It's PR Darlings

“My inbox is hopefully full of great ideas and it's my job to sift through those ideas and PRs are incredibly helpful when it comes to that – and relationships are absolutely everything.” – Joshua Del Pozo, Chief of Staff, The Today ShowBreakfast TV has always been the go-to for Australians wanting to start their day informed.The tried and tested formula, from news updates every 30 minutes to weather reports and entertainment sprinkled in, has ensured audiences are informed and entertained in a timely way.However, with the rapid changes in how content is consumed, there’s a question that lingers: is the formula for breakfast TV undergoing a shift?This episode features Joshua Del Pozo – the Chief of Staff at Channel Nine's flagship morning TV program The Today Show.From Monday through to Friday, Josh oversees three hours of live content, so has his finger on the pulse when it comes to what audiences want to watch while they’re sipping their morning coffee."Everyone's attention spans have shortened,” Josh says. “So what we've had to do is offer more content and choice within our program duration."He emphasises that the importance of evolving content and how PRs can assist brekky TVs serve up what their diverse audiences are seeking."Our reporters have to transform and evolve their story,” Josh explains. “We don't want the same updates relayed. By 9am, the story should have evolved."For PRs pitching behind the scenes, it’s about adapting to the changing attention spans, understanding your audience, and consistently offering fresh content to stay relevant in the modern media landscape.In keeping with It’s PR Darlings’ tradition, Greer and Jo delve into some of the quirkier jargon in the media industry, focusing on Vox Pops. Listen in to hear how you can incorporate Vox Pops into your pitches. It's PR Darlings is powered by Public Address. Use our discount code “DARLINGS” for 50 per cent off the first six months. Book a demo today: https://publicaddress.ai. It’s PR Darlings:www.itsprdarlings.comwww.sticksandstonespr.com.auwww.forwardcomm.com.auSocials:https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlingshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-stone-youngleson-562809104/https://www.linkedin.com/in/corporate-communications/Contacts:jo@sticksandstonespr.com.augreer@forwardcomm.com.au We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Powered by Public Address, the innovative media relations management platform providing that indispensable extra hand for every pitch, the It’s PR Darlings podcast took an exciting turn in its latest episode. This wasn't just any regular episode; it was a live podcast session, in collaboration with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Queensland.For those unfamiliar, IABC is an essential hub for communication professionals who thrive on networking and continuously update themselves with industry trends and insights.Hosted by It’s PR Darlings co-hosts Greer Quinn and Jo Stone, this special episode unraveled in the casual ambience of a Brisbane pub – the iconic Paddo Taven – setting the stage for candid conversations and insights. This exclusive panel presentation brought together Michael Coombes, the erstwhile deputy editor of Channel Seven News, Queensland, who has recently stepped into the shoes of the editor, and Craig Johnston the Editor from InQueensland.Introduced by Melanie Loy, the President of IABC Queensland Chapter, the live setting added an authentic touch, complete with ambient bar noises and paper rustlings.It's PR Darlings is powered by Public Address. Use our discount code “DARLINGS” for 50 per cent off the first six months. Book a demo today: https://publicaddress.ai. It’s PR Darlings:www.itsprdarlings.comwww.sticksandstonespr.com.auwww.forwardcomm.com.auSocials:https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlingshttps://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-stone-youngleson-562809104/https://www.linkedin.com/in/corporate-communications/We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

“I just think there's never been a more exciting time to be a comms professional. The PR industry is at a really unique inflection point in terms of the potential of our industry and the impact that we have.” – Shane Allison, Public Address Founder In this episode co-hosts Greer Quinn and Jo Stone, together with Public Address Founder Shane Allison, explore the future landscape of public relations, the impact of artificial intelligence, essential PR metrics, industry trends, and advice for career advancement. “Those people who have a really generalist understanding of communications and can help produce a video one day, a podcast the next, and a social campaign the next are going to be incredibly sought after,” Shane explains. “And so too will those who have a very deep vein of subject matter expertise and discipline.” Shane's recent recognition as the "PR Professional of the Year" by Mumbrella highlights his significant influence in the field. Season Four brings a notable change with the introduction of Public Address as the official sponsor. Public Address has rapidly emerged as a vital tool for modern communicators. “First I should say how excited I am to be part of PR Darlings,” Shane says. “I absolutely love the way that the PR Darlings podcast has been able to educate people about some of the fundamentals of