Before you make your pitch, figure out the news hook. Why would readers/listeners/viewers want to know about the organization’s __________? How is it local and topical? Build a detailed media contact list and keep it updated. Always call reporters back – even if you don’t want to. Respect their deadlines. Add media contacts to your mailing list for events and newsletters in addition to news releases. Send out news releases announcing your events as far in advance as possible.

News is the unusual, controversial, the new. If the airplane lands, it’s not news.

1. Have an objective in mind for every interview. For example, your objective might be to explain how the issue in question will affect your community, your school, your organization, or your family. 2. Be focused and be brief. Keep responses to a sentence or two. For broadcast media keep them to 8-10 seconds (20–25 words). 3. If it’s a complicated subject, put your best expert forward. If you’re not the best person to comment, say so, and refer the reporter to someone who is

News is the unusual, controversial, the new. If the airplane lands, it’s not news. News is local and topical. That’s what readers/viewers/listeners want to know about. News tells a story. Every good story needs controversy. Think good vs. evil. You want to be the good guy. Research indicates that readers/viewers/listeners prefer to consume “bad news” over “good news” by a 7 to 1 margin. News is a business as well as public service. The news media would not exist without adver

How often do you use FaceTime or similar apps to communicate with you friends and family? Hmm… I see those hands raised, but I volunteer to answer first. Most of my family members live abroad, and we have this “weekendly” ritual of seeing each other on screens through Skype. I can see my dad finishing up his dinner 5,000 miles away, while my mom is trying to explain to me how important it is to remove dust from that bookshelf behind my back (I have no idea how she was able to

Can you imagine how surreal it seemed to people in the 15th century to witness a blacksmith printing on an actual paper? Well, looking back at the past 20 years of the Internet evolving can give us an idea of how it felt back. In 1453 Johannes Gutenberg, a worker on the blacksmith forge, devised the printing press, that allowed him to print books faster, in a larger quantity, and cheaper than handwritten books. Now, 500 years later, a similar phenomenon called “Internet” is a