How to grab media attention
If you want people to know what you do and how you do it and why what you do is important, you need to TELL them.
Being featured in newspapers, magazines and on TV and radio is a great way to spread the word and raise your media profile.
Unfortunately, lots of other people are also competing for that media space so, to help you get ahead of the competition, here are a few simple tips on how to grab media attention.
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Raising your media profile: how to grab media attention - Allied Health Professionals conference, June 03, 2015
1. HOW TO GRAB MEDIA
ATTENTION
And raise your media profile
2. What are your media aims?
• Media aims might include:
• Raising your profile and/or the profile of colleagues
• Creating awareness about the work you do
• Enhancing respect for your work
• Building knowledge about the value of your work
• What was the purpose of this Q&A profile in the education pages of the Indian Daily Pioneer newspaper?
• http://mail.dailypioneer.com/avenues/demanding-yet-stimulating.html
• And this article in The Guardian?
• http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2015/may/13/wanted-newly-qualified-physiotherapists
• Do you want:
• To generate new business? (Kate)
• Find new recruits? (Chartered Society of Physiotherapists)
• Promote a particular product or service? (Physio First)
• Or do you want:
• To safeguard jobs?
• Ring fence services from further NHS cuts?
• Encourage customers/clients/patients to make full use of your services?
• Who needs to know about you in order to achieve these aims?
3. Not sure how to identify your media targets?
• Just ask
• Friends and family
• Conduct a survey
• Survey Monkey
• Once you know who they are, you can work out where to
find them
• You need to know:
• What they read
• When they watch
• And what they listen to
4. Don’t be precious
• This is about getting into the media space consumed by
your target audience
• Don’t forget: big is not necessarily beautiful
• And seek out the specialists
• What’s the best way of attracting press attention?
5. First steps
• What makes a good press release or news alert?
• Study the examples
• How do you rate them?
• Things to consider:
• Presentation
• Content
• KISS
• Do these releases grab attention?
6. Grab attention
• The first sentence of a press release or news alert - the
intro - must grab attention
• Think of it as a gift
• You don't give the reader something that pleases you
• But something that you hope will please the reader
• The intro should also provide a succinct summary of the
story
• How would you summarise these three releases in a
way that might appeal to YP readers?
7. Killer intros
• What did you write?
• Knostrop wind turbine
• Work to build Leeds’s largest structure begins next week.
• Leeds International film Festival
• Game of Thrones star Kit Harington and The Wire’s Dominic West to
star in opening night film at Leeds International Film Festival.
• OR:
• Emmerdale star to direct opening night film at Leeds International Film
Festival
• Spadger's bike ride
• Health staff in East and South Leeds are getting on their bikes to raise
money for two young people’s charities.
• Which would you spike?
8. And here’s what the YP did
• Knostrop wind turbine
• http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-
stories/turbine-is-set-to-alter-face-of-leeds-landscape-1-6876939
• Emmerdale star’s revenge thriller opens film festival
• http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/emmerdale-star-s-
revenge-thriller-opens-leeds-international-film-festival-1-6932480
• Spadger’s bike ride
• http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-
stories/cyclists-are-ready-to-hit-the-road-in-memory-of-late-leeds-
teenager-1-6888140
10. The YP’s response
• From: Joanna Wardill On Behalf Of YEP Newsdesk
Sent: 30-09-2014 15:39
To: 'Maria O'Connor'
Subject: RE: NOTICE TO PRESS: Brownlee Foundation
– inaugural event
• What day is this taking place?
• http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-
news/top-stories/brownlees-inspire-leeds-pupils-to-go-for-
gold-1-6872332
11. British Transport Police
• What about this one?
• What would you do with it?
• http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-
news/top-stories/trio-jailed-after-cable-theft-causes-
railway-disruption-1-6872257
12. What makes a press release effective?
• Which of the five press releases was most effective?
• Which was the least effective?
• How can you write a press release or news alert that
grabs attention?
• What do you learn from the success or failure of these press
releases?
• Draw up six simple rules for writing an effective press
release
13. Writing press releases: the rules
• Rule 1:
• Use an attention-grabbing subject line or headline
• Summarise the story in no more than ten words
14. The rules
• Rule 2:
• Write a killer intro that summarises the story in 15-30
words
• Look at each of the newspaper intros – they tell the whole story in
one sentence
• If you didn’t know anything else you would know what the story was
about
15. The rules
• Rule 3:
• Your intro should always answer the
questions who? And what?
