Then why do so many people and great organizations trying to pitch great announcements in news releases not include a few nice photos or even a video link, that is easily downloadable without embedding yet another YouTube video? (Though that IS preferable to no video at all!)

Many people/organizations do, but you might be surprised how many don’t. A middle ground is best – not a link to dozens of photos to wade through, pick your best, include a Goldilocks (not too big/small) dramatic illustration you’d love to see posted/aired with your announcement.

And so, I inevitably ask for a pic or two, maybe a logo or graphic that helps tell the story.

Please think that through before hitting “send.” It’ll be worth both our times.

Well hi there. Yep, still at it, at 68. Blessed to be doing so!

Never catching up … always “one more thing.”

Someone asked me today for tips on how to do a press release. (I prefer news release, the “press” is… well, they’re almost gone, literally;-)

So I always say “Google is my friend – yours too.’ Long before AI became The Thing, it could help you find lots of great sources for any kind of info. (I also recommend Reddit as a great place to interact with real people and get valuable help on any topic under the sun!)

Anyway, check this out if you’d like a starting place for News Release 101: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht

And hit me up any time for advice, or to review a draft. I’m full of …. suggestions. (Among other things – jokes, stories, etc.;-)

Why oh why are government (and other) news releases festooned with the waste of time of giving the acronym immediately after an agency’s or program’s name — repeatedly, redundantly, ad nauseam?

Who started this? And who will stop it?

I have my pet peeves, but there are more basic elements to also share with folks about how to craft a good, relevant news release/pitch (media advisory) and get it to the right folks.

So check this out!

https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-to-get-local-press-coverage/

It shouldn’t need to be said, and yet…

When I post releases from various groups to the KTVZ.COM Community Billboard, I sometimes am surprised that groups might include a name, a phone number – but not a Website address for their group or organization!

I mean, that’s such low-hanging fruit! (Granted, others go way too far, every other word being a link. There’s a balance there, as in all things.)

I actually sometimes go Google and add the group’s Web address, go find a logo, etc. For the reader as much as the organization.

(By the way, our Community Billboard page is a great place to look for examples if you are unsure just how to write up a news release. Some are short, others long, some well-written, others… well, I do what I can.)

And please, send them as straight text or Word .docs – not Adobe .pdfs, which DON’T do well usually in cut-and-paste, which is the only way yours truly can post so much stuff. Yes, I’m asking for spoon feeding, in exchange for giving your information some valuable visibility;-)

Speaking of spoon-feeding, be sure to make the link in your release take you to the page with the info on the event or announcement, not to your home page. Don’t make people hunt!

FlashAlert Newswire is a great, growing news release dissemination option for many govt. agencies, groups etc. – it gets you past the chore of creating and maintaining media mailing lists, and get me past our corporate spam filter, which “protects” me from links in emailed releases (the ones in the email body, not a separate attachment). Those are turned into a mess I have to click through and fix.

Saving me and other editors’ time is a sure-fire way to boost the odds of your stuff being used. And while social media is a great way to get your message to folks directly, the media has its place in helping broadcast your info widely. Help us help you!

Well, hello there, folks.

I’ve pointed people here at least once every few weeks for a long time, for all that “free advice worth every penny you pay for it.”

But getting here to post? I’ve been remiss.

I need to keep using it as a compendium of advice, pet peeves and thoughts on how to help people, from those who do PR and want to do it better to those who have never written a press release in their life and don’t know where to start, or …. well, here’s a grand example.

I love to post full news releases at KTVZ.COM, because it gives us depth other sites don’t have, it’s easy (when they come in as text in an email or as a Word .doc – for my purposes, Adobe PDFs suck because they cut-paste so poorly.) Oh, and link-filled releases are messed up by our corporate spam filter, so cleaning them up takes time.

Anyway, a guy named in a govt. news release in a way that made him sound like a bad guy, but didn’t really accuse him directly — he called this weekend, asking if his name could be removed. In context, I made the judgment call that the agency had named him improperly – or at least not consistent with what they’d do in other cases. So I took it out.

I also informed him that beyond The Bulletin story with his name (which he knew of), The Associated Press had picked up their story in a brief item that also included his name. So he contacted them, and lo and behold, despite their VERY thin weekend staff, they ran it again – editing out his name,

I also was glad to forward him the news release, so he could see who put it out and who to contact. And to “prove” what I told him – that it had gone to 100s of media outlets around the state. So he has a long way to go to unring that particular bell.

I like helping people, especially when it can help us get better content with less editing needed – and that improves its odds of being used elsewhere. You can find my listed pet peeves throughout this blog, but ask me anything local media-wise, such as how to get the attention with a well-crafted release, etc., and I’ll do my best to answer.

I have told folks for years to use great social