Does the thought of writing a press release throw you into disarray? Maybe planning to speak to a journalist fills you with dread? Would you rather decline the opportunity of a radio interview for fear of making a fool of yourself?
Fear no more! This section of my website is aimed at helping you to get good press coverage and find the most effective ways of promoting your business, sharing your vision or telling your story. Having worked for over twenty five years in TV and radio journalism and a further ten years in public relations, I’ve put together some tips that will generate positive media attention for your project.
Firstly, get to know one or two local journalists with whom you can build up a good working relationship. You will find the media can be a helpful ally. Local press and broadcasters have a good reputation for local accuracy: they know the area. They rely on local contacts and must keep a good reputation.
I shall be adding more pages with publishing tips to help you get your message across and make the news.
In the meantime, you can get some useful information from the following links:
- Before you approach a journalist, or even begin to write, remind yourself what is newsworthy?
- The crucial points to consider when you begin writing a press release
- What are news values? How do journalists decide which stories to publish?
- Who are citizen journalists? How reliable are they?
- What is fake news? How did it originate?
- Why are tabloid newspapers so popular?
- Mind your language – a plea for using plain English so that everyone can understand you
- Essential advice for handling radio and television interviews in studio or on location
- Designing a leaflet that will ensure get you noticed and market your project
- Enhance your story by taking photographs – the right picture is worth a thousand words – attach a well chosen picture when you send a news story to your local newspaper
- My page on spelling out names and weird words explains how the NATO phonetic alphabet is the best way to spell out difficult words or names
- Local media – a list of Cambridgeshire newspapers, radio and television stations