• News is always about people
• About what happens to them
• And about what they do
• Unless it’s about skateboarding ducks
• You might also answer the questions
when? And where?
• Your story should flesh out why? And how?
16. The rules
• Rule 4:
• Do your homework
• Study your target publications
• What sort of stories are they covering?
• How do they cover them?
• Plan and write your press releases or news alerts accordingly
17. The rules
• Rule 5:
• Timing is everything
• Your ideas need to hit the news desk just as the news editor thinks:
“I need a story about...”
• How do you do that?
• Planning ahead and understanding about different types of story
• On and off diary
• Features
• Pitching feature ideas
• You’re a dietician: how would you sell a seasonal diet and recipe
feature to a news editor?
• And when?
18. The rules
• Rule 6:
• Make it personal
• It’s a waste of time to send your press release to a generic e mail
address eg @features or @news
• Instead always target a named individual
• Not sure who that is?
• Find out!
19. The rules
• Rule 7:
• The pyramid structure
• What has happened?
• How did it
happen?
• Tie it
all
up
• Use the six Ws!
20. And finally
• The Guardian’s Letter to...feature
• http://gu.com/p/3ch28/sbl
• Every day you meet people whose lives are changed for
the better because of the work you do
• These people are your best publicists
• Use them!
How to grab media attention
If you want people to know what you do and how you do it and why what you do is important, you need to TELL them.
Being featured in newspapers, magazines and on TV and radio is a great way to spread the word and raise your media profile.
Unfortunately, lots of other people are also competing for that media space so, to help you get ahead of the competition, here are a few simple tips on how to grab media attention.
What are your media aims?
Possibly you want media coverage for some or all of the purposes listed above. Or, for entirely different reasons – it doesn’t matter. Being clear about what you want to achieve and who you want to reach will help you determine what you need to tell your target audience as well as the best way to tell your story and the best place to tell it.
It’s important here to be very specific about these aims – it’s not enough to decide vaguely that you want “new business”. Whose business do you want? New mums? Or city gents? Or young people considering their education options?
You might want all three as new clients but they are very different target audiences and they will each consume different media, in different formats and at different times of the day. And night! So, being very specific about target audiences will help you identify which newspapers and which radio or TV programmes you should be hitting with your story ideas.
Kate here clearly wants to encourage Indian school-leavers to consider careers in physiotherapy – and, in particular, to come and study at Sheffield Hallam. Accordingly, an interview that appears in the education pages of an Indian-based English language newspaper is a good vehicle. Her credentials as deputy head of SHU’s Allied Health Department are clearly spelled out and she talks knowledgeably about the career options and future prospects for qualified physiotherapists from the Indian sub-continent. Lots of detailed facts and figures add to her authority as a subject specialist.
Whilst, the Guardian feature has a similar focus – it’s also aimed at encouraging more young people to consider a career in physiotherapy – the emphasis is different. Here the spokespeople quoted are emphasising that “this is a middle class profession with middle class salaries and career options”. The Guardian with its middle class, liberal audience is a good vehicle for this sort of message.
And different style of writing reflects the different publications and their different audiences.
Not sure how to identify your media targets?
Think about people you know who might fall into your target audiences: friends and families (colleagues too) – what do they read, what do they watch, what do they listen to?
Create an online survey or questionnaire using a tool like Survey Monkey – it's relatively easy and straightforward. Just 10-50 responses will help you get some idea of which media should figure on your target list.
Don’t be precious
You might get excited about getting a story into The Times but will your target audience see it? Perhaps they read the Sun? Or the Yorkshire Post? Or Sheffield Star? Or the Barnsley Chronicle? Or the HSJ?
Don’t assume that national media organisations can do more for your business than the local press. A short succinct news story in the local paper may be more effective at reaching the people you want to reach ie those in a particular area or industry than a beautifully photographed colour spread in one of the nationals. And will be a great deal easier to achieve.
Similarly, a news story or feature in a specialist trade or niche magazine may also reach more of your target audience.