PR. It's a really valuable resource and we're so happy to be partnering with you guys.” Shane Allison, a driving force behind both Public Address and Public Relations Institute of Australia, sheds light on the evolving landscape of PR. He emphasises the shift from tactical approaches to a focus on strategy and channels. Greer and Jo discuss how they're already benefiting from using Public Address, which they describe as having an "extra pair of hands on every pitch”. They emphasise the AI-driven platform's ability to personalise pitches and process thousands of articles, making it easier to target the right journalists. “Through tools like Public Address, we can focus on the creative and interesting and engaging and exciting parts of our job,” Shane says. “But also we can leverage all of that into spending more time on the things that matter for our stakeholders and the businesses that we work for and we work with.” In keeping with the podcast's tradition, co-hosts Greer and Jo delve into the concept of "currency" as a news value. They explain how PR professionals can leverage current trends and topical issues to secure more extensive and impactful media coverage. It's PR Darlings is powered by Public Address. Use our discount code “DARLINGS” for 50 per cent off the first six months. Book a demo today: https://publicaddress.ai. It’s PR Darlings:www.itsprdarlings.comwww.sticksandstonespr.com.auwww.forwardcomm.com.auContacts:jo@sticksandstonespr.com.augreer@forwardcomm.com.au We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

"We have a hard paywall at the Australian. It means that bar is pretty high in terms of me taking the time to tackle something and go really in depth with it. And that often means…if there's a new story, it probably has to be exclusive to us.” – David Swan, Technology Editor, The Australian Considered a rock star among the tech PR peeps, Technology Editor at The Australian David Swan has an uncanny ability to turn the technical into the connectable. “I used to write for a technology news website for IT professionals, so I could use jargon and get away with it,” David explains. “Now, anyone on the street could be picking up the Australian and reading one of my stories. So I strip back that tech and say, ‘what will this actually do? What, what will it be used for how it'll be used? How will it impact society?’ The other thing too is every founder I interview has an interesting story about how and why they founded the company – sort of like a superhero origin story, a little bit like Batman or Superman.” Co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn also probe into the X Factor elements that make David say “yes” to a story within his turf of start-ups, business and technology. “We really need a news hook,” David said. “I think readers are pretty savvy and know when they're being fed more of an ad or a PR pitch. It has to be a really genuine news hook…it's one of those things where you kind of know it when you see it.” David also discusses some of the media conventions such as exclusives, embargoes and “first dibs” and why transparency is imperative when using these strategies. Keeping up with Season Three’s "news values" theme, during this episode the Darlings explore the value of “timeliness”, which is all about injecting the new into the news. It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.  It’s PR Darlings www.itsprdarlings.com www.sticksandstonespr.com.au www.forwardcomm.com.au Socials: https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/ https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-stone-youngleson-562809104/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/corporate-communications/ Contacts: jo@sticksandstonespr.com.au greer@forwardcomm.com.au  We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 

“Media networks are running on the smell of an oily rag – they really are. So there's actually an opportunity there for PRs and for spokespersons to guide and influence the direction of the story.” –Jessica Ridley, Today Show Presenter + BTW Media Founder This episode of It’s PR Darlings, Jo Stone and Greer Quinn chat with journalist Jessica Ridley whose voice – and face – you’d recognise from national TV reporting roles, news-reading gigs and live crosses. It’s PR Darlings invited Jess on the podcast for two reasons – one is her years of experience in TV and her insights into post-covid television newsrooms in particular, but also because of her experience in media and presentation training, which is a specialised training that all PR, communications and marketing managers should be doing regularly with clients who have to front the media. From taking sips of water and regulating your breathing to small-talk before an interview, Jessica provides the media interview tips and tricks that’ll see you invited back. “Visualise that one person sitting at home, eating their dinner, watching the 6:00 pm news – that's the person you're talking to,” Jessica says. A chance to hold the microphone on national television presents a rare moment of influence, but talent sometimes falls short through poor preparation or mindset.  “If you get that chance for a couple of minutes on national television, those opportunities are far and few between,” Jessica says. “I definitely see a lot of people that could have done with just a little bit of preparation, you know, some key messages prep as well, so that they're going in and they're really clear about what they want to say and their position on the issue.” During Season Four, It’s PR Darlings is providing insight into some journalistic tools to help you hack the newsworthy algorithm to create content the media want to publish and follow. A cornerstone to that is news values, which journalists use every day to measure newsworthiness. This episode’s news value is a journo favourite – it’s “unusual” or “bizarre”.It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications. Jessica will be joining Jo and Greer on stage during Mumbrella 360 in July. Please get in touch for tickets and guest discounts. It’s PR Darlings www.itsprdarlings.com www.sticksandstonespr.com.au www.forwardcomm.com.au Socials: https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/ https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/ Contacts: jo@sticksandstonespr.com.au greer@forwardcomm.com.au  We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 

“One of the really key sentiments that came out [of Medianet’s 2022 Media Landscape Report] was the most important aspect of a pitch…is that the story’s original, newsworthy and relevant to that journalist’s specific field of reporting and audience.” -Amrita Sidhu, Director of Media Intelligence, Medianet and Mediaverse From pet peeves to journalists’ preferred days and ways to receive media releases, the impacts of Covid-19 on reporting to media trolling and gender pay gaps, this episode offers a deep dive into 2022’s complex media landscape. Taking us through the insights, based on a survey of almost 1,000 Australian journalists, is Medianet and Mediaverse Director of Media Intelligence Amrita Sidhu. While public relations and communications professionals won’t be surprised Medianet’s report revealed audience relevance was the most widely valued feature of a pitch, there were some surprising and somewhat disappointing findings too, including that 30 per cent of male journalists earn more than $100,000 per annum, compared to just 16 per cent of females and 12 per cent of non-binary journalists. Also, honouring an embargo is no longer a given within today’s competitive and social media-influenced media world, signalling a continued trend of disruption of media conventions. It’s PR Darlings Co-hosts Greer Quinn and Jo Stone also ask Amrita to discuss some of the newer or lesser-known features Medianet offers including media call-outs, an editorial service and Mediaverse’s qualitative analysis feature – something that is offering incisive room-reads in the lead up to Australia’s Federal Election. Following on from the last episode featuring ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar, It’s PR Darlings hosts continue the theme of news values during their end-of-segment education session when the duo unlock the news value of “proximity”. Download Medianet’s 2022 media landscape report here. Undertake It’s PR Darlings/Medianet’s collaborative crisis communications micro-course here. It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from www.sticksandstonespr.com.au  and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.  It’s PR Darlings www.itsprdarlings.com Socials: https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/ https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/ We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 

“Michael and I get in about 3:30am. We have a staff meeting at about 5:00am where we run through the show – what's planned, what our top story is, what we're going to tease, what our best vision is for the day...” -Lisa Millar, ABC News Breakfast Australia’s breakfast TV wars have been dominated by Channel Nine’s Today Show and Seven’s Sunrise. Other stations have tried but these two early morning juggernauts have had decades of loyal followers always battling for the top spot – until now. The ratings have become a closer race during the past two years after one of ABC’s most experienced foreign correspondents, Walkley award-winning journalist and author of a new memoir called Daring to Fly Lisa Millar took the helm alongside reporter Michael Rowland. For the first time during its 14 years on air, ABC’s early morning flagship News Breakfast program has toppled the traditional big guns. And for those in public relations and communications, this means looking at the program with fresh eyes and assessing when and how to pitch what stories.“The biggest one is that the audience is way more used to seeing people on Zoom and Skype and they don't mind that it looks a bit rough and ready,” Lisa says.Inclusion and diversity are key to ABC’s charter, so PRs should consider gender, ethnicity, location and socio-economic diversity in their pitches. “The first question that the producers will ask someone who might've pitched something is, ‘Do you have a woman?’…because we are committed to a 50/50 gender target that we have to reach on a daily basis.” Lisa also shares moments from her memoir Daring to Fly which tracks the journey of a kid from a tiny Queensland town who goes on to cover some of the world’s most impactful events, including September 11, all while battling a fear that almost grounded her career.It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.  Contacts: jo@sticksandstonespr.com.au greer@forwardcomm.com.au We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.  

