Report by Sue Masaracchia-Roberts

The Publicity Club of Chicago held its January luncheon at Maggiano’s in Chicago, taking a look at the past, present and future of print media. Considering the significant management changes made in 2005 at Crain’s Chicago Business, the panel was invited to discuss the impact of these changes on the PR community. However, before looking forward, and in light of the announcement that the City News Bureau was disbanded, there was a nostalgic look backward at this journalism institution in Chicago.

Four-time PCC president, David Brimm, president of BrimmComm, is a 25-year PR veteran and remembers when Crain’s Chicago Business debuted. He moderated the discussion.

The Legacy of City News

A Chicago Tribune senior correspondent, Ellen Warren, recounted the historical significance of City News. It was home to the likes of Mike Royko, novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Arnie Dornfeld, along with many other illustrious, no nonsense reporters who got their start at city news and became some of the giants of journalism.

Warren served as a local, national, political reporter, as well as a White House, foreign and war correspondent. She served as a feature writer, columnist and the first woman ‘legman’ for Royko. Among the highlights of her career, she’s covered fires, murders, Chicago City Hall, arms control, the civil war in Lebanon, the Middle East crisis, opening day at Wrigley Field and the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer.

Most who worked there looked at the Bureau as "the worst and yet the most wonderful place to work," said Warren, who met her husband while in its employ. "During its 115 year history, City News was a place where some of the strongest friendships were forged and some of the greatest stories were born. Its staff forged contacts at fire stations, police stations and other places, freeing reporters to devote themselves to the news -- to real journalism."

According to her, one of those reporters, Ed Eulenberg, was credited with coining the phrase, ‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out.’

"The fact is the news business is changing – but not always for the good," said Warren. "For those of us who fell in love with the news business, this is heart-wrenching. Like mom didn’t love you after all. It's sad."

The present and future of Crain’s Chicago Business

Crain’s Chicago Business was represented by managing editor Brandon Copple and online editor Michael McHugh. Referring to the changing corporate climate in Chicago as evidenced by the fact that the city has gained Boeing but lost historic Chicago brands such as Marshall Field’s and 1^st National Bank, Brimm began the discussion by inviting the speakers to address whether Chicago has lost any esteem as a leading business center.

Michael McHugh

Former longtime bureau chief for Dow Jones Newswires, McHugh, now Crain’s on-line editor, indicated that he did not know if the transition from Field’s to Macy’s shopping bags would make a big difference, saying, "This may help keep Chicago in the corporate world, keep the business climate to attract companies here."

He told the audience that Crain’s has a way of covering business news that reflects its core philosophy of constantly evaluating the situations. He assured the PR pros that, as a news leader in the business community, there is no change of direction in Crain’s philosophy or goals.

McHugh became online editor at Crain’s in 2004, supervising daily news alerts and www.ChicagoBusiness.com.

"The web is a comprehensive place that covers more stories than any other place with fewer resources," said McHugh. "We will write about a small company that isn’t public, doing something interesting like expanding its space in the Chicago suburbs. We cover business news with a broad brush stroke, not every small deal, but about smaller issues than our competitors."

Online, he explained, ChicagoBusiness.com has two personalities. Rather than being an electronic version of the print magazine, one is a daily alert and the other is breaking news. The decision about the appropriate news site is often a subjective one. Although McHugh repeated the mantra of business reporters everywhere: "We want it first. We appreciate exclusivity."

McHugh advises reading the publication before calling him with story pitches. Know what kind of story is appropriate to pitch and where it would best fit.

He cautions people not to call between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., but will accept calls. Online, Crain's "AM People" on Tuesdays and Thursdays is meant to introduce the business community to people new to their jobs – like an online networking opportunity, allowing people to learn about their peers and colleagues. He indicated that he especially welcomes calls from high ranking executives from the not-for-profit sector and those who can talk about new capitol projects. "Stories have to have a corporate and business focus, not just be a good [charity]."

He urges people to "be realistic as to the kinds of coverage you can expect. If you don't have a well-developed pitch, it's equivalent to telling us your story is not a big deal. Online, we have unlimited space but the news hole coverage is determined by the subject. When in doubt about whether or not your story fits, call me."

The website does have a couple of reporters, but he suggests calling him and discussing what he covers. Establish a relationship. That will bode well, especially if the PR person wants to explain what issues are coming down in a company. However, if "at the last minute, there are too many moving parts that won’t allow us to get our head around it, we’ll take a pass," said McHugh. "We have limited resources. It is easier to cover your issue if we know what’s coming."

The afternoon blast comes around 3 p.m.; "it is impossible to talk between 2 and 3:30 p.m.," said McHugh.

Crain’s does not like embargoes, especially from PR people who are unknown to the staff. Both McHugh and Copple suggest avoiding embargoing stories, along with knowing the publication and its demographics. They prefer exclusives, however, stories can appear in the Tribune or other papers the next day if they can spotlight it the day before. "We want hot stories first!"

Brandon Copple

After joining Crain’s as "Focus" editor in the fall of 2005, Copple was promoted to managing editor. Prior to joining Crain’s, he served as an editor with the Greater Illinois Newsgroup downstate, as well as serving as a staff writer at Forbes and an intern at the Wall Street Journal. Although his wife is in public relations, and he recognizes the challenges of PR people, he urged those attending not to call unless they really have a solid story.

"We won't do your job for you if you just give us a piece of news. You need to give us more than a client to interview," said Copple. "Tell me something we don't already know to peak our interest. Call and hook us in! It's irritating when I get calls asking, 'Can you help me get a client into your paper?' And that does happen!"

He explained that Crain’s is different from other publications as it is a community publication dealing with companies, issues and personalities in greater depth than other papers. It takes a broader view of the business landscape.

The main sections are "Focus" and "Life."

If stories are hot, they immediately go onto the website, which serves 50,000 regular users. According to Copple, "For the Chicago business community, we are the best vehicle to get information to that audience. Our penetration is high in the business community and we are closely read."

Copple was vague when asked what kinds of stories they cover. "We make it up as we go along," he said. "The important thing is getting on our radar. Little is generated by PR pitches."

When PR people devise a very elaborate pitch, it is a waste of time. If the editorial calendar lists that Crain’s is covering "Technology" in February, "tell us that you have three clients who might be good for us to interview."

Corporate giving, nonprofits and charities are among the features in the Focus section. It also covers news, personalities and trends. "Read the paper," said Copple, "and talk to reporters."

"Although we have less money going to not-for-profits, we do have freelancers who will write their stories," said Copple. "Corporate giving has been going down over the past few years; this trend will most likely continue." He wonders if the city will continue to have a robust philanthropic bent as "the old guard is not there any more and there is a change in corporate culture. Shareholders are now more aware of how money is being spent and carefully scrutinize their return on investment. A lot are looking for more marketing pop from their contributors and are rethinking who they are targeting in fundraising to broaden the pool."

The best time to talk to Copple is on Mondays and Wednesdays – but never on production days, Thursdays and Fridays. "Voice mail and e-mails were invented for that reason. The end of the day on Friday is drop dead time. However, if you have a BIG story that is hot and exclusive, we will blow up the paper to put it in."

The Crain's staff is always trying to evaluate how parts of the paper resonate with their readers. "We always evaluate every element of the paper to provide the most information to our readers but also need to be entertaining. Our readers drive the content," said Copple.