Keep Tabs on What’s Topical

PR practitioners should always keep abreast of the news. It’s a fundamental part of the job, and an interest in current affairs should be deep in the DNA of anyone who wants to work in public relations.

You never know when something will crop up in the national news that you can use as an opportunity for good PR for your business. Keeping a weather eye on the news is something we do for our clients, day in, day out, and it often achieves great results.

Last week, as part of the the Coalition’s mid-term review, David Cameron and Nick Clegg unveiled proposals under which families could be entitled to claim up to £2,000 per child every year from their tax bills to cover the cost of childminders and nurseries.

The Prime Minister also hinted that the Government could relax regulations to allow nursery staff to look after more children – a move which might lead to lower childcare bills for parents.

We contacted our client Abeer Bafaqih at Daisy Day Nursery and soon established her views on the proposals. We turned these into a sharply written press release and sent it to the media in South Wales, where the two nurseries are based, as well as to the national childcare press.

Before long journalists started biting. Best of all, ITV Wales telephoned to ask if they could send a TV crew to the nursery in Barry to interview Abeer about the issue and film some vox pops with parents for the evening current affairs programme Wales Tonight.

Abeer did a great interview, many parents were happy to give their opinions and the TV crews got some fabulous footage of children playing happily at the nursery.

The result? Primetime TV coverage for our client which didn’t cost them a penny.

The lesson? Always keep tabs on what’s in the news, as you never know when you might be able to turn a national news story to your advantage. JA