A picture is worth a thousand words — or at least a product brief

At the risk of seeming insensitive: Enough already with “changing media landscape.” Let’s not lose sight of the fact that there are some truths about journalism that will likely never change. The moving or still image, for example, continues to reign supreme when it comes to storytelling.

When I first entered the PR profession, I quickly learned how important it is to provide journalists with a series of photos or photo opportunities with an announcement. At the time, I represented The University of Maryland Medical Center and we were promoting “discovery” tours for aspiring medical students, which happened over the course of two weeks. The first week, we had zero media coverage. The next week, my boss suggested I add detailed descriptions of what the kids would see on campus. A heart that had a heart attack. A hyperbaric chamber where people were treated for flesh-eating bacteria. A lab filled with mosquitoes used to test anti-malaria drugs. Bingo. That week, the local ABC affiliate dedicated a two-minute health segment to the tour and the Associated Press sent a photographer whose pictures appeared in newspapers across the region.

Fast forward nearly 15 years and the only real differences today are the proliferation of media channels for the images and the growing acceptance of citizen photojournalists. Whether you’re pitching an idea to a traditional publication or to a blogger, well-shot photography and video are key elements to placing your story. And those same assets can also fuel the social media fire if they are interesting, relevant and easily accessible.

While this may seem intuitive, we continue to see instances where organizations don’t make the extra effort to provide quality photography or video for the media. In our experience, if your imagery doesn’t effectively tell your story, you are doing your PR effort a major disservice.