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They Fuel the Fires, we put them out

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lebronI’m in Las Vegas this week attending a conference. Last night I went to dinner with a bunch of guys from Medina, Ohio who are huge Cleveland Cavalier fans. We positioned ourselves near a mega screen monitor so we could see the Cavs ultimately pounded by the Celtics 120-88.

Early on, when the game was relatively close and spirits were higher, the LeBron James rumor mill was the talk of the moment. Facing July 1 free agency everyone at the table had an opinion on whether LeBron will stay or go. With each opinion came a rumor about what someone told someone about LeBron’s status. Also with each rumor and opinion came blame. Who to scapegoat and take to task if LeBron seeks mega millions elsewhere?

As a PR guy this got me thinking. It’s not about just LeBron, it’s about sports in general. Each day is filled with stories in the paper and online, as well as sports radio and television, that are based on heated rumors and bashings about one team, coach, manager or athlete.

If these were stories about our fire departments, chiefs or firefighters we as PIO’s would be apoplectic! We would be in total crisis communications mode!! This would constitute one of the worst days of our careers.

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Stock Photos can increase your PR value

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firetruckTowards the top of my “to do” list is a push to increase the number of generic photos in my files. Generic shots would include all of our apparatus, photos of Chiefs, training and fireground shots etc.

As any editor will tell you, a release with a photo has a much higher chance of being used and could elevate your story from a few column centimeters on an inside page to a more prominent position and possibly the front page. This just happened to a story about a member in my department.

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