With AI making newsjacking easy, I see more people trying to get attention from any random breaking news story, even when they don’t have a legitimate tie. For example, many brands reacted to the recent tragic death of Dolly Parton.
It got so bad that Dolly Parton’s sister pleaded for it to end.
Yes, I realize that my pointing to this example could be considered newsjacking and it could be argued that I am exploiting the story too. I want to acknowledge that. However, as the founder of the newsjacking movement, perhaps I bear some responsibility for popularizing the concept of newsjacking, so I wanted to jump in here.
I suggest it’s always best to avoid a negative story unless your company has a legitimate tie to the news.
Newsjacking - the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story to generate tons of media coverage, get sales leads, and grow business – is indeed powerful. But you need to balance the need to be quick and bold with the imperative to be in tune, you must be prepared to act within the hour, day, night, or weekend. And yes, that entails risk.
Yesterday, I participated in a virtual discussion about newsjacking with my friends at Muck Rack. Some 1,200 registered to attend the Above the Fold event where Muck Rack introduced a new agentic AI newsjacking feature.
Each Muck Rack newsjacking recommendation explains why a story is relevant and suggests an angle. You might pitch a journalist, offer an expert perspective, prepare stakeholders, or continue monitoring the conversation.
David Meerman Scott
David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire.