First steps
Good place to start is with a simple press release or e mail news alert. It doesn’t have to be sophisticated or polished or scream “hold the front page!” Keep it simple, direct and short. And follow a few basic ground rules.
What makes a good press release?
You’re the news editor at the Yorkshire Post: it’s your job to find a story that will grab the attention of Yorkshire Post readers. What would you do with these releases? Use them? Or spike them?
NB In bygone days, news editors had an old fashioned spike on their desks for skewering rubbish stories.
Presentation:
Is the release easy to read? Have you got an attention-grabbing headline or subject line? Is the layout clean and uncluttered with plenty of white space? Have you provided clear contact details? Notes to editor? Picture ideas? Is the length right? Optimum length is a maximum of 250-400 words? Less for a news alert.
Content:
Have you provided all the key details? Have you answered the questions: Who? What? Why? Where? When? And How? Journalists call these the six Ws
KISS:
Keep It Short and Simple. Short sentences (10-15 words) and short paragraphs or pars (30 words, two sentences). Fact heavy.
Would any of these press releases win the competition for space?
Grab attention
News is about things that interest ordinary people, like you and me. And it has a short lifespan – once we’ve heard a piece of news, it stops being new. Old, cold news is dead news. That means that if you want to grab attention you must give the reader (the news editor) something that is new, unusual, exciting, different...
And you must grab attention with your very first sentence.
The intro
Does your first sentence grab the reader’s attention? Apply the pub door test – if you were dashing through the pub door what would be the killer sentence that would sum up the story?
Or: if your mobile phone battery was about to die what would be the 30 words you would have to text to your best friend? Are the other key points clearly and succinctly presented with the most important points coming first? If not, why not?
Killer intros
News has to be new - that means telling your audience something they didn't know before. It also needs to be something that will affect or touch the lives of a significant number of your readers. And it has to be something that they will find interesting too - think of it as the Gee Whizz! factor.
Which of my one sentence summaries has the Gee Whziz! factor?
The Knostrop wind turbine?
Yes, because it will change the Leeds skyline. And big is beautiful.
The Leeds International Film Festival?
Again, yes because it's an event that could appeal to a large number of YP readers - although you need to dig deep to find an interesting peg on which to hang any story. (The peg is a phrase used by journalists to describe the focus or angle that gives a story audience appeal.) You can’t guarantee a busy news editor will wade through a dull, over-long press release or news alert to find a decent peg so make sure you hand it to him or her on a plate. Spell it out in your first 30 words – and, here’s a handy hint, celebrity almost always sells.
Spadger's bike ride?
Does this have a Gee Whizz! factor? Sadly not - there might be a decent story behind this release but there's nothing in the content to suggest what it might be. Spike it!
And here’s what the YP did
Knostrop Wind turbine: focus is on the visual impact on the city – green credentials get a mention but it’s not a priority
Leeds film festival: Dominic Brunt, aka Emmerdale’s Paddy, is director of revenge thriller that opens Leeds film festival
Spadger’s bike ride: the health professionals don’t make the cut – why? Because more than 1,000 cyclists are taking part in the event and there’s nothing to make them stand out.
Better line for them would have been: health professionals, who work with families who have lost a teenage son or daughter to sudden cardiac arrest, are riding in memory of an up-and-coming cyclist who died suddenly from the disease. And emphasise the fact that they work in East Leeds, home to young Spadger.
Brownlee Foundation
Spot the deliberate mistake?
The YP’s response
There’s a possible story here – it’s an inaugural event, involving large numbers of primary school kids, and the Brownlee brothers, who train at Otley, which is just north of Leeds, are local celebrities.
Okay, the press release doesn’t “sell” the event but there’s enough basic information to allow the news editor to make a judgement on whether it might be worth covering.
And contact details are provided so a reporter can follow-up with a phone call to find out more.
Cardinal sin to omit the date though!
British Transport Police
Lots and lots of detail – but far too long. Over 1,100 words. (To be precise: 1,111 words.) And though it’s a good story and relevant to the YP’s readership, newspapers these days rarely give more than 350-400 words to a court story. The YP version is actually 353 words.
This smacks of a PR writing at length because a manager considers this a ‘big’ story – which it is. BUT, as a result, the PR has written a press release that is three times longer than the average length of a typical court story. So, he/she has spent three times longer than he/she needed writing the release. Which is not an efficient use of time.
