Know what makes the news and gain the right exposure.

Exciting things are happening at your company, and you think everyone should know. But is anyone outside of your company interested in your new products, recent awards or current accomplishments?

Deciding what story to pitch to the media — and how to pitch it — can go a long way toward gaining publicity for your company. But first you need to understand what makes something newsworthy, and why people will care.

In determining news, reporters and editors often decide based on a traditional set of news elements. Read all about them in our checklist of what makes news, and attract the attention you deserve.

Timeliness

Something that just happened is usually more newsworthy than something that happened a long time ago. That’s why it’s called “news.” This is especially true in today’s environment of up-to-the-minute news coverage on TV, radio and the Web. Did you just release a new product? Did you recently make a technological breakthrough? Did your company just land a new important client or contract? All these things are more newsworthy because they happened NOW.

Impact

How many people does the story affect? The more the better. You might also ask, “Who cares?” Your company’s anniversary, though important to you and maybe to your employees, is not newsworthy to anyone outside. If you decide to give away free products to the public as part of your anniversary celebration, or if you donate money to build a new youth center named after your founder, then you’ve affected many people and have bigger impact. The greater the impact, even if it is an old story, the more likely that it is newsworthy.

Prominence

We all complain when celebrity breakups or trials dominate the news. But the simple fact is that prominent people make more news. People care because they recognize these newsmakers. If your father had open-heart surgery, no one beyond your family and friends would care because no one else knows him. But if former President Bill Clinton goes under the knife, you have an international news story. If the subject of your story is well known, such as your company president, even the most common event can make the story newsworthy.

Proximity

The closer to home a story takes place, the more newsworthy it is. If your new product affects only customers far away, that’s not as newsworthy to your local media as if it affects everyone in the surrounding community. But even if the story takes place far away, you can find a local angle. Journalists call this “localizing” the story. Say you’re a hospital and a new strain of the flu breaks out on the other side of the country. A physician or expert from your organization could offer the media your evaluation of whether or not the strain might affect people locally, as well as tips on how to avoid getting sick.

Conflict

As much as people complain about negative news stories, bad news is often more newsworthy than good news. If city residents turn on their faucets and water comes out, no one cares because it’s routine and expected. If the water plant breaks down and townspeople have to boil their water, that’s newsworthy because it’s a break in that routine. Of course, you don’t want to promote bad news about your company. Instead, look for conflict to which your company has developed a solution.

The Unusual

“Dog bites man” is not news. “Man bites dog” is. Something that is out of the ordinary is news, which is why so many of us love to read unusual factoids and about strange happenings. In fact, some news programs devote part of their time to these oddball stories. We are obsessed with records, too, that indicate the biggest, longest, shortest, smallest, tallest, etc. something. There are thousands of news stories in the Guinness Book of World Records because of our obsession. Did your company invent the biggest, fastest or longest-lasting something? Did an employee accomplish something unusual and interesting?

Hook your readers

Whichever of these news elements your story has, it must have a news “hook” or “peg.” This is the most important element, the one your story “hangs” on, the one that really makes people interested in hearing about it.

Adding it all up

So how many of these elements does your story need to be considered newsworthy? Two? Three? More?

In short, there’s no easy answer. A newsworthy story may have only one of these elements if that element is sufficiently important enough. Or it may have several and not be particularly newsworthy. A story could be local and timely, but not impact enough people. A story could impact a lot of readers, but be passed over because it is too commonplace.

If you don’t have a journalism or public relations background, the best way to get a feel for the importance of these elements is to read news publications to see what kinds of stories they publish. Even better, talk with editors to see what kinds of stories they’re interested in.

No matter your company or industry, knowing these elements allows you to make better decisions about what makes a good story. And about what makes your company newsworthy.

Need better results? Gaining publicity is just one business communications solution we’ve provided over the past 25 years. To explore some innovative ways to reach your audience, e-mail Matt Harlow or call 800-800-9547.

Ideas are our product. We work to analyze your markets, isolate your key brand benefits and send clear, focused messages right to your target audience. Messages that build your brand image and achieve what you’re really looking for … measurable results. We call it Communication with insight.^sm