Helping Reporters Out…In a Different Way

If you look in the archives of this blog, you'll see that most of the posts are meaningless missives about new recipes, overseas trips or random thoughts of the day. This post is different and, I hope, the first of many more pieces that will be both useful and interesting to those who want to know about more than how to roast a tasty chicken. (But seriously - you've got to try that chicken recipe.)

This post is for journalists, a group of folks very near and dear to my heart. Over the past year or so, several reporter friends have reached out to me for career advice. Talented journalists who only ever wanted to be journalists are examining their options outside the field because the opportunities available to them in the industry they love so much are disappearing. Those who are fortunate enough to still have jobs are having to do more with less while living with the ever-present fear of the next round of layoffs, buyouts or bureau closures. Those who have fallen victim to staff reductions are leaving journalism altogether and facing tough competition for jobs outside the industry.

For journalists (or soon-to-be former journalists) looking to launch new careers, the field of public relations is a logical place to begin. Having made the transition from television to PR 10 years ago, I can confirm that there is a great deal of cross-over between the two industries and that a journalist’s skills translate very nicely into PR. We’re all storytellers – we just happen to be on different sides of the curtain.

Through my work in public relations and my membership in the National Press Club, I’m fortunate to know many wonderful reporters. Sadly, some have been or are about to be relieved of their journalism duties and are asking for advice on how to enter the public relations arena. The same questions are on everyone’s minds – what exactly do PR people do and how does media experience apply to the work? In the hopes of providing some clarity, I offer the following suggestions (and a few cautionary notes) for reporters positioning themselves for a job in public relations.

Blinding Flash of the Obvious – You Know the Media
A big part of public relations is media relations. One reason we (PR firms) want you (journalists) working for us is that you have the inside scoop on the media we spend years trying to understand. You know how reporters prefer to be approached. You know how their days are structured, when to call them and what to say. You know what they look for in a source and you know better than anyone what makes a story newsworthy. You have instant credibility. You probably also have a fairly robust Rolodex full of fellow reporters and other useful contacts. As you can imagine, all this is extremely attractive to PR firms.

Cautionary note: Because you know the media so well, and because you have undoubtedly been on the receiving end of bad PR pitches, if you get a job in the field, you may have a difficult time talking to reporters about stories that you don’t feel are newsworthy. It is important to remember that, while your perspective is incredibly valuable, if the client says pitch, you have to pitch. You can fix this, though, by helping to craft a better story to pitch to the right people.

You Know the Anatomy of an Interview
You probably already are aware of this, but it’s worth mentioning: Good PR firms put their clients through some form of preparation before every media encounter. We examine the reporter’s background and previous coverage, review key messages, discuss questions the reporter might ask and talk about how to work around potentially sensitive issues. You are in the extraordinary position of having been on the other side of the interviewer/interviewee equation. You know how reporters prepare for interviews, what they want from their sources and how they might try to trip up a spokesperson. Here again, your insider’s perspective is both valuable and credible. We want you in those interview prep sessions and our clients do too.

Cautionary note: You may feel as if you are somehow betraying your former brothers and sisters in journalism by teaching sources how to maneuver through interviews. You’re not. Helping your client understand how best to operate during a media encounter is helping your client do his or her job. You did your job as a journalist, and the reporter will do the same during the interview.

You Know How to Sell an Idea
If you do make the move to PR you most likely will, at some point, be required to contribute to your firm’s new business development efforts. When an agency pursues a new client, it puts a great deal of effort into understanding that company’s position in the marketplace, identifying its communications challenges and articulating recommendations in a written proposal. Not unlike researching and writing a news story. As a former journalist, you have the ability to examine an issue or situation, gather all the relevant information, identify the key pieces, lay them out in a meaningful structure and write everything down in a way that makes sense. Perhaps even more important, you have likely had to pitch your story ideas to an editor just as a firm has to pitch itself to a new prospect. All of these skills are critically important for the business development process and, believe it or not, many PR folks don’t have them.

Cautionary note: Journalists are trained to be objective, and the sales process is anything but that. You will have to develop your persuasion skills.

