"Not the end of the Story", Sunday Times Magazine, 15th April 2012

I read this article in the Sunday Times Magazine recently (15th April 2012) and it really got me thinking about a world without newspapers and what that might be like - not too nice I would say - personally I like to pick up a newspaper, flick through it etc and generally take my time over it. With the Sunday's , I read them throughout the week and magazines sit around even longer, (Ive only just got around to reading this piece now! ). It's not the same in front of a computer screen and you certainly don't linger over a lengthy feature as you might with a newspaper and a coffee, you grab the headlines and get on with the day.

'Not the end of the Story' explores what newspapers are doing to survive in the Internet Age and is by the journalist Tim Rayment, who began his career in Grimsby Telegraph. When I read it I thought I would share it with you but in tune with the article itself, it is behind a paywall so you have to subscribe to read it in full! So it seems that things are moving in this direction, Mr Rayment's concluding remark was that "the immediate future is multiplatform - on smartphones, tablets, traditional computer screens and printed paper with paywalls proliferating to try to fund the journalism."

So newspapers are not dead yet then?

Much is discussed in this article about the decline in newspaper circulation in the UK and around the world, particularly regional newspapers, and many points are made about the risk facing the industry. There is no doubt but the industry is at risk and giving news away for free online as papers have been doing has, in my view, potentially damaged many brands.

However, according to Rayment's article, papers like the Sunday Times and The Times are making more money now from subscriptions and online advertising than they were from advertising when their sites were free! What news papers seem to be doing is reinventing themselves and I believe that ultimately, this will benefit the reader in the form of better, more creative, interactive and exciting content both online and in printed papers.

Closer to home, our regional titles are being challenged as elsewhere but what I think we are seeing is a reinvention of the model with the introduction of apps, epapers and a mix of paid for digital formats and premium products helping to fund the newspapers so hopefully they will survive.

I for one hope that the newspaper is here to stay, in the same way that I hope books wont disappear, I am all for advances in technology but did I read somewhere that Long Playing records and turntables are making a comeback ......say no more...........!

A picture really does tell a story..............and can sell a story.

Members of the National Harp Orchestra, Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, 

 directed by world renowned Irish harper Janet Harbison, selected to represent Ireland at the 10^th European Youth Music Festival in Linz Austria, where over 198 Music Schools from all over Europe  performed. 

I frequently find that the importance of a good photograph (see above), and by that I mean a shot which is well thought out,  taken by a professional photographer and sent into the papers the way they want it, is often underestimated by many businesses when doing PR. As a result, they may not get the results they are looking for and wonder why. Simply taking a shot with a digital camera and sending it in in the hope that it will be published is not sufficient. It's a very competitive space with local newspapers receiving literally hundreds of photos each week (more at a national level in the dailies ) so you have to stand out to be published.

With that in mind I wanted to put down a few points on the topic which hopefully people will find useful if setting up photocalls to carry out publicity for their businesses.

- think about the shot which you want to set up, who is involved, what is the story , generally I would advise against having too many people in a photograph, try to limit to three or so

- hire your own professional PR photographer who supplies pictures to the newspapers on a regular basis and knows what they want and how to send it to them. I work with several photographers in Limerick including Kieran Clancy, Keith Wiseman & Press 22 - all brilliant and creative.There are others but the main thing is that they are press photographers.

- invite the local press also if the story is strong enough but have your own photographer there as a back up.

- where are you going to take it, inside or outside, do you need permission for a certain location etc.If outside, whats the weather and do you have a fallback if its raining. Discuss the location with your photographer as he may advise you.

- do you need a prop, if so, organise this in advance as it can take time to pull together.

- what time of day and what day of the week do you organise the photocall, this is very much dependent on when you are putting your story out, if its next day, hold early in the morning and if you are targeting weekly papers, generally Monday or Tuesday are good days. Check its not clashing with any other major event.

- write the caption for the photographer and supply him with it , names etc

The above is by no means definitive but it does provide some of the basic tips. 

I have included some more shots below which achieved good coverage at both a local and national level:

Enterprise Boards in Midwest support creation of 245 jobs through Dell European Globalisation Fund

John Twomey, Emutex and Pauric Logue, Wiseloads
Innovative online transport specialist Wiseloads teamed up with Limerick based software developer Emutex to launch a ‘one stop shop’ online delivery service for postage, parcels or pallets to any destination in Ireland, the UK and Europe. 

Marketlink hosts Open Forum on Sports Marketing at LIT

As part of the ongoing programme of activity for Limerick as European City of Sport 2011, Marketlink, the innovation and entrepreneurship programme for students at LIT, hosted its 2011 Open Forum on Sports Marketing at LIT  (5^th April 2011) attended by students and business people from the Midwest Region.