By Josie Goldberg
Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) 02/12/2024
The biggest story in media relations these days is the media.
Heartbroken Angelenos saw their esteemed L.A. Times lose over a hundred staffers recently as other media outlets also made cuts or closed altogether. In a little over a decade, Sports Illustrated went from the gold standard of sports coverage – paying columnists up to $1 million a year – to a monthly sports magazine written – at least in part and according to some media reports – not even by sportswriters but by AI.
How does a Hollywood publicist or any publicist get a journalist’s attention amid this chaos?
I found a solution – a PR firm based right here in L.A. Newsroom PR, helmed by former People staff writer Howard Breuer. Their clients can be found in the Associated Press, The New York Times, CNN, Good Morning America and other top outlets.
Several years ago, Breuer formed a collaboration with other journalists, and they’ve got that magic potion. The talent hemorrhage not only hasn’t hurt them, but in some ways it’s helped. And that’s because Breuer and his crew fashioned themselves long ago into a resource for journalists who don’t need distracting pitches as much as they need HELP.
“It’s basic psychology,” Breuer says. “Don’t request help from these tired, overworked journalists. Bring them answers to the questions they haven’t asked on the stories they’re working on NOW –insights that make their reporting more interesting, helpful, and balanced.”
Case in point – the Varsity Blues scandal. As journalists scurried to get anything resembling the tight-lipped federal prosecutor’s perspective on the latest actions or statements by Felicity Huffman or Lori Laughlin, Breuer’s team delivered one of their star players, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, President of West Coast Trial Lawyers on Hope Street, who knew all the players and had all the insights.
In a town where money talks and BS walks, Newsroom PR over the past 6½ years helped build the nascent WCTL into a litigation powerhouse whose cases over the past year include probably every piece of litigation you’ve seen against Lizzo, Shaq, Kanye and other celebs.
“Part of the problem with getting press for celebs is not only erosion in the circulation and quality of media outlets covering celebs but also a shift in how we consume news,” Breuer said. “Used to be, everyone pretty much consumed the mainstream media outlets like People, L.A. Times, Entertainment Weekly, etc. Now it’s all about followers. But do you know which celeb got the most press over the past week? It was Taylor Swift and what for? Mostly to do with the Super Bowl and concerns about a possible Biden endorsement. The biggest thing we do for clients is jack them into stories that are in most cases bigger than anything they’re creating on their own.”
He adds, “We succeed where others fail not just because we understand the media but because we are the media,” and it’s true. More than a decade ago, like many reality stars and Playboy models, I got myself in a bad romantic relationship with an A-List director which ended up in a small claims court. I asked Howard, then at People, to cover it. Howard was such a mensch and he invited me to lunch in Santa Monica and basically said I have no case and just to move on. Well, he was right, I lost my case. To me Howard was honest, and a genuine trustworthy reporter and I think that’s why he did so well at People Magazine before Time-Warner sold it to Meredith.
As they say in real estate the most important component for the value of a property is location, location, location. In comparison to making it in the Entertainment Industry they say connections, connections, connections! Which Breuer has.
Meet Howard Breuer here:
Newsrooms PR also help professionals build up their online and on-air media presence. Some clients just want to keep their name out there and PR does that indelibly while other forms of marketing are so ephemeral. Some clients, like Wisner Baum, Custodio Dubey and Lawyers for the People look to Newsroom PR to grow their brand and other clients want to become news-media stars like Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox, Judge Judy, Greta Van Susteren, and Dr. OZ.
While there are a lot of telegenic and successful attorneys seeking their representation, Breuer doesn’t take all comers and that’s another hint to their success.
“We try our hardest to bring in the clients we know we can do the most for,” Breuer says. “We might be in fast-changing times but the publicists who will take on a client they can’t kill it for just baffle the f**k out of me. How can you grow your business if that’s how you make your reputation? The best advice I can give another service provider is, don’t worry more about the money than how you will overdeliver, exceed expectations and be a confident and competent resource whenever and wherever they need you. Be that rock. All else falls into place.”
As for AI, Breuer says, “The services that fall first are the ones that machines can duplicate. When your business thrives due to its creativity, insights and connections, you’re not so high on the endangered species list.”
I hope.
