SEVEN THINGS YOU CAN DO
TO BOOST MEDIA COVERAGE
By CHRIS JOHNSON,
Director of Communications, The Fuller Center for Housing
(with 22-plus years of experience in the journalism industry)
1. Make sure your release is news: Think of it this way: The sun came up again today. OK, I
guess that's not news. It provided light for plants to conduct photosynthesis and grow. That's
good, but it's not really news, either. But if the sun didn't come up today, it would be huge news.
If the sun fired off a round of solar flares that disrupted TV signals and cell phones, that would
be news. If the sun begins powering all our homes and cars, that's news.
The Fuller Center for Housing and our covenant partners are positive organizations who do
great things. So do many nonprofits. Unfortunately, to most media outlets, that's not news. That
we build and repair houses is not news to them. In their eyes, nonprofits doing their usual thing
is like calling them to say the sun came up again today, in case they wanted to do a story about
it. But a specific event, a build, a repair job, a fundraiser, a heartwarming or gut-wrenching
homeowner story is. Search for that unique angle. Ask homeowners about their history, their life
story. Everybody has a story. We've just got to find it and share it.
If media outlets know they can count on you to deliver real news and real interesting tidbits,
they'll begin taking second looks at your press releases and studying them more closely. They'll
take your phone calls and return them. And, if you keep getting them great news stories that
make their product more interesting, at some point they just might start contacting you and
asking, “So … got any news for me?”
SO, DON'T contact media outlets with non-news. They will begin to tune you out and then
doubt your credibility when you DO have big news. It's “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” syndrome.
2. Make it informal, if possible: Rather than a generic press release sent to an organization, try to
make direct contact with the person within the organization who would either do the story, run
the story or instruct someone to run the story. Often, the person at a newspaper in charge of
assigning stories is called a “metro editor” or “city editor,” while the person in charge of
assigning stories at TV and radio stations is usually called a “news director.”
By sending items directly to the right people, you can say things like, “Hey Bill, we've got a
story you might be interested in ...” instead of a who-what-when-where press release. You can
still provide all the details they need. It's also good to include web links for more detailed
information. Make it easy for them to go get the information. Most media members would
rather go get the information than to have it thrust upon them.
SO, DON'T underestimate the value of a direct contact.
3. Provide good, big photos: With tighter staffing, newspapers aren't taking as many of of their
own photos as they used to. Yet, they still need good art. Unfortunately, most folks in the
community, including nonprofits and even major corporations, provide photos that are either
poor quality or (more often) too low of a resolution and size to use. Resolution should be 180
DPI and the size should be as big as possible. If it's less than 1 megabyte, then it's probably too
small. Hand the media a CD of photos if possible. More than one large photo may not get
through to them on e-mail. And ALWAYS send them in jpeg format unless otherwise requested.
Newspapers especially are less likely to use a photo of people standing in a line looking at the
camera as if they're about to be executed or a grip-n-grin check passing photo. Get people in
action. Try to catch people naturally.
SO, DON'T provide media with small photos or too many unnaturally posed photos.
4. Keep printed press releases to one page and keep emails short: Fact is, most press releases
go unread by media outlets. They take a quick glance, and if no key words leap off the page at
them, they either get put in a “read later (never actually)” stack or sail into the trash can.
While we may be justified in thinking we have 3 or 4 pages worth of good information that a
media outlet should know, every page beyond page simply increases the chances it doesn't get
read at all.
In emails, give the pertinent details (time, place) as succinctly as possible and include web links
instead of spelling everything out. This makes the email much shorter and less of a commitment
for them to read. If media members open a long email, they're more likely to close it
immediately and come back later … if at all.
So, hit the highlights. Give them the who-what-when-where ASAP. No flowery language
needed. This isn't the time to gun for that Pulitzer Prize you always wanted.
SO, DON'T send press releases longer than one page or long emails.
5. Make generic e-mails count: Even if you don't know the specific person to contact, make
emails short and to the point. Problem is, also like printed press releases, too many of them go
directly to the trash – albeit the virtual trash.
In addition to keeping e-mails to the point, here are three ways to increase the chances that your
email will be seen:
(1) Make your subject line catch an eye. Instead of something like “Fuller Center news” or
“Press release”, be specific like “Mayor to get dirty at build” or “TV star joins local project”
(2) Don't flower it up with images and logos that make an email slow to load or a pain to read.
They just want the facts, and if they're waiting for something to load, they just might decide to
abort and hit the “stop” button.
(3) Call the newsroom's main number and ask to whom you should send it. No matter the media
outlet, the person who most often answers the newsroom phone is a multi-tasking secretary or
versatile assistant who knows what everybody in the newsroom is doing. Directing your email
to the right person will increase its chances of getting read.
SO, DON'T send long, flashy emails with vague subject lines.
6. ALWAYS, be thankful: No matter what. Even if they tell you they can't or won't cover your
event or won't be able to run your submission. Be polite. Don't be sarcastic. Simply say, “Well, I
really do appreciate your listening.”
During my newspaper days, I dealt with many, MANY people who were angry they didn't get
exactly what they wanted from the paper. Some would even immediately cut off contact and
discontinue communication with the newspaper … cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Media outlets would love to appease everyone, but they simply don't have the ability or space to
make everyone happy.
But when it comes down to their making a decision between two items, whose do you think
they will publish? The one from the person who moaned, groaned, fussed and whined when
their last submission failed or the one from the person who was friendly and polite?
It's just plain ol' common sense that you get more flies with honey.
SO, DON'T complain when you don't get the results you want. Don't be the person who causes
media members to sigh and roll their eyes when someone says, “So-and-so is on line one
again!” Be friendly with the media so that you're not always told, “I'm sorry, she's in a meeting
right now. May I take a message?”
7. Contact us! Contact The Fuller Center for Housing's communications department if you have
any questions about handling any situation with the media. Our communications department
longs for news items to publish anyway and wants to hear what you've got going on. We want to
share your good work with the world. Sometimes having a well-written article on our website
makes it easier to pitch it to the media. And we don't mind if they print our news articles wordfor-word.
Call Director of Communications Chris Johnson at 229-924-2900 or email
cjohnson@fullercenter.org.
SO, DON'T forget to use us!