Five keys to getting your story covered

• Defining Newsworthy• Thinking Visually• Making it Unique• Being Timely• Writing Good Releases

• Who cares?• Would I stop to watch this? • Would I stop to read this?• What would make a great story?

Ask yourself these questions?

What is a great news story?

• It is timely.• It impacts people.• It is unusual, popular or controversial.• It is just about anything that will hold

someone's interest.

Don’t Be Ordinary!

• Reporters don’t cover the ordinary, they cover the extraordinary.

• Dog bites man, old news – man bites dog, lead story.

• A story is memorable because it’s unusual – something you don’t see everyday.

• Twist your story to make it memorable.

Tele-VISION and Front Page Pictures

• Reporters tell stories with pictures.• Non-visual stories can be made

visual with a little creativity.• A picture is worth 1,000 words.• Even radio needs visuals.

Find the right time to pitch!

• Know that hard news will always trump soft news.

• Pray for slow news days or just know when they are.

• Any day that government offices are closed will most likely be a slow news day.

• Be a follower!

How to write a good release• NEVER more than one page.• Make your headline bold, clever and

attention-grabbing.• Make your opening sentence bold, clever

and attention-grabbing.• Follow-up with who, what, why, where and

when.• Have contacts that are reachable!

• Make sure your story is newsworthy.

• Give your story a unique twist.• Make sure you have good

visuals.• Think about your timing.• Write a great release.