How to Survive a Press Site Visit!

If the words ‘facility visit’ conjures up nightmares of trying to keep a lively and inquisitive bunch of journalists entertained, informed and under control, then this article is for you!

Organising a journalistic facility visit will probably take the same amount of skill, patience and forward planning as the D Day landing! 

Journalists have one thing in common, no matter how widely read their magazine, they must be able to justify their visit. So before sending out invitations, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the following questions.

1. Is the news of industry importance?

2. Will our readers find it of interest?

3. Can I justify the time and expense of attending the site?

If you can honestly answer yes to these questions, then go ahead. If not, either send a press release or organise one-to-one press briefings with selected journals.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

The hardest part of planning is finding a date that suits everybody. Remember you will want to gather together a team of senior managers to meet and brief your visitors so their various diaries will need to be co-ordinated.

However, you will soon realise that although the third Wednesday in the month is perfect for your team, only a handful of your intended guests will be able to attend due to different deadlines on their journals. For example, if they represent a weekly magazine then Wednesday is probably the day they put the magazine ‘to bed’, so they won’t even consider an outside invitation. The simple fact is you will never be able to get everybody together at the same time so decide which journals you want represented and work to their time schedules.

Make sure you plan the itinerary early because once you have sent out the invitations you will get calls asking exactly what they can expect to see, hear etc. Remember, the promise of a ‘free lunch’ will cut no ice; there must be a genuine newsworthy story to back up the visit.

It is vitally important that you stay in complete control throughout the visit and by that I don’t mean just making sure that they are all accounted for on the walkabout! Make sure that your own team members are fully briefed on the different journals represented and that the information provided suits their readership. If you are providing facts and figures, make sure they will stand up to the most stringent scrutiny, because they will check them out!

Remember journalists are highly skilled in asking probing and sometimes awkward questions about events unrelated to the day’s briefing. If you have a main spokesperson ensure they receive thorough media interviewing training in handling journalistic questions.

If your invitation offers a full facility visit then your visitors will expect unrestricted access to the whole site. If however there are areas that you do not wish them to go to then make it clear exactly what they will be visiting – otherwise the highly developed journalistic ‘nose’ will believe that an even better story is hidden in that intriguing looking building you are hurrying them past and they will start digging!

A few do’s and don’ts when organising the visit

• DO invite your key journals early – they are usually booked up well in advance

• DO be prepared to answer questions on the phone regarding the visit – be honest and don’t hint at ‘earth shattering’ news if there isn’t any

• DO contact each journalist before the visit to make sure they are still coming

• DO make sure your own team members are conversant with all the facts and can answer a range of questions on the day

• DO make sure that all members of staff know that the press will be visiting

• DO make sure you provide full back up information in the form of a press pack to include a press release, company biography, photographs etc. This should be distributed to your visitors and also sent to those unable to attend.

• DON’T allow any of the press to ‘wander off’ alone, even if you are offering a full facility visit.

• DON’T expect the resultant story to be the equivalent of a free double page promotional advert on your venue – you may only merit a few paragraphs under the ‘news’ section.

After the visit contact each journalist who attended, and make sure that they have all the information they need. Find out in which edition their piece will be published and the deadline, so if there are further news developments you will be able to provide the information to them.

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