What makes a press release effective?
In terms of effort, the Brownlee Foundation achieved the best coverage. Minimum time and energy went into writing the release – and a great picture story promoting the event and the work of the foundation resulted. (Though, next time, make sure the date is included.)
BUT on a busy news day it could easily have been spiked because further emails and a phone call and attendance at the event were all required to nail the story. Worth it though because of the combination of kids and celebrities – although it probably wouldn’t have been considered newsworthy without the presence of the Brownlee brothers at the event.
NB It is illegal to interview or photograph children under the age of 16 without the consent of a parent or guardian – so if you invite the media to attend an event involving young people under the age of 16 get the appropriate permissions first.
The least effective release was the one about Spadger’s bike ride because the health professionals didn’t get a single mention – there might be a story behind the story but it would take some digging to find it. And a busy news editor would simply spike it rather than waste time trying to give it some legs.
The Knostrop wind turbine and British Transport Police releases were all effective – they provided all the information the news desk needed to produce a decent news story. But lessons can be learned – be familiar with your target media and the space they are likely to give your story. Don’t waste your effort writing a 1,111 word release if the paper will only use 350-400 words.
Also accept that the angle that you want to promote because it fits your business agenda, for instance, green energy credentials, may not necessarily fit the media’s news agenda. The Knostrop release proved effective because the release offered an angle – tallest structure in Leeds – that was eye-catching.
Writing press releases: the rules
Rule 1: Although the headline or subject line is the first thing the newsdesk will read, you should always write it last. Write the release or news alert and then write a headline that summarises or picks out a key aspect of the story in no more than ten words. Often your headline/subject line will be a summary of the intro.
The rules
Rule 2: Remember the pub door test we talked about earlier or the dying phone battery text message. Your intro should be one sentence, 15-30 words. It should be a summary of the story and should make the news editor want to know more.
The rules
Rule 3: No explanation needed here – the focus in a news story is always on people and what they do. Except for the one in a million story that practically defies belief – like the one about skateboarding ducks.
Make sure your release or news alert answers all of those six Ws. Who? What? Why? Where? When? And How?
The rules
Rule 4: You need to be familiar with the media consumed by your target audience – it will provide insights into their issues, concerns and interests.
You need to think about what types of stories these media cover – hard news or soft news?
Hard news stories contain lots of hard facts and figures? They're about new developments and breakthroughs and people and their achievements. The Knostrop wind turbine is a hard news story. So is the British Transport Police court case.
Soft news stories, on the other hand, focus on softer issues such as lifestyle or human interest features, TOTs (triumph over tragedy), personal relationships or personal experience stories. The Leeds International Film Festival and the Brownlee Foundation stories are both soft news stories. The Spadger's bike ride is also a soft news story - although the press release isn't a story at all!
The more you know about your target media, the better you can tailor your story ideas to fit their framework. You’ll also get a feel for the story cycle – for instance, Good Morning Britain, recently carried a story about a 16-year-old with Chronic Fatigue syndrome who had been posting selfies of herself online to illustrate how the illness affects her on a day-to-day basis. They are not going to cover similar stories any time soon.
And it's unlikely that other national media will either.
However, if you have an employee or a colleague or a volunteer who is doing something similar, think about how the story might appeal to other media. Your local newspaper, perhaps? Or the specialist trade or business press. Give the idea a new twist. This is my client, who blogs about how she copes with ....
The other option is simply to park the idea for a few months and then come back to it later when you might be able to hang a seasonal peg to the story idea. Which brings us to Rule 5...
The rules
Rule 5: How do you second guess what the news editor might need?
The answer is planning and preparation - thinking ahead in other words.
But, first an explanation: as well as hard and soft news, news stories can also be categorised in two other ways - as off diary and on diary stories.
Off diary stories are unpredictable: “Train passengers escape unharmed after lorry hits rail bridge.” But might just as easily be a story about: “Axe killer who hacked his wife to death is walking the streets.” Clearly, in most cases, you can't make a contribution to these stories (unless it happened in your community) but, I’d expect your national representatives to chip in here with authoritative comments about how cutbacks in community mental health therapists have left vulnerable people unsupported.
Or, here at Sheffield Hallam, an AHP lecturer might make a similar contribution.