Quirky is out and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) trends are in according to NewsCorp’s news.com.au's Editor Oliver Murray, or "Oli", as he prefers. Oli spent several years working in regional news and local Sydney papers before joining news.com.au and moving up through the ranks to step into the top job. Kicking off Season Three of it’s PR Darlings, Ollie lets co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn pick his brains about the best ways PRs can assist the digital behemoth cover the stories that make its audience tick (and click). “If it’s a question we’re asking, it’s usually something Australia is asking,” Oli explains. "The big mistake PRs make when they pitch to us is they say, ‘I think this is going to be a great story from news.com because it's quirky’, but as a site, we've sort of moved past that.” He recommends PRs watch what people are searching for on Google because that’s what news.com.au will be following up on for its audience. Oli also reveals news.com.au’s current demographics and why the platform has onboarded a youth editor to drive the outlet’s youth strategy. “We have about 12 million Australian readers every month, which is one in two Aussies,” he says. “The average reader for us is someone who wants to come to our site and just get the news in a very easy to understand way. They want to leave our website informed about the big news of the day, but they also want a little bit of distraction. And I think that's what we do a little bit better than other sites. It's not to just go to a site and get all the COVID news…but it's also, 'what are the big talking points from reality TV last night', or 'what's happening in crypto'?”  In this episode, It’s PR Darlings hands the “demystifying” mic to Ollie who unpacks the newsroom term “sell”. It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.  It’s PR Darlings www.itsprdarlings.com www.sticksandstonespr.com.au www.forwardcomm.com.au Socials: https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/ https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/ Contacts: jo@sticksandstonespr.com.au greer@forwardcomm.com.au  We acknowledge the traditional landowners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. 

Wrapping up Season Two and a shameless plug for our upcoming webinar in partnership with Medianet🦠 During this wrap-up of Season Two Co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn have heard from journalists and industry leaders about the way the pandemic is changing work lives, media content, newsworthiness and even shaping how our news is delivered.🦠 It’s becoming clear that Covid-19 isn’t going away within the foreseeable future and businesses need crisis management plans that can adapt as quickly as mutant strains. So during this mini-episode, Greer and Jo also talk about an upcoming collaboration with Medianet to present a webinar with live Q+A on the topic “Crisis Communications for a Covid World”. Event link here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/crisis-communications-for-a-covid-world-tickets-168883459975COVID is the gift that keeps on giving.Greer: We’ve found that even 18 months on, we’re still helping clients with crisis strategies and internal and external communications issues almost every month,” Greer says. The pandemic isn’t going away and if you think that because you’ve managed to dodge a COVID catastrophe so far that you’re in the clear, think again.Jo: It’s awful because we sometimes get calls in the evenings or on the weekend from organisations desperately seeking PR help because a crisis never seems to happen during office hours during the week does it! And more often than not, they’ve never even thought ahead about how to handle adverse media coverage or a COVID-10-caused crisis.Greer: In recent weeks we’ve seen influencers breaching COVID-19 restrictions for parties and brands then subsequently publicly dropping them. We’ve even seen well documented super-spreader events that have led to humiliation and reputation damage for attendees and organisers.Jo: Yes, we’ve also seen organisations facing staff backlash over mandatory vaccinations.Greer: So in this short podcast, we’re wrapping up Season Two with some of the top takeaways from our guests and we’ll end with our top three tips for PR crisis planning in the pandemic.Jo: Let’s start with Andrew Drummond from AAP – that was a great insight into this vital Australian news wire service, which is a bit of a secret weapon to have in your PR tool kit.Greer: The news deserts he was talking about across Australia are only broadening after all the COVID closures, so Andrew’s pitching brief will be a huge help if you want some AAP traction. NewsCorp’s AT Home magazine flipbook is a direct response to the pandemic and Editor Kelly Baker told us that PR people need to know that while it’s lifestyle-focussed, it’s still anchored in