In two previous columns, we talked about how quality management attracts Publicity, or PR. Nearly each and every organization is constantly trying to attract the attention from the media. What brings the media to a company’s door? That’s what each public relations man or woman would love to know. For this really is what PR people get paid to obtain for their clients.
Quality management is certainly a key motivation in attracting a reporter’s attention. This helps persuade the reporter or a radio/TV producer that the proposed interview isn’t heading to become with someone who has “nothing to say” or just rehashing a clich or tired, old story. The higher the title as well as the much better known a company, the greater the “impingement” a PR pitch (that’s what publicity individuals use to sell a reporter) impacts upon a member with the media. If someone through the publicity department at Microsoft calls Fortune magazine to ask about profiling Bill Gates, the pitch will have major impingement value. Couple of names have this sort of clout, either personally or corporately.
In any event, the senior editor from the main magazine will nevertheless inquire about the story angle. The editor will want to know, “What are we heading to speak about?” Ultimately, it is the excellent story that sells magazines or newspapers, not just the large name. Not all such stories involve a big name speaking or spouting his thoughts for the day. Often, far better stories evolve when there is a strong newsworthy angle. Let’s examine two recent stories - one which involves a uranium business and another a single about a coalbed methane (CBM) organization, which we’ve covered in this column.
On Thursday, Pacific Asia China Energy (PACE) was featured inside the Financing section of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. Headlined “High-Energy Performer,” the opening sentences told us why the reporter was interested: “PACE holds contracts to help China Marketplaces explore for and develop its coalbed methane (CBM) resources - fuel China needs to help satisfy its vitality demands.”
The huge story, which drew the newspaper to Pacific Asia Chinese marketplaces Power, was China. PACE piggybacked that story simply because the company may be helping to offer a legitimate solution towards the country’s power mix. Component with the large story is the possible size with the recoverable gas, estimated in the technical report by Sproule International to become as large as 11.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Those two items enhanced the reporter’s interest in PACE. China Marketplaces needs alternative vitality sources, for instance CBM, to improve their power mix - from a near total dependence upon coal. And, PACE has a potentially large resource, which could final a great number of many years. Such a gas resource could be sufficiently large to make an impact on China. Following all, Chinese marketplaces has proven reserves of slightly a lot more than 30 trillion cubic feet. One more 11 trillion cubic feet, should the prospective be proven up, would represent a substantial increase of available gas in an incredibly large country. By itself, this could later produce into a main international energy story, reported upon by a great number of news media. One more impingement about the reporter is having the satisfaction of reporting upon a excellent story, nicely before others write the story.
Chatter within the newsroom: “Did you hear about PACE’s gas discovery in China, Bob?” Bob’s Reply: “Oh that a single. Yeah, I wrote about it eight months ago!”
Consequently, you can find multiple impingement points in this story. Each “draw,” or a reason to attract eyeballs towards the story, is an additional point the story must score, for the reporter and his editor, to overcome the hurdles of being featured inside a major publication. China Marketplaces can be a draw. The size of the PACE coalbed methane gas resource can be a draw. The possible impact upon China’s vitality mix is really a draw. Writing about it before the rest with the pack jumps on the bandwagon? That’s a draw, too. In this case, four draws sufficiently attracted media coverage for this little CBM development business.
Sometimes, the timing is just perfect, and the overpowering “big story” accidentally introduces a lucky guy onto the world’s stage. On the same Thursday, the PACE story was carried within the Globe and Mail, the Chief Executive of a tiny Canadian uranium company impinged on a Russian news service reporter in Hong Kong. Such was the good fortune for Craig Lindsay, a Certified Monetary Analyst, who has spent more than 16 many years in corporate finance, investment banking and business development, according for the website of Magnum Uranium, for which he now serves as Chief Executive.
While Magnum has a industry capitalization of about $15 million, and Lindsay is neither a geologist nor engineer, RIA Novosti news agency touted him being a “well-known power expert.” Admittedly, Lindsay gave an excellent speech at the Hong Kong Club for foreign correspondents. Cleverly, he announced, “Uranium may be the next oil,” during his speech. As several other industry experts have predicted, Lindsay also forecast uranium “may hit $50/pound by the end from the year.” So several are now announcing this it is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
What elevated Lindsay’s publicity was not what he said in his speech. Most of his commentary continues to be already been reported in numerous publications, including in our columns. (What reporters actually hate is rehashing old news to give someone publicity!) It was to whom Lindsay was speaking, and specifically the “timing” as to when it was said. Here is how Craig Lindsay got his “15 minutes of fame.”
About six hours earlier, the really exact same Russian news agency reported that Russia and Kazakhstan had signed a uranium deal worth $1 billion. The photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared as the photo op which goes with such truly large stories. This was a major event involving two extremely big names, and among the biggest names and nations in the uranium sector. This was also Russia’s initial contract to import uranium; Kazakhstan may be the world’s third biggest uranium producer. All of that is “big news.”
The clever Russian freelance reporter, who attended the Lindsay speech in Hong Kong, most likely text-messaged or emailed his editor by Blackberry, tried to piggyback the Russian-Kazak story with his own story. Yes, that’s how timing works. As soon being a main event takes place, other journalists rush to piggyback the event with “their” story. The Russian reporter scored points with his editor and got his story filed (slang for published)
Two cunning gentlemen, the Russian stringer (slang for freelance reporter), and Craig Lindsay (whose name was spelled Kreig Lindsay inside the article), both accomplished their purposes. Mr. Lindsay got his business to the world’s spotlight. The Russian stringer got an excellent story. The reporter threw up a softball question, for which Mr. Lindsay supplied the desired answer.
What was the question the reporter asked Lindsay? That’s pretty obvious from what the reporter published in his write-up. Here is a clip from the Moscow News write-up:
Foreign traders are ready to invest in Russia’s uranium business, if Moscow wants this to happen and establishes a necessary legal base,” Lindsay said. “I believe that Russia is one of several most promising directions for this kind of investments, it’s an undeveloped industry, full of chances. My organization will be the very first to come to Russia, if the necessary conditions are created,” he added.
Nowhere in Lindsay’s speech did Magnum Uranium’s Chief Executive discuss investing in Russia. However, the reporter NEEDED a excellent quote. It had to tie-in with “investing in Russia for uranium development.” Lindsay accommodated. He didn’t commit to investing in Russia, but he kept the door open. Magnum Uranium recently announced the acquisition of a 1,080-acre land package in Converse County, Wyoming. The organization is also exploring for uranium in both Wyoming and also the Athabasca Basin. Its finances are most likely currently stretched from both exploration and acquisition activities. Magnum’s market capitalization would most likely be insufficient to launch investments into Russia, at this time.
However, Lindsay did a great job acquiring his organization this caliber of publicity. And he got the uranium sector excellent publicity. He capitalized upon an impinging story - a story that did show up about the world’s radar - by correctly supplying an answer the Russian journalist was trying to prod out of him.
That is the essence of how journalists and publicity-seekers work collectively. If the PR person gives the journalist the story angle he is looking for within the greater story, chances are it will appear in print. Piggybacking a “main event” is the most common way to increase one’s impingement value to a reporter. And by being a cunning interviewee for his Russian reporter, Craig Lindsay just got Magnum Uranium into this column as nicely!
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