Is your news newsworthy?
2 Jul, 2008 By: Michael Seuffert LM Direct!I used to have this editor who, roughly every four months, reprinted a column she wrote called “How to Get Your News into the Newspaper.” At the time, I never understood why she’d rerun the same thing over and over again.
Now, being in a position like hers, wading through several hundred e-mails and press releases per day, I can understand her pain. There’s nothing quite so awful as a poorly written press release, one that after taking the time to read it you still have no idea what the point of it is. The last thing you want an editor to say about your news is “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Opinions may differ as to the definition of news. For instance, I don’t particularly think that Lindsey Lohan getting drunk and crashing her car is news, but TMZ, ET, EW, Us Weekly, People and all the other trashy grocery-store counter tabloids would disagree with me.
But if you aren’t a major celebrity, you may have more trouble getting local newspapers and magazines to pick up your news, unless it fits into one of the following elements of newsworthiness: Timeliness, emotion, conflict, progress, oddity, prominence and proximity.
Timeliness is important because something that just happened tends to be valued more than something that happened a while back. Especially with all the news options on the Web, you want to give the reader the impression that the news is happening now. If something happened, let’s say a month ago, it didn’t impact the reader then. So why should they care about it now?
Emotion lets the reader connect to the story. The everyday reader might not care that Joe Employee got promoted from assistant to the regional manager to assistant regional manager (an Office reference there), but they might care if an employee who spent 40 years with your company is retiring. The difference between the two is the emotional aspect of the story.
Conflict: Bad news sells. Is your business being affected by a proposed local ordinance, or even a national regulation? (For example, look up north to Canada and the bans on pesticides happening up there or the H-2B situation). Tell your side of the story. Now, a good reporter will go out and get both sides of the story, so you can’t control what your opponents might say, but at least the coverage will include your angle.
Progress: People like to hear about new technology and how it’s being implemented in real life. It might surprise readers to find out how you are using GPS technology or that you just bought a fleet of electric lawnmowers.
Oddity: The whole “Man Bites Dog” thing. Any unusual situation you are dealing with could make a good story. I’ve seen articles about landscapers digging up bones, antiques or a giant pile of thousands of old clam shells while working.
Prominence: Famous people are more newsworthy. Hence the Lindsey Lohan example from earlier. Are you the landscaper to the stars? That would be a story. Or make a star out of yourself. Become involved in your community. Be the local expert who the media turns to for answers to their landscape-related questions.
Proximity: Reporters are always looking for a local angle to the news. When I was reporting for a weekly community newspaper, we found local people who were affected by a space shuttle crash, the Thailand tidal wave and, of course, 9/11. Right now, the number one news story might be gas prices and the economy. If the regular reader is having trouble filling up his tank, then he might want to know how your local business with a fleet of 15 trucks is handling the problem.
Here’s one final tip: Most reporters are not Lois Lane or Woodward and Bernstein. I’m not saying we’re lazy, but we’re too busy to chase every single story. When it comes to press releases, your job is to make our jobs easier. Keeping these elements of newsworthiness in mind will hopefully help you figure out if what’s news to you is news to us.
For more on public relations, check out BASF's Sandi Wilson's recent PR Talk in the May issue of our sister publication Pest Management Professional.
Contact Seuffert at mseuffert@questex.com
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