But there’s also no reason why you shouldn’t approach your local media (clear it with your managers first) asking if they’d be interested in a feature on a day in the life of a mental health worker. And, an AHP lecturer at Sheffield Hallam might talk to the Sheffield Star about their research into the causes of stress experienced by social workers.
On diary stories are those than can be anticipated – events that happen every year, such as national No Smoking Day” or events that have been noted in the diary: “Charles and Camilla celebrate tenth wedding anniversary.” (At their home on the Balmoral estate.) The peg for this story is a good example of how an organisation can exploit a news event to generate publicity. Charles and Camilla married on April 9, in 2005 – not rocket science to work out that they’ll celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2015. So Good Morning Britain commissions a survey: More Brits than ever would welcome Camilla as Queen.
Second, many on diary stories – especially features – are cyclical – at certain times of year certain features crop up with predictable regularity.
Features on slimming and dieting are a good example. “New Year, New You.” “Spring clean your diet.” “Diet tips for a healthy Fall.” “Drop a dress size for Christmas.”
There’s an opportunity here for a dietician to contact his/her local newspaper and offer to put together some simple sensible eating tips and recipes at the appropriate time of year. But don’t suggest: “I could write some diet tips and recipes ideas for you.”
Instead, sell the idea: “A lot of your readers will be wanting to lose a few pounds before Christmas, I have some countdown to Christmas diet tips and recipes ideas I can send you that will help readers achieve their goals.” Give the news editor a peg on which he/she can hang the features idea. Not sure how to find a peg? I got all my headline ideas by Googling “spring diet stories, autumn diet stories, Christmas diet stories...”
And, notice too: “I can send you...” In other words, everything is written and ready to fire off at the drop of a hat.
And think ahead: it’s no good making that phone call a fortnight before Christmas – How long will it take me to drop a dress size? Two weeks? Four weeks? Your phone call needs to come at the right point in the production cycle. I’d make this call around autumn half term week.
Never phone immediately before deadline – unless your story screams “Hold the front page.” and, let’s face it – it almost certainly won’t! Instead, plan ahead – find out when the paper goes to press or when the magazine is put to bed. What time is a news programme broadcast? Ring up after the programme has gone out or the newspaper or magazine deadline has passed. Journalists are more receptive to ideas when they’ve got a blank canvas and the next edition to fill.
The rules
Rule 6: You can’t be sure how often the generic e mail box get checked – probably only on very slow news days! Instead get the name and telephone number and email address of the person who will decide whether or not to use your release. It’s easy enough to find out who they are. Read the publication. Watch/listen to the TV/radio bulletins. Name check the education correspondent, the business editor, home and lifestyle reporter...
You can also check the news website for e mail addresses and contact details. Can’t find an e mail address? You should be able to work out the address formats from the ones that are listed – sales and advert contacts, for instance. Can’t find telephone numbers for individual journalists? Ring the switchboard – and ask. The main switchboard number is always listed. Switchboard should also be able to provide e mail addresses too. Social media networks, such as Twitter and LinkedIn can also be useful. (Follow/connect with your target journalists too.)
The rules
Rule 7: I know I only asked for six rules but you'll improve your chances of success if you can write in a style and structure that follows the way journalists tackle story writing. We call it the pyramid structure or the inverted triangle.
Journalists don't start at the beginning: Once upon a time a girl called Cinderella lived in a big castle with her step-mother and step-sisters.. Instead they start at the end: Prince Charming is to marry a penniless kitchen maid.
It's a totally different way of approaching story telling and we don't have time today to explore it. But if you'd like to develop your writing skills further, we will be running a full day media writing event later this summer.
In the meantime, rather than tying yourself up in knots trying to write in an unfamiliar style and format, focus on answering the six Ws.
Who is the story about?
What are they doing or what has happened to them?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Why did it happen?
How did it happen?
A Letter to...
The media loves human interest features.
Celebrate your triumphs by asking customers/clients if they would agree to be interviewed.
If they’re nervous about speaking to the press, arrange for someone from your employer’s PR team or your TU PR team to write a human interest press release.
Ask customers/clients to write to your bosses. Encourage your boss to pass these letters further up the hierarchy.
Ask customers/clients to write to the press praising the work you do.
They might say no. But they might also say yes.