Many of the journalists who have asked about making the switch to public relations either haven’t thought of these things, but more than likely, are uncomfortable saying them out loud.

Reporters should not be shy about promoting themselves as valuable additions to a PR firm. The agencies you talk to already know that you bring something special to the table. It never hurts to remind them.

Does anyone have other thoughts/suggestions/warnings for journalists making the move to PR? Share them, please!

Great Go-To Roasted Chicken Recipe

One of the most comforting foods during cold weather like this is a great roasted chicken. Flexible and easy to prepare, a braised chicken will make your house smell fantastic and will likely yield enough meat and vegetables for 2 full meals. There is one cooking in my oven right now and I just had to share the recipe, which is based on the Poulet Provencal recipe from the March 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine. The combination of tomatoes and olives lends a lovely richness to the dish, but for even more body, you can take my suggestion and throw in a few potatoes. As you can see, and as you will note in future posts, most of the recipe lists ingredients without measurements. That's just how I roll!

Poulet Russo (based on Gourmet magazine's Poulet Provencal)

- Take one regular sized roaster chicken (I like Bell & Evans), rinse and pat dry
- Rub with a mixture of herbs de provence, crushed garlic and olive oil
- Place in a large dutch oven

Mix togehter:
- 5 tomatoes (this time of year I use tomatoes on the vine), quartered
- 1/2 large yellow onion, cut into wedges (you can add more if you like onions)
- several small potatoes (I like organic buttercream potatoes) cut into quarters
- a handful or two of pitted kalamata olives
- sliced garlic to taste
- more herbs de provence (I like LOTS)
- olive oil, salt and pepper

Arrange vegetable mixture around the chicken. Roast at 425 until the chicken is done (I keep the lid on the dutch oven). The chicken I used took exactly one hour and 15 minutes to cook. It turned out really juicy and the vegetables were done perfectly.

Remove the chicken and the vegetables from the dutch oven, leaving the juice in the pan. Skim off the fat or use a fat separator, then simmer the juice for a few minutes until it reduces. Remove from heat and whisk in a tablespoon of butter. If you want to go really crazy and make me fall in love with you, use white truffle butter. Either way, you're done!

The nice thing about this recipe is that it can serve as the basis for any combination of herbs and vegetables. Carrots, parsnips, potatoes and fresh thyme and sage would probably be good. Maybe throw in some fresh green beans near the end.

Do you have a veg/herb combo to suggest? Speak up!

New Shrimp Recipe

While I love to cook, and adore seafood, I rarely prepare fish or shellfish at home. Last night, however, I experimented with some beautiful shrimp from Shoreline Seafood and came up with quite a nice little dish. It's not complicated or time consuming but it is absolutely delicious. Here's the method:

- Peel and devein 1 pound of shrimp (I like the very large ones).
- Sautee 1 finely diced shallot and 2 cloves of minced garlic in about 2 tablespoons butter
- Toss in red pepper flakes to taste
- When the shallots are nice and soft, pour about a cup of white wine in the pan and let that cook for a minute
- Throw in the shrimp and put a lid on the pan to let them steam
- When the shrimp are cooked, pull them out of the pan and cover to keep warm
- Turn the heat up and add half a cup of chicken broth to the pan if the wine has cooked down too much. You want to have enough sauce to pour on the shrimp.
- Cook that down a bit, turn off the heat, and whisk in about a tablespoon of unsalted butter to thicken the sauce
- When the butter is incorporated and the sauce is creamy, jack the heat back up and throw the shrimp in to warm them. Squeeze a bit of fresh lemon over the shrimp and sauce when you plate the dish.
- We served the shrimp with saffron risotto, and of course, some bread to sop up the sauce.

If you don't want to take the time to make risotto, these shrimp would be delicious with angel hair pasta tossed with the sauce and a bit of the pasta water to help everything stick together. Fresh herbs, such as rosemary, parsley or basil also would be good.

I'm looking forward to tinkering with this dish. Any suggestions?

