Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists

MEDIA ACCESS
GETTING YOUR STORY TOLD

Getting your event covered is a crap shoot. A major event is obvious news for most newspaper and broadcast reporters in any city. Events that may be very significant to you may or may not have the news value that a media outlet is looking for.

So it's up to you to know what the media considers newsworthy or enticing or exciting enough to warrant coverage. The best way to judge is to watch TV news, listen to radio news and read your local newspapers.

Following are some tips that may make it easier to get your event covered. We've also included links to news stories from our 1999 Media Access workshop.

TIPS
* Your press release should be concise and to the point.

* Your press release should reach the news outlet (newspaper, radio or TV) at least two weeks in advance of a planned event. If the event is spur-of-the-moment, get the release out as soon as possible.

*Send the press release to the right person. Call the media outlet, tell them about your event and ask who for the name of the appropriate person and get the correct address. Most of the news outlets have this information on their web site. If you don't have a computer, try to find one in your local library branch.

*If you send the release to more than one department or person in a news outlet, please inform each department to prevent them both from going after the same story. That annoys them.

* If you know the name of a reporter who covers a specific beat, you can send your release to that reporter. It's a good idea to also send the release to the editor, again letting the person know that you have contacted the reporter.

* Very important: Include the name and daytime phone number of a contact person.

* Consider holding your event on a slow news day. Weekends are good. Friday night is not-so-good, because in many instances only a small staff may be working.

* Prepare for the media. Make sure you have a contact person on hand to answer reporters' questions and to accommodate TV equipment.

* Start on time. Make sure your event is well-organized.

Other coverage tips:
Writing Effective Press Releases
How one N.J. group got its message out
Examples