Intro 2300

I did some searching to try and find out what news writers are looking for when they receive press releases. Recently, I have had the opportunity to listen to a New York Times writer as well as the President from a major PR firm in Utah. Both guest speaker gave some good tips when it came to public relations but I also came across some additional information on how to get a local station to "pick up" and report on your organization. According to Andy Funk,

Press Releases

A typical big-city newsroom will receive literally hundreds of press releases each day. Some come by mail, some by fax, and others by email. But watch out for email--just because they have an email address doesn't mean anyone will actually look at the messages in a timely fashion! So, for now, stick with regular postal mail and fax.

Yes, I did write that they receive hundreds each day. How are they handled? Well, often an intern or entry-level newsroom employee is assigned to go through the stack and file them. Some are placed in daily planning folders, based upon the date of the event being promoted. Others are simply tossed into the so-called "circular file" (trash).

So, if you send out a press release there are two essentials: making sure it makes it into the daily folder instead of the trash, and having it stand-out among its "competitors" in the daily folder so it will actually be read by someone in authority.

But there is another way to ensure your release is read by an appropriate person: develop a relationship with a planning editor or assignment editor so they will be predisposed to read anything you send.

How? Well, the best way I know is to find something the planning or assignment editor needs, and meet that need. And, believe it or not, this can be real easy for people involved with Amateur Radio