news values.Jo: And it was magic talking to Mel Carrero from Spell – talk about a brand at the cutting edge. What they’ve been doing with content creation has been so innovative – there are a lot of ideas in that chat PR’s can learn from. It was also great to hear from Starts At 60 founder Bec Wilson. Her platform is the largest in the country for the over 60’s and there is a lot of pent up demand in the travel sector particularly so that’s a consumer group that shouldn’t be overlooked for lifestyle and travel products.Greer: And of course, there was the interview with Daniel Doody from Studio 10. He was all about the media release and the pitch – and there are amazing national opportunities for the right story.Jo: In each episode, we demystify a little bit of jargon from the media world – things like noddies, embargo and backgrounding and in this episode we are turning the tables a bit, but I guess the jargon term for this segment could be COVIDIOT – someone who ignores or breaks public health orders. And if you are in a comms role for any business or organisation, you know that it only takes one COVIDIOT to cause a crisis. So with this in mind, we thought we would give you the PR Darlings top three top tips for crisis communications plans in the era of COVID.Greer: These are just a couple of the things we’ll be discussing in an upcoming webinar in collaboration with Australian media database company MediaNet on October 6, 2021, which is all about crisis communications, albeit with a COVID twist. Now, Medianet is a must-have service for PR firms – their database keeps you up-to-date with all the platforms, papers and programs in the Australian media, but also all the contacts you need. This brings us to our first crisis communications tip – making sure you have updated contacts. You need to know the journalists who are likely to be working in your patch. You don’t want to be scrambling for a mobile number at the last minute.Jo: Updating contacts is also important for your internal team. Has someone left the organisation or changed jobs? And who else do you need to contact? With pandemic-related issues, you also need contacts for the relevant authorities like the Department of Health or the Chief Health Officer (CHO) and the State Government for example.Greer: Our second crisis comms tip in the pandemic is to make sure your business, organisation or client is actually practising COVIDSafe protocols. This is where a lot of the bad publicity stems from – for example a venue that hosts an event that becomes a super spreader event will face even more media backlash if journalists find out there was no sanitiser available, check-in code, too many people were there and they weren’t wearing masks.  Jo: And the third most important tip of all is to actually have a crisis communications plan. So often this is something that nobody puts any thought into – and that is when a PR disaster really unfolds. Putting a plan together should be a service that you offer as part of your role in PR. And brainstorming with your client some of the potential COVID-19 crises is a great way to start. Regular reviews of the plan is also a must-do.Greer: Thanks so much for tuning in to It’s PR Darlings Season Two. If you’re listening to this before October 6, 2021, then head to Eventbrite or Medianet to find our Crisis Communications in a Covid World webinar – links are also in the show notes and we would love to have you along.This has been Season Two of It’s PR Darlings. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of It’s PR Darlings, please share, subscribe and review.   It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.  Medianet X It’s PR Darlings Webinar: Crisis Communications for a Covid Worldhttps://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/crisis-communications-for-a-covid-world-tickets-168883459975If you think your business or your clients have escaped a COVID-19 crisis, think again! This pandemic is ever-evolving. While we might be well practiced during lockdowns and closures for the impacts on businesses, there are still risks – think super-spreader events, staff vaccination fallouts, supply chain interruptions, new mutant strains, or a staff member’s anti-mask rant that goes viral. This is the virus that keeps on giving.It’s PR Darlings www.itsprdarlings.com www.sticksandstonespr.com.au www.forwardcomm.com.au Socials: https://www.instagram.com/itsprdarlings/ https://www.facebook.com/ItsPRDarlings https://www.linkedin.com/company/it-s-pr-darlings/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-stone-youngleson-562809104/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/corporate-communications/ Contacts for story ideas: jo@sticksandstonespr.com.au greer@forwardcomm.com.au  We acknowledge the traditional land owners and pay our respect to elders past and present, and all Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.