It feels like it has been January for about six months already.
It's cold, gloomy and payday inexplicably remains weeks away.
And the news is dominated by depressing stories as the winter of discontent grips.
But amid the darkness, there is a story captivating large numbers of people and offering hope and joy.
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The tale of ‘Sophie from Romania’ has trended on Twitter, featured on television and radio news and been covered in national newspapers.
If you’ve not yet seen it, Sophie is a rescue dog from Romania.
And she has found her forever home with former BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones and his wife Diane Coyle.
But progress since has been slow. Since arriving just before Christmas, the couple’s social media posts have shown a reluctance to emerge from her hiding place behind the sofa.
Little Sophie the rescue dog still reluctant to leave her happy place behind the sofa https://t.co/H4ezUVwJy2 pic.twitter.com/mbQjo0gq2N
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) December 18, 2022
But slowly, she appears to be gaining a little confidence, and more recent videos have shown her enjoying treats and spending time in the kitchen and garden.
Not yet the dog walks and pub visits Mr Cellan-Jones had been hoping for. But progress nonetheless.
And the regular updates seem to have enthralled the nation.
They attract thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. A photograph of Sophie exploring the kitchen on the weekend has had more than 38,000 likes. A video of her allowing Ms Coyle to stroke her received more than 57,000 likes.
This morning #sophiefromromania has been fascinated by whatever is going on in the kitchen https://t.co/VzM33EC5d5 pic.twitter.com/sJl92wqzQ1
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) January 15, 2023
Oh how sweet it is to see #sophiefromromania allow the prof to stroke her pic.twitter.com/Hjb2KgLI8l
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) January 13, 2023
I’m not a dog person. Yet I still find myself looking for daily updates on how Sophie is getting on. It is the first thing I look for when I open my feed.
Last week, the story moved beyond Twitter to a wider audience. It was covered by the BBC’s Six O’Clock News and Radio 4’s Today Programme.
Meet #sophiefromromania @ruskin147@bbcnews#bbcnewssix
— sophieraworth (@sophieraworth) January 13, 2023
🐕 pic.twitter.com/VUwdPQ2XjW
"Are you talking about me?"#SophiefromRomania - rescue dog of former BBC Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones and economist Professor Diane Coyle - watches Rory talk to @AmolRajan & @BBCNickRobinson about her adoption and how she's become a social media sensation pic.twitter.com/YZ3vEfxVrU
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) January 13, 2023
During the interview with the Today programme, Mr Cellan-Jones explained how Sophie had become a social media star.
“I’d always posted pictures of my dog Cabbage every day,” he said. “It became a thing during lockdown.
“And I was preparing to do the same with Sophie, but no such luck.
“So, I began posting these pictures and telling the story, and it seemed to strike a chord.
“A lot of people seem to have lost faith in Twitter. Me almost, but not quite. And it was something people found touching and that they could grab on to during the darkness of the winter.”
In his Six O’Clock News interview, he added: “Social media has been quite a miserable, toxic place, and people have latched on to what they see as quite a positive story.
“It certainly wasn’t positive at first. But I think there is hope in this story.”
Away from broadcast interviews, the story has also been covered by some newspapers.
Ex BBC journalist says pet psychology has soothed ‘terrified’ rescue dog from Romania Daily Mail
BBC Rory Cellan-Jones shares progress with Sophie from Romania The Herald
So, why has the story gained so much interest? Why are people so invested? And what media training lessons can we learn from it?
Well, it probably helps that Mr Cellan-Jones has excellent media connections from his career as a journalist.
And his previous dog Cabbage had an online following. And trended and made headlines after being stolen in 2021.
But there is much more to it than that.
It is a story that provides a feel-good factor during a winter when the news agenda is particularly heavy, fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis, strikes, and the NHS crisis.
It enables us to briefly escape from our fears, worries, troubles and challenges.
And there is an appetite in the media for heart-warming stories like this. News isn’t always serious and bleak. There’s also good in the world, and journalists and editors understand people also need some relief.
The BBC News website has an entire section dedicated to ‘uplifting stories’. The Mirror has a section for ‘feel-good news’.
What this shows us, and something we have stressed in these media training blogs before, is that businesses and organisations should not be afraid to let the media know their good news stories.
Don’t just engage with the media when you need to protect your reputation.
But positive media stories still need to be newsworthy.
And a crucial ingredient in something capturing the interest of journalists is uniqueness – the ‘U’ in the TROUBLE acronym we use during our media training courses to demystify the ‘newsworthy’ term.
‘Unique’ stories may be heart-warming, inspiring and even whacky. You may remember a while ago we highlighted the story of the onions that 'apeeled' to journalists around the world after being deemed ‘too hot’ for Facebook.
#SophiefromRomania ticks the unique box because it is unusual for a rescue dog to take the internet by storm. And for people to be captivated by regular updates on her progress.
One of the other stories featured on the BBC’s ‘feel good’ section is about how RSPCA inspectors found a stranded sheep by making bleating noises. An unusual story that has generated priceless coverage for the charity.
RSPCA rescuers in Wales find stranded sheep by bleating https://t.co/vymNL3HZwA
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 1, 2023
You may not work for a rescue charity or have rehomed a dog from Eastern Europe.
That’s fine because another crucial factor is people.
As we stress during our training, people want stories about people. Sophie’s story involves people and their determination to ensure she has a happy home and a good life.
One of the many interesting aspects of Sophie’s story is how many people have commented on the posts offering advice.
Much of that may not have been all that useful to Sophie’s new owners.
But it shows how easily people relate to stories, build connections and find shared experiences within them.
These heart-warming stories are the ones people tend to share and chat about with friends.
The downside is these stories can easily be missed.
Sophie’s story could have gone untold if she hadn’t been adopted by someone with a brilliant knowledge of the media.
In the corporate world, it can be difficult for comms and media teams to be across everything that goes on among their people.
That’s why it is crucial employees throughout an organisation have an understanding of what the media is looking for in a story – our online Identifying media-friendly stories course can help.
In our experience, the brands who excel at gaining positive media coverage are those who involve all their team in their newsgathering and storytelling.
And, at a time when news consumption can easily lower the mood, we all need stories like Sophie’s in our lives.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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