Would you participate in a contest in which you do not know the rules? What if the success of your organization or your personal reputation were at stake? Don't answer so quickly. Every day millions of people interact with the news media and yet most of them are completely unaware of the rules of the game. The results are predictable: a few benefit from the most powerful marketing force on the planet, some suffer serious damage, others maximize their opportunities, and the majority of folks are left wondering how they can grab a piece of the publicity prize. Their success (or lack thereof) would be so much different if only they understood the rules of the game they are playing - or haven't played because they don't know where to begin. In Feeding the Media Beast: An Easy Recipe for Great Publicity, former news anchor and reporter Mark Mathis gives publicity seekers a simple and highly practical formula to follow using just twelve rules. This groundbreaking book simplifies everything for the PR professional and those non-professionals thrown into the mix. For starters, it explains that there are four problems that exist in all newsrooms. The first is that the Beast is Handicapped. Journalists are overworked, underpaid, under-resourced, and generally live a high-stress lifestyle. The Beast is also Hungry, Harried, and Human. Only when people understand the commotion of the newsroom can they successfully use the media rules to obtain effective publicity. This book addresses a fundamental need of all CEOs, marketing directors, politicians, and other leaders: "How can I safely harness the power of the news media to send my message to the public?" Feeding the Media Beast provides the answer to this question through a powerful new methodology that demystifies the publicity process; it identifies the handicaps that are common to all media outlets; and then in a judo-type move, it turns those dangerous attributes into a goldmine of opportunity.
