Newsworthy - by definition it means interesting enough to the general public to warrant reporting. In other words, it’s something people want to read about and something that will help sell newspapers.
Yet, every day, reporters are inundated with pleas to provide media coverage based on pitches that simply aren’t considered newsworthy.
Take a small cap company’s quarterly earnings report for example.
More often than not, pitches based on earnings alone fail to generate interest on behalf of the reporter. Why? While the earnings may be important for the company itself, they are simply not considered newsworthy by the reporter in the context of the broader market.
Of course, well-known large-cap companies almost automatically receive earnings coverage. But for a relatively unknown small-cap, unless financial results show a marked departure from previous reports that reveal a potential new trend or can help contextualize future performance, they are likely to go unreported on.
And since reporters want to write stories they believe will attract the most attention, earnings that fail to sway stock price or boost average volume are also less likely to tweak their interest.
One reason, according to a seasoned reporter I speak with regularly, is the need to provide forward-looking insight. By virtue, earnings reports are backward looking; an in-depth snapshot of the company’s past financial performance that simply doesn’t fulfill this mandate.
Another is that once an earnings report is broadly disseminated, there is very little opportunity for a reporter to provide unique or proprietary perspective. Given the growing pressure on reporters to write exclusive stories, or scoops, most bypass earnings reports and focus instead of finding singular stories that help set their publication apart.
That means a standard earnings report pitch highlighting year-over-year performance is unlikely to generate media interest.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth reaching out to reporters around earnings time. For one thing, it keeps the company on their radar and helps set expectations around future milestones that may be worthy of coverage.
And, some small caps do receive earnings coverage. So what’s the key to increasing the likelihood of pick-up? A customized story pitch that is unlikely to be covered by competing outlets.
Does this latest earnings report put the company on the verge of a comeback when others in the industry are falling by the wayside? Highlight what they’re doing differently, and how this ties into their superior performance. Or does a change in its business signal a pending impact on a related industry, such as the company’s suppliers? Bring it to the reporters’ attention and support your claim with facts and figures.
It is angles like these that are more likely to be considered newsworthy with respect to an earnings report and generate attention; the angles that set a company apart from its competitors, tie into current trends and portend new ones.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by irbloggers, Manon Desrosiers. Manon Desrosiers said: RT @irbloggers: Great earnings: Why they don’t always guarantee great financial media coverage http://dlvr.it/1CQ5g (via @irwebreport) [...]
I completely agree that IROs need to use media relations more (in fact, I blogged about that very topic recently). I would also add that IROs reach out to reporters outside of earnings time and help the reporter get to know the company before the deadline crunch hits.