Newspapers are shrinking and there are fewer reporters to cover our stories, how do we still get our news out?
Create “news they can use”
Two trends in news – newspaper decline and the advent of 24-hour digital news cycle – make it a good time for you to start to distribute your news, your way. Take a page from TV newsrooms that know one of the most popular items they can air are consumer stories that help viewers figure out what to buy, when and where. Chances are you have some practical advise for your customers or members about your products or services. Some people call this “brand journalism” – we call it “news you can use.”
If you’d like to develop a “news you can use” mandate then:
- Hire a former TV news producer to build a newsroom focus for your communications team.
- Embrace the tools and technology that allows you to speak to your clients and share news with them directly and digitally.
- Commit to developing solid databases of your audiences that allow you to push specific news to target groups on a regular basis.
- Understand that your news has to actually be newsworthy and that “news” is different than what your advertising and marketing departments do. Put your business news through the same rigours a newsroom editor would or put it through our News Values Test.
MORE: With years of television and news experience we help script, shoot and edit “news you can use videos” for our clients that are posted on their websites or pushed out in our E-releases.
