My paper’s editorial calendar is the bane of my existence, but it can also be a way for your utility to score some positive publicity.
Years ago, there was a strong barrier between the news and advertising departments at media properties that was nicknamed the Chinese Wall. That wall was designed to ensure the integrity of the news product – advertisers weren’t supposed to have any influence.
That was then.
Today, many media outlets, especially old-school ones like newspapers, have weakened that wall (or even completely removed it). That’s because, with the advent of the internet, most of those outlets are desperate for revenue and can’t be quite so noble about integrity if they want to survive.
And that means opportunities for your utility.
There are things like advertorials, which are advertisements designed to look like news copy, with the content coming straight from the advertiser. These are accompanied by a small, often-overlooked disclaimer noting that they are advertisements.
Advertorials can be effective, especially if your utility needs to explain an issue in-depth – topics such as why rate increases are needed or why burying power lines to prevent wildfires can be cost-prohibitive.
And newspapers often are desperate for quality op-eds, giving your utility the chance to state its case on topics such as those mentioned in the previous paragraph.
But today, let’s talk about the editorial calendars many media outlets use.
Well before the end of a calendar year, media outlets will generally publish (and send to advertisers and other potential circles of influence) a listing of the planned “special sections” it will print/air/feature in the coming year. In a newspaper, for example, these sections appear in addition to the regular content.
Each week is based around a specific theme. The marketing idea is that businesses in a particular segment would be interested in having their advertising placed within pages that feature content in the same vein.
For example, a newspaper might have a special section one week devoted to travel, hoping to attract ads from hotels, tourist attractions, airlines, rental car companies and so on.
Or a special section might focus on food to draw ads from restaurants, supermarkets, specialty food stores, vineyards and the like.
Both trade publications and more mainstream general circulation media outlets publish editorial calendars, but your approach should be a bit different.
For trade publications, utilities may well see an obvious path to coverage in many of the planned special sections. If you have a good working relationship with the trade publications that cover you, you likely can suggest ideas for future sections that fit your utility.
But with mainstream outlets, things get a little hazier because there aren’t going to be too many direct fits.
This is where creative PR people earn their money: You must think of ways to make your utility relevant to subjects that aren’t directly tied to power generation.
Let’s consider a few examples:
Spring home improvement is a common special section topic. Maybe you could suggest a story about upgrading from a 100-amp to a 200-amp breaker box. Or how about a story related to the outside of a home noting that people need to be cautious in how they trim trees around power lines or need to check first before digging and hitting a buried power line?
Any consumer-centric special sections might work, as the media loves stories in that vein, especially when it comes to saving money on power bills.
Then there are the holiday-themed special sections found in most outlets. It may be an evergreen topic, but every year some media outlet publishes a story about how power usage increases during the holidays – noting that a few strands of Christmas lights aren’t the main driver behind that.
When it comes time to pitching, do so far in advance because special section deadlines typically are well ahead of when the content appears. The time to make a call can be as much as months in advance; don’t even bother inquiring a week or two before the publication/air date.
I mentioned in the beginning that special sections are the bane of my existence. And I’m not the only one.
Most editors (me included) have difficulty generating story ideas for special sections and consider them a nuisance. That’s usually because they are not meant to serve any real public interest (despite what is claimed), and they interfere with us looking into real topics of substance.
So, if you’ve got a legitimate idea that isn’t entirely self-serving, send it an editor’s way. You never know what might happen.