Slow News Days are Ahead, This Could Be Your Chance

For most newsrooms, the holidays typically bring a dry spell. Newspaper editors start planning way ahead of time for stories just to fill the pages leading up to and after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. 

So what does that mean for you? It means that your chances of getting news coverage are very high between now and January 2nd, so it’s time to start contacting the assignment editors at your local TV stations and the editors at your local newspaper. 

I can tell you  from experience that anyone who called me around the holidays with a story that was halfway decent, back when I was an assignment editor responsible for providing content for newscasts, got more of my time than they would have gotten any other time of the year. AND if you could sell me something on the day AFTER either of the big three, you were golden. 

So, here’s what you need to do.

Think about ways that your business ties in to the holidays. Is your company doing anything special? Are you feeding the elderly, collecting toys for children, giving away free goods or services?

Those are important questions to answer, but also keep in mind there can be an overabundance of holiday stories, (as many folks may be feeding the elderly, collecting toys for children, or giving away free goods or services) so don’t think you HAVE to find a holiday peg. It’s just a suggestion and can be an easy get, but please note that anything unrelated AND newsworthy can be music to an editors ears.  

Now, dust off those press releases, better yet REWRITE them and send them to your local media contacts. And if you don’t have any contacts, get some. Call the newspapers and TV stations directly and find out who is planning holiday coverage. If that doesn’t get  you a specific person, ask for the photo desk at the newspapers and the assignment desk at the TV stations. 

Get a name, and e-mail address, and don’t count on the formalities of the press release to get you what you want. Preface your e-mail with a quick, actively written sentence about what you’re pitching and why it’s a must-cover.

Despite pipular belief, they WANT your information. They just want it fast and they want it complete. Figure out how to give them waht they want, and you could very well end up getting the coverage you know you deserve.