Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Getting Your Story Covered

The most important thing we look for is visuals. As a television station, we work in a business driven by pictures. We have to think about what video we are going to use to tell each story. Chances are we will be more apt to cover a story with strong visuals than a story with little to no visuals. I always ask people to tell me what visuals are available as early on in their press release or story pitch, as possible.

Another important factor when it comes to covering a story is the time of the event. Events that start late in the afternoon are usually difficult to cover because many of the news crews are already out working on stories…preparing for the news broadcasts at 5, 6 and (in our case) 7pm. The best time to schedule events is for the morning hours. This means 9am-2pm is a good time to schedule your event.

In order for us to cover the story, we have to know about it. This seems so obvious but I can’t even begin to tell you how many emails I get from viewers asking why we were not at a particular event and than having to explain that it was because we did not know about it. Even if your event is six months away, send the press release now. We will put your event information into our “futures” system… which keeps track of all potential future stories. Be sure to include the entire time of the event. If it lasts from 9am until 2pm, make sure you say that…don’t just say the event starts at 9am.

If there is a local angle, human angle or impact, make sure it’s prominently stated in your release. As a local news organization, nothing is more important than to be able to tell stories that have local people and local impact.  Of course, unique and quirky stories are always fun.

A final tip for the day…include your contact information. If you have a cell phone or pager, please make sure to include it. We may have questions on the days leading up to and including the day of the event. Being able to reach you, as the contact person, will enhance the chances of story coverage. If the content coordinators don’t have all the information they need (and can’t reach you) to get enough information needed in order to make a decision, they may opt to send that crew elsewhere. This is especially true for events that occur after hours.

Here’s how to submit a press release or story idea:

Email:
Phone: 919-835-6397
Fax: 919-836-1687

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