Getting featured in the press requires something to be newsworthy

Crazy concept right?

Whilst the goal for you may be to get the publication’s logo on your website, journalists want news. They report on new, interesting, critical or entertaining information. 

So the key to getting press coverage is by giving journalists access to this information. This means that you have to go beyond the features of your product or service, what you offer or your opinion and give them something that is going to educate, inform or entertain their readers. 

It means drawing from the bigger picture. Drawing on the root causes. Talking about the effects of, rather than the process. Below are the seven elements that constitute newsworthiness.

• Impact on the Audience. The most important element of newsworthiness is whether or not the pitch is going to impact the publication's audience. The more people affected, the greater the news interest. Whenever you’re writing a pitch, ask yourself, “how is this going to impact the journalists audience?” The answer should easily front and centre for the journalist.

• Proximity. Journalists are interested in presenting stories that impact their communities. Proximity spans physical space as well as concepts such as professions, sectors and industries. Journalists know exactly who their audience is, so when they receive a pitch which is irrelevant, they’ll look past it without batting an eyelid. In a pitch, it’s important to demonstrate that you know who their audience is. A great way to pitch a journalist is to help localise a global issue or provide insights on a local newsworthy matter.

• Timeliness. News consumers expect timely information and an event is more newsworthy the sooner it happens. News is precisely that; new information. Journalists don’t want to report on your product or service. For something to capture their interest it has to be timely, and journalists prefer to get news which is time sensitive–that is, news before it happens that they have to act on. It triggers scarcity and the feeling of FOMO. 

• Prominence. Events and announcements that involve high-profile or public figures are more likely to generate media coverage. In the start-up world, you can leverage this angle by collaborating or partnering with a bigger company or influential figure. 

• Conflict. Interesting stories often involve some kind of conflict. By definition, these stories are almost always controversial to some degree. As they say, “if you’re not offending someone, you’re not saying anything”.

• Human Interest. Often seen as “a story within a story” a human interest story tells the behind-the-scenes of people of interest and gives the audience a deeper level to which it can engage. Whilst many of the above news angles may feature human interest, a human interest story is a stand alone feature. And the person of interest is usually the founder or investor. They aim to tap into the emotional connection to an event or story, an insight into what you were feeling at the time and how it moved you.

Novelty/Shock Value. The novelty of a situation can help influence whether or not a news outlet is likely to cover a story. To a certain extent, this is what you’d expect to see after the weather on prime time TV, and it’s also why we like cat stories so much on the internet. When you push novelty to the edge, you get shock value. Shock value stories are mostly negative and invoke feelings of distrust and fear. We usually associate shock value stories with the right-wing and tabloid newspapers, but environmental charities and NGOs are guilty of pushing shocking angels in the media as well. Think of images of starving children in East Africa during the famine in the early 2000s or skinny polar bears looking through bins for food. Whilst these may be causes closer to our heart, they still attempt to shock viewers into a response.