving the truth or not.

Consider the Source

Always be sure that you recognize and respect the original source of the story, and check to see if the same story was reported by other media outlets.

Consider who benefits

Propaganda is generally spread to benefit a few people in power. One of the reasons why some media outlets publish false or misleading stories is so that they will continue to have access to the people in power, who their propaganda benefits.

Consider the questions asked by journalists

A "fluff piece" will usually include questions that flatter, but never challenge the subject.


Always Maintaining Journalistic Integrity

I've done publicity work for a wide range of different types of clients, from those selling industrial equipment intended to increase productivity, to an Academy Award Winner promoting his film roles and public appearances, to up and coming talents who are working hard to advance their careers.

I have never once had to resort to "alternate facts" for any of those clients.

Consequently, when I send out a press notice the media outlets know that they can depend on my own journalistic integrity.

Because throughout my career I have established myself as a publicist with journalistic integrity, journalists know that if they publish something that they've received from me, they are assured that we will be able to answer any questions that their audience might ask, because they know that everything that I send out is substantiated. It's fact, not opinion, not propaganda.

So if you have questions about journalistic integrity, just ask. 

If you value and need journalistic integrity, then you know you can trust me!

Contact:

Steve Thompson

Thompson Communications

856-425-0743

(Google Voice line, for
quick voicemail and text.)

steve@thomcomm.net

About Me

Understanding the Basic Publicity Process

Today you have more ways than ever to get your message out. So the task becomes how do you use all of those communications channels to your best advantage?

You can compose your message, then publish it verbatim, through paid advertising, through social media, through blogging, and through your own website.

So why implement a publicity effort?

Credibility.

When your story appears in a media outlet, it implies the endorsement of the media outlet.

Producer, SAG-AFTRA Actress Sabrina Percario has been a client for several years. Most recently she produced a film entitled Breaking with actress Alessandra Hajaj, which has earned an impressive list of festival awards.

Here is one of the places where her story appeared: Multiple Award Winning Breaking Features The Accomplishments Of Two Talented Immigrant Female Filmmakers

What went into getting that story published? 

First we had to organize all of the information into a press release.

Then I create a Media Resource webpage, where journalists can go to obtain our information. 

Breaking Media Resource Page

That way I can send an introductory email with enough information that the recipient can make up their mind quickly, without having to read the entire story. If they want more information, our intro note contains a link to our media resource page. If they don't want to take the time to download the files right away, I offer a link to an online version of the release.

Then we contact a list of media outlets who have a high probability of publishing the story. That list comes from a few different places.

When I started working with Sabrina, because she's originally from Brazil, I learned about the annual Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival. I researched which journalists covered the festival, because they have an exceptionally high probability for publishing Sabrina's stories. The Immigrant Magazine has an interest in stories about immigrants who work hard and make a name for themselves in the US. 

I submitted Sabrina's story to the editor, and she responded by saying yes, she would publish Sabrina's story, and she gave us a few editorial points she wanted to see in the story. We edited her story, and submitted it, and the editor accepted it, and published it.

The Immigrant Magazine First Story on Sabrina Percario

Submitting a story to media outlets is a subjective process, that is, sometimes media outlets have no interest in the story.

When that's the case, we turn to a commercial press release distribution service. In my opinion, the top two press release distribution services are PR Newswire and PR Web. I prefer a company called eReleases who has an arrangement with PR Newswire available at a discounted rate. I think their Buzz Builder program is an exceptionally good value. There are also less expensive services, contact me and I'll explain them too!

Many commercial distribution services offer Associated Press (AP) distribution. AP is an internationally known resource to journalists, which reaches newspapers across the country. That's mostly useful for reaching journalists who may be working on a story that covers your subject, and may want to include something from your release in their story.

With a press release distribution service there are a few options. Most services will offer publication catagories, meaning for example, with a client like Sabrina, we want Entertainment media outlets and journalists. And geographic demographics too. In Sabrina's case, we concentrate on Los Angeles and New York. 

You can Click Here to see who eReleases reaches

When press release distribution services offer guaranteed appearance on a number of media sites, it's through syndicated distribution. That's a relationship they have with a number of sites. Those usually only stay up maybe two to three months, but a few stay on longer.

These syndicated release placements are useful for social media posts.

Sabrina Percario on Financial Content, a syndicated release placement

For most clients, the two month introductory program I offer works best.

Thompson Communications Two Month Promotional Program

If you don't have the budget for that program, but you want to learn how to do everything yourself, I offer a consulting package.

Thompson Communications Consulting

In summary, the publicity process usually follows this sequence:

Distill your message into a form that will generate interest from media outlets.

Create an infrastructure for making your message accessible to media outlets, I typically use a Media Resource page and an Online Press Release, because they are a convenience to the people we're contacting, and after a week or two they begin to show up in search engine searches.

Create a target media list based on who you intend to reach with your message.

Contact those media outlets through email and telephone.

If necessary, use a press release distribution service. In a case where your subject is of general interest, I advise using a distribution service right away. There are actually many to choose from, I feel eReleases offers the best value.

Then once your release is distributed, some media outlets may publish your story without notifying you, so it's a good idea to use Google Alerts to track where your story appears.

There are five essential steps you should take if you are interested in gaining publicity. I'll send these to you right away, (for free, with no additional obligations) just write to me at steve@thomcomm.com with "5 Essential Publicity Steps" in the title and I'll get it right out to you.

Contact:

Steve Thompson

Thompson Communications

856-425-0743

(Google Voice line, for
quick voicemail and text.)

steve@thomcomm.com

About Me