To be successful with media relations you first need to understand the role of the media – and that is to deliver a good story that is interesting and relevant to their readers. Good quotes and good pictures also help.

While you want to promote your business and gain positive exposure, the media’s focus on a ‘good story’ means that they won’t simply produce an ad for you; rather the story needs to be genuinely newsworthy.

A typical news bulletin will contain a mix of these news values:

• New and developing
• Different, unusual or unique
• Relevant to large numbers
• Emotive/feel-good or human-interest
• Celebrity or pop culture
• Controversy or conflict

If you have a story in mind, it’s important to consider how it meets these news values and therefore, how newsworthy it really is. Always try and put yourself in the journalist’s shoes and ask the following questions:

• Is the story timely and relevant?
• Is it new or developing?
• Is it relevant to, or impact a large number of people?
• Does the potential story have any grandeur about it?
• Does it have a nice human-interest element to it?
• Can it be supported with an interesting visual or photo?

If you work through this checklist and the answer is largely no, then don’t waste the journalist’s time by pitching a story of limited editorial quality. Instead, consider how you can rework or build on the story to ensure it does meet these news values.

If the answer is yes – and a confident yes – then you’re ready to pitch your story to the media!

If you want to learn more about how to use the media to help build your business, then check out our Mastering the Art of Media Relations Toolkit. Happy reading and good luck!