Knowing what is and isn’t news is an important part of the PR process, but often what is more important is knowing who to tell about it.
This is something that far too many people get wrong and it can have a negative impact on not just your chances of getting that story covered, but future stories too.
If you are sitting there wondering why your stories never get the media coverage you think they deserve, then this could be the reason.
There are two key mistakes that people make when trying to push a story:
- they think what they want to say is interesting to them, but forget to think about what might be important or interesting to who they want to get in front of
- they send their news to the wrong journalists
Avoiding making these mistakes is actually fairly easy…
Shaping your story
Starting with the ‘news’ itself, we are often approached by clients with a story that they are excited about. They are right to be excited because it is usually a big deal for them, however the harsh reality is that just because they are excited by it, doesn’t mean that others will be. Basically, it doesn’t pass the “who gives a shit” test.
On a more positive note though, just because others might not be excited by it, doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a news story to be found. It may just be that it’s not the angle you set out to shout about.
Businesses want media coverage so that they can influence people. To influence people you need to be telling them something that makes a difference to them, engages them and interests them – hence the “who gives a shit” element. This is why one of the most important elements of writing a news release is focussing not on what bit of the story you want to say, but on what your target audience needs to hear. You are communicating to your public for a reason, whether that is to sway an opinion; purchase a product or service; or carry out an action. Your focus needs to be on understanding what they need to hear to deliver that outcome. Often this is not what you first thought you wanted to be focusing your story on.
This is easy to fix and just needs you to take a bit of time to step back and look objectively at all the information you have and then pick out the bits that create the story that is going to make the news.
Know where to send it
Once you have shaped the correct story, it is vitally important that you send it to the right journalist at the right time.
I have a regular friendly clash with a journalist that I go a long way back with (well before we started our professional lives). He will often have a moan on social media about a press officer or PR consultant who has annoyed him. It usually focuses on him having been sent a press release that is never going to be of any interest to him. He is an editor for a news broadcaster that covers the day’s big stories. His biggest bug bear is the amount of emails and calls he gets trying to get him to cover stories that don’t fit with his agenda. This could be that it simply isn’t ever going to be right for that media outlet or that there is a big story monopolising that day or week and nothing else will get a look in.
Whilst I usually tell him (in private) to give the PRs a bit of a break, the truth is that it is easy not to annoy him – and the thousands of other journalists being contacted with stories every day. He often sends me examples of emails he receives and sometimes I can’t help but despair at what is being allowed to be sent out and take his side.
Every media outlet will have a clear editorial agenda of the type of stories they cover, sometimes it is obvious and sometimes it is a little more subtle. A simple browse of a publication or website should give you a clear idea of whether or not your story will fit in with what it normally covers. If there isn’t a fit, then don’t send them the story.
Where it gets slightly more complicated is the fact that even within one media outlet, there will be different journalists with different interests or different patches. If our story doesn’t fit with that journalist’s specific patch, they are not going to use it. With journalists receiving hundreds of stories a day from different sources, you also can’t rely on them forwarding your story on to their colleague who actually would be interested. Send them something that isn’t relevant to them too many times and you can be sure that your name will quickly be on their blacklist.
Again, there is an easy fix – make sure you have done your research to know which outlets and which journalists are actually going to be the most likely to cover your story.
Unfortunately the reality is that not every story is going to be newsworthy, but if you are able to shape a story properly and give it to the right people, then more often than not there will be a place for it somewhere.
