News
Fancy doing your own public relations?
The news media relies heavily on press releases from public relations agencies; however, submitting a press release does not guarantee it will get published.
Newsrooms get inundated with press releases every hour of every working day, and priorities can, and do, change very quickly regardless of whether it’s the BBC or the Batley News.
It’s a fact, though, that the more contact there is with a newsroom the easier it becomes to get coverage. (It’s a bit like The Met Club - who just happen to be one of our clients - in that each time you attend you meet more people and become more recognised, and your chances of making really good business contacts increases.)
The do’s
- DO read your local press – or whatever outlet you’re targeting – to get an idea of what type of news is being covered
- DO study the structure of a story; the first three paragraphs should tell you all you need to know – who, what, where, when, why, how. (Teletext news strictly adheres to this principle)
- DO find the name, number and email of the news editor and business editor – it’s their job to ‘find’ the best news. Chances are there will also be a dedicated reporter covering your location
- DO keep it simple. Approx 25 words per paragraph; no industry jargon; and don’t pepper with adjectives
- DO offer a picture where possible
- DO give plenty of notice. If your weekly paper is published on a Friday it’ll be finalised by the previous midday, with certain pages already completed two or three days before that
- DO ask yourself: “Would the man in the pub – or better still a potential client – be interested in this?”
The don’ts
- DON’T harass news editors; they don’t owe you any favours. If you’ve something you think is news but you’re not too sure about it, pick up the phone and speak to the newsroom and offer to email some details
- DON’T confuse news with a blatant advert. You won’t get away with it and eventually you’ll get a bad name
- DON’T stick to one news source; you’ll have several newspapers from daily papers to weekly ones, specialist business press and regional lifestyle magazines. And if you’ve a story that’s big enough the TV and radio stations could be interested