What's Your Media Release Missing?

Journalists receive so many media releases each day, so yours really has to stand out if you want your story to make headlines. A media release is a short notice to journalists informing them of a story they might want to cover. It should give them enough facts to be interested and make them want to contact you for more.
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The next time you’re thinking about promoting your Christchurch business with some good PR, keep these media release tips in mind.

​Have A Newsworthy Story

Your media release can be interesting, well-written, clear and concise, but if it’s just not newsworthy journalists aren’t going to be interested. It’s for the “news” after all.

If your Christchurch business is celebrating a milestone, releasing a product, or announcing something, on its own that’s not normally news. Think how you would take it one step further.

The opening of a new store isn’t news. However, is it creating lots of jobs in the community? Will the store be making a large charitable donation to celebrate? Will the Mayor of Christchurch or a local celebrity be doing the ribbon cutting? By thinking of news angles and taking your story one step further, you’ve turned a non-event into something newsworthy.

​What’s The Bigger Picture?

The news media is a hungry beast. It’s not enough to have a great story to satisfy it. Whether you’re pitching to Christchurch newspapers, TV networks or radio stations you must have photo and video opportunities to make your story worth their while.
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Every news outlet has a website, some have social media, even some radio programmes are being simulcast or live-streamed over TV and the internet so great pictures are important. If your Christchurch business is releasing a new product but there are none available to see or test, the media are unlikely to be interested. 

​Who’s Talking?

Most news relies on interviewing people. Journalists are known for asking questions, so you have to think about who might talk to them.

​If your Christchurch business is making a large donation to a local charity that could impact thousands of people, that’s a pretty newsworthy story. However, you’re not going to get a lot of media time if nobody appropriate within your business, the charity involved, or someone who will benefit from the donation are available for comment.

Even if you include a statement from all of those people in your media release, be prepared for journalists to ask follow-up questions or further comment so their audiences can see and hear for themselves.

​Newsbites

If you’re looking for the quick headline summaries on how to make your media release better, every news story needs at least one of the following:

• Someone famous: In Christchurch that could be a politician, a celebrity, rugby player, or musician.
• Timeliness: The main part of “news” is that something is “new.” It’s no good talking about something that happened a few months ago. It’s probably not news anymore.
• Public Interest: Is it something people need to know about, or will influence how they think about something?
• Novelty: Media love the quirky, cute, unusual or “first.” Pandas giving birth to twins in captivity for the first time? That zoo has hit the jackpot!
• Achievements: Who doesn’t love celebrating success? Which building company has rebuilt the 10,000th Christchurch home? Who has done something truly extra-ordinary? ‘
• Human Emotion: People connect with what they see on the news. Deep human need, tragedy, grief, anger, conflict, happiness, or love will resonate with others. Journalists are people too, remember!

So if you think you’ve got as good story, and want to generate some good PR, make sure your next media release includes some of these ideas. It could be the difference between being newsworthy or a non-event.

If you’d like some potential story ideas for your Christchurch business or tips for your next public relations campaign, contact Inform PR for a free consultation and quote.