Our Favorite Place on Earth

Hi, everyone! We've gone a couple of days without blogging because of difficulty connecting to the Three Chimneys' network. Figures that we're finally on and it's our last night here.



Our stay on the Isle of Skye has been remarkable. The weather actually is better than it was when we were here in July '06 -- it's a lot like home, actually. Frosty in the mornings, cool in the daytime and crisp in the evenings. We haven't been outside a whole heck of a lot, between sleeping in, reading, napping and eating, but we have managed to venture out at least once a day and it hasn't been bad at all.

The food here is...um...out of this world. The seafood is incredibly fresh (prawns, scallops, turbot, langostines (sp?) and John Dory) and the beef (which Mark has had every night) is unmatched. For breakfast each morning, we've had fresh biscuits, honey, home-made granola with local yogurt and peat-smoked local salmon. Because we are in Scotland and they are ever so proper here, we've had tea every day at 3:30, which includes more biscuits, homemade cookies and little tiny pies. It's amazing that we still fit into our clothes. We've managed to keep a log of our dinners each night, although after a few pre-dinner cocktails, some of the spelling is questionable (for those keeping score, Mark spells the word "oatcakes" with a "k" at the beginning of "cakes," sort of like TASTYKAKES. Quite hilarious.

Anyhoo, here are a few pictures from our time in Skye. We're headed back to Glasgow in the morning, and off to Edinburgh for dinner. Can't wait to see you all when we get back! Love you!

Off to Skye!

Hi everyone! We just woke up and turned on the computer to check the Caps score from last night (we won!) and thought we'd drop a quick note before getting in the car and heading to Skye. It should take us about 5 or 6 hours to get there, and hopefully along the way we will find a shop with a 3-pronged adapter for this computer, otherwise we won't be posting much! The battery has about 1/4 battery left so we're working on it.

Actually slept well last night and had a nice little breakfast delivered to the room this morning, so we'll hopefully have the energy we need to make the journey to northwestern Scotland. The weather is clear, but Henri tells us it should get dark around 3 p.m. so we're anxious to get going to make sure we get there while it's still light.

Should be posting pictures later! Love you all.

Greetings From Scotland!!!

Hi, everyone. Mark and I are safely ensconced in our hotel room in Glasgow. Just returned from a nice dinner with our friends Henri and Alastair and now plotting our route to the Isle of Skye. Hope the weather holds out (it's cold and gray, a lot like home, now) for the 5+ hour drive in the morning. We already are reminded of one of the main reasons we love Scotland so much - the people. They are so friendly and welcoming. We can't wait to get up to Skye to "disappear for a few days," as Mark says, and really relax the way we haven't been able to all year.

Miss everyone already, and hopefully will have grand tales to tell throughout the trip! We understand that the Three Chimneys has wireless Internet, so hopefully we can send pictures and stories over the next few days.

Love you all!

Cool coffee idea

I was listening to one of my 100+ "Splendid Table" podcasts the other night while waiting in the long line of traffic to get out of the Verizon Center parking garage (after a Caps win!) and heard the most interesting recipe for iced coffee.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the show's host, suggested taking a pound of coffee beans, grinding them at a medium setting, mixing the grounds with 11 cups of cold water, and letting the mixture sit on the counter for about 12 hours. Strain out the grounds and you get a coffee concentrate that has no acidity, can be used in a number of interesting ways and can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

I'm thinking coffee concentrate and vodka. Or coffee concentrate and Bailey's. She said it's also wonderful over ice cream and can be frozen to make coffee granita.

Any other ideas?

Quite Possibly Becoming an Insomniac

So I haven't been sleeping well lately. Tonight (or should I say last night/this morning) is particularly bad for two reasons. First, my stomach is terribly upset, and second, my mind is buzzing with ideas for a business concept that developed out of nowhere earlier today...I mean yesterday.

So here I am, borderline ADD, flipping from Twitter to Blogger to Word, attempting to commit this business concept to paper while the ideas are still fresh in my head. The alarm will sound in less than 90 minutes. I actually feel OK right now, but will probably hit a brick wall at some point this afternoon. Not looking forward to that.

I am a bit worried about my recent sleeping problems. Normally I have difficulty waking up, not the other way around. Is this a symptom of age? If I'm not sleeping at 31, where the hell do I go from here? I foresee a Tylenol PM addiction in my future. :)

Dinner @ Charleston

Tucked away in the rapidly growing neighborhood of Harbor East in downtown Baltimore, among the new high-rise hotels and residential buildings, is a wonderful "improvisational dining" restaurant called Charleston. Co-owners Chef Cindy Wolf and her husband Tony Foreman have created a culinary treasure unlike any other in the city.

I first experienced Charleston in 2000, when Baltimore's NPR station invited me to attend a brunch in honor of the launch of radio host Diane Rehm's book, "Finding My Voice." Until that point, fine dining was a complete mystery to me. Having grown up in a military family, eating out at restaurants was not something I did often, and when I did, it was usually at Pizza Hut or the local Chinese restaurant.

At the time of the brunch, I had just begun working at a PR firm in Washington, D.C. and was starting to suspect that the restaurant world was slightly bigger and more interesting than I knew. Charleston taught me that, indeed, there was much to learn. The restaurant's menu during that period was more high-end low-country than it is now. I honestly can't remember what I ate, but I do remember that it was unlike anything I'd ever eaten before and couldn't wait to eat again.

Fast-forward to last night, Mark and my annual Anniversary Dinner. I couldn't have imagined during that brunch in 2000 that Charleston would eventually be the place where we would celebrate our anniversary each year. As usual, the menu was a creative combination of seafood, beef, game, fresh salads and soups that was nearly impossible to narrow down to three selections.

After a tasty amuse bouche of chilled beet soup with creme fraiche, I had an absolutely perfect southern lump crab cake with Napa cabbage slaw and arugula oil paired with a minerally white Burgundy (Saint-Romain, Alain Gras 2005). The crab cake was barely held together (read: no filling) and the cabbage slaw was crunchy and creamy without being too mayonnaise-y.

My second course was an incredibly fresh heirloom tomato gazpacho with lobster and curried creme fraiche paired with Sancerre "Cuvee Tradition" by H. Brochard from the Loire Valley. The crisp, melony wine was gorgeous with the gazpacho and also paired well with Mark's salad of baby arugula, reggiano and lemon vinaigrette.

My third dish was without a doubt one of the most beautifully prepared and absolutely delicious pieces of fish I have ever tasted - pan-roasted Turbot with lobster risotto and basil beurre blanc. The fish actually tasted like popcorn. The flesh was delicately seared on both sides, giving it a light crunch, and was buttery smooth on the inside. The lobster risotto and burre blanc, along with the glass of Hermitage, Tardieu-Laurent 2003 from the Northern Rhone Valley, could not have combined for a more blissful experience. The evening ended with a trio of creme brulee (honey-raspberry, butterscotch and white chocolate-cinnamon) and a glass of a dessert wine that, not surprisingly, I can't remember.

Writing this post was enjoyable -- almost like reliving last night's meal. I've had the pleasure of dining at truly incredible restaurants around the world since that day in 2000, but Charleston will always hold a special place in my heart as one of the greats.

New Salad Recipe

I threw together a salad last night that will most definitely be making future appearances at my table. For the recipe, I'm listing ingredients rather than measurements because it is inexact -- which is a huge part of the appeal. Pistachios or pecans can be subsituted for the walnuts, and other fruit such as apples or peaches can take place of the pears.

For the salad:
- Mixed greens
- Candied or roasted walnuts
- Goat cheese (crumbled)
- Asian pear (diced)
- Regular pear (diced)
- Red grapes (whole)
- Dried cranberries
- Dried blueberries
- Salt & pepper

For the dressing:
- Dijon mustard
- Champagne or sherry vinegar
- Splash of balsamic vinegar
- A few tablespoons of walnut oil
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper

Happy eating!

New Favorite Thing: The Splendid Table

Do you know about The Splendid Table? Have you heard the brilliant public radio musings of Ms. Lynne Rossetto Kasper? If you love to cook -- or love to eat -- please stop what you're doing, fire up iTunes, and download every single podcast. Then go to the website and read everything. Then get off your ass, go to Borders, and buy "How to Eat Supper."

I feel like I just discovered the New World.

Apparently the New World has been on the air since 1997 and nobody told me about it. I'd like to have the past 11 years back, please, so I can start over. Instead, I'm jamming my iPod full of past episodes and scouring the website for something I may have missed.

What makes The Splendid Table so great? Might as well ask why the sky is blue and why puppies are cute.

Just listen to some of the topics of recent broadcasts:

"Spices and the Medieval Imagination"
"The Cheese Nun"
"Bananas and Politics"
"Molecular Gastronomy"
and my all-time favorite...."The United States of Arugula"

Each episode is a 50-minute-long exploration of the lead topic, along with side excursions into what makes New York hot dogs so good or how to make pasta like the women from Emilia-Romagna. For anyone who truly loves food and cooking, The Splendid Table is an audio version of the greatest encylclopedia around.

Speaking of books, Lynne recently published a book called "How to Eat Supper." I bought it yesterday so can't really comment on it, but if her show provides any indication of the quality of the book, everyone I know will be getting a copy for Christmas.

Seriously -- check it out. It's really wonderful stuff.

Meet Annabelle!

(I think her name has an "e" on the end...)

Last night, at some point between Texas hold 'em, gin rummy, several trips to the cool vending machine with pizza and macaroni and cheese, and Michael Phelps winning another gold medal, Sarah and Brandon had a baby. Her name is Annabelle, and she is beautiful.

The night was full of great moments (which I hope Mark, Emily, Kelly and Brian will share) but the one that sticks out in my mind is the moment when The Big Cat (Brandon -- he's like 6'6") looked at all of us while he was holding teeny Annabelle in his huge arms and said "Hey! This is my daughter!" It is a new day, indeed.

"We" are having a baby today!!!

I am fortunate enough to have a core group of friends who live nearby, and over the past year or so we've spent a lot of time together and have grown very close. It is a rare week when someone isn't over for dinner, or when we're not somehow spepnding time together. Getting to know Brian & Emily, Brandon & Sarah and Kelly & Steve has been one of the most joyous experiences of my adulthood. I truly adore them all.

Today, Sarah is having a baby, the first baby for this group, and it feels like we're all having it with her! We have taken bets on her due date, have created the water-in-a-martini-glass "Sarahtini," attempted to guess the baby's name, and watched her belly grow over the past 9 months. And today is the day we've all been waiting for! If she had only waited another 10 or 12 hours before going into labor, we would have successfully carried out our Baby Tailgate in the hospital parking lot. Oh well...

A bit about Sarah. She is one of those people who was born to be a mom. She is the kindest, friendliest, gentlest person I know and she's going to be a spectacular parent. Her husband Brandon is going to be one of those dads who believes the world revolves around his girls - Sarah and their new baby.

While the new addition to our little family surely will change our regular routine of weeknight wine drinking and garage hockey, I can't help but think how amazing our new routine of caring for Sarah and Brandon's new little girl will be!

The Cost of Working

So.....I made a major mistake today by calculating the cost of my commute from Anne Arundel County to Washington, D.C. Each month, between gas, parking and car payment, I shell out $840 JUST TO GO TO WORK. I feel ill.

Granted, the decision to drive to work rather than take public transportation is one I made conciously. I absolutely despise the two modes of transportation I would have to take into the city - the MARC train and the Metro. Both are depressing, unreliable and sweltering in the summer and damp and stinky the rest of the time. And undoubtedly crowded now that gas prices are so high. So yes - I would rather be in my own car, with the temperature at a comfortable level and the ambient noise selected by me, than jammed into a tin can during what ultimately is the same travel time.

But $840?!? That's almost $900! And THAT'S almost a grand! And that doesn't even take into account the cost of dressing for a professional work environment. Everyone laughs at me for shopping at Marshall's and Ann Taylor (sales only!) but is there an alternative?

I don't go out to eat as much, don't collect wine like I used to, and have cut back on traveling for pleasure. Sure, these are minimal sacrifices when you consider some people have to choose between filling up their gas tanks or putting food on the table. But they're my sacrifices and I am still allowed to bitch about them.

Back to the transportation -- the logical alternative would be to move closer to work. Right? The problem there is that I own a home, and now isn't exactly the best time to sell, especially if you've owned your home for less than 5 years, which I have. And anything worth considering in D.C. is upwards of $500,000. So....looks like I'm going to stick with the commute. But I am still going to bitch about it!

Seriously...I'm Blogging Again

OK, I said I was going to be better about updating this blog and clearly that was a lie. I'm saying it again now and this time I really mean it. Really. I'm blogging again.

Also in the process of writing a book...or to be more specific, in the process of learning about the process of writing a book. Thanks to feedback from some very nice people on LinkedIn who responded to my question about writing book treatments, I am preparing a proposal that will hopefully convince a publisher to pay me to write this inspired piece of work.

One of the decisions I need to make is whether or not to engage an "expert" on the subject of said inspired piece of work. I'm not exactly qualified to serve as an authority on this topic (wine), although I have had plenty of practice in the field (drinking wine), so a recognized expert could lend more credibility to the book. But that means sharing profits and I don't wanna. So we'll see if this proposal-writing exercise leads me to seek the counsel of a professional.

Other than blogging and book proposal writing, not much going on. Work is going well and clients are very cool, so I can't complain. Sorry if this post is boring...getting back into the swing of things.

Home Safe!

Received an email today from Katayoon, the coach of the Iranian paddling team from previous posts. Sounds like they made it back to Iran safe and sound.

Yay!

Skye

Around this time last year I was in Scotland, on the Isle of Skye.

If I was in more of a poetic mood, I could probably come up with the right words to describe how much I love Skye and its people. I have said in the past that if I make it to heaven, it will be just like Skye. I think about it every day, and can't wait to return. Tomorrow, next week...whenever. If I turn up missing one day, and if you want to find me, you should check there first.

When work and life become difficult, and the city and the heat and the commute and the pressure start to grate on my nerves, just knowing that the sheep are meandering down the one-lane road to Dunvegan and that the hot marmalade pudding is on the stove at the Three Chimneys is enough to pull me through another day.

Another place that brings me a great deal of joy, where I am headed this weekend, is Western New York where my father's family lives. This will be my first visit since the passing of my Uncle Chuck last October 1. The family is gathering for a memorial golf tournament, and I know it will be a bitersweet reunion. I am very excited to see my family, but know that Uncle Chuck's absence will be a difficult adjustment. I miss him so much.

Of one Essence is the human race,
Thusly has Creation put the Base;
One Limb impacted is sufficient,
For all Others to feel the Mace.
—Saadi

Humbled

So, I'm up for an award. Well, maybe not up for it yet, but under the kind of consideration a check for $199 and a well prepared submission will get you.

Next time you try to sit down and summarize the last 10 years of your career, let me know how it goes. I found it extremely difficult because it required the kind of self-promotional thinking and writing that normally makes me squirm. I discovered that I really don't like trying to convince anyone that I deserve to be recognized for my work.

Something positive did come out of this process, though. I am reminded of how truly extraordinary my company and my clients are. I am reminded of how much I adore the National Press Club and everything I do there. And I am humbled by those who offered to write letters of recommendation encouraging the review committee to consider me for the award. Regardless of what happens, I have already won.

Team SCI

In my rush to tell you about my new friends from Iran, I failed to mention that some my friends here at SCI were courageous enough to hop in a raft with me and paddle down the new whitewater course at the Adventure Sports Center International in McHenry, MD. We represented our company well in the first-ever ASCI Corporate Raft Race, placing 6th out of 12 rafts (a level of mediocrity to which we are not accustomed). It is worth mentioning, however, the top 3 boats in the race were manned by Olympic-caliber paddlers. So they don't count, really.

Congratulations Team SCI for a heroic performance.