Press releases and free publicity

How the media get their stories

by Phil Wiley

Here's a rough breakdown of how newspapers come up with stories:

Journalists pick them up in a bar while chatting with people.

Journalists hear about them when talking to friends and family.

Readers letters to the editor often spark stories.

Journalists rounds, or beats, are only of the major news sources. Newspaper journalists have a list of people they phone each day to ask "what's happening? Any news for us? - example, they phone the majors office to ask what's happening at City Hall. They phone police, and fire departments.

The weather. Too hot, too cold, tornadoes, floods. Come up with a new angle on a weather story and you've got a winner.

press releases.

people phoning up.

Follow up's to stories in other publications. Regional newspaper editors will say "get me a local angle".

 

So how do you benefit from all this? Most stories come from people contacting journalists, either face to face, on paper, or by phone. Come up with a local angle on national news, or a new angle on a weather story or any other of the regular story types, and tell a journalist about it.