The Newsletter for Clients of
WESTCOUNTRY PR SERVICES January 2008

THE RE-INVENTION of the media scene continues at a blistering pace, opening up yet more outlets for your press releases!

Increasingly, publishers’ policy is becoming “web first” – with stories and pics going straight on to their web sites instead of waiting until they have been printed. This in turn is boosting the shift to “24/7” coverage.

As this dynamic approach becomes more apparent, so more and more of your potential customers will see your press releases on the web sites as well as in the newspapers and magazines – which is why I am increasingly sending you web alerts as well as press cuttings.

Packet Newspapers group deputy editor Steve Ivall tells me: “We are now fully up to speed with a 24/7 system. Although we still hold back certain exclusive stories for the papers first, most items now go on the web first, particularly fast moving stories which we are constantly updating.

“The plan is to use the two – paper and web – alongside each other. Stories are developed in paper or on web, depending on which breaks them first. At the same time as all this, the printed version is constantly promoted online in the hope that people will subscribe or still buy in some form.”
The Packet “revolution” reflects the shift of emphasis in all sectors of the media world. One of those leading the way at national level is the Telegraph Media Group, who published a special supplement last year to
outline the “hugely significant” new philosophy now driving the development of its newspapers and multimedia services. “Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the world of news gathering and its dissemination,” it explained. “Over the past decade, the proliferation of high speed PCs, broadband internet connectivity, mobile phones and so on has radically changed the media landscape and with it our expectations as consumers.

“Where once we received information in highly regulated, separate packages – the evening news on TV, the morning newspaper – now we have multiple ways of getting the news we want.

“So our mission has evolved from simply producing the UK’s best quality newspaper to encompass providing Telegraph readers with news and information they can trust and use, 24 hours a day, wherever they are, and in whatever format they require it.”

The same thinking lies behind the Packet changes. As a PR pro, I’m not a typical reader, of course, but I find myself now routinely checking the Packet website three or four times a day to keep up to date with my local news – plus the many other useful and entertaining services they have on their site. And I predict a great many more people, even as I write, are now following suit. If you’re not already familiar with it, it’s well worth a visit – www.thepacket.co.uk.

Meanwhile, I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Happy New Year – and many thanks again for your continued support and PR success. Here’s to much more of the same – 24/7 et al (well, almost) - in 2008.

Mike Truscott

CHAMPION PR!

TWO departures from the norm in 2008 will be regular PR activity for two world-class young sports stars from Cornwall – surfer Ben Skinner, European champion and world No. 2 longboarder, and Olympic hopeful Jemma Simpson, current UK women’s senior 800 metres champion.

Ben is being sponsored by Dad’s Skinner’s Brewery and Jemma is the main winner in a batch of sports sponsorships awarded by Lowena Homes following a public invitation for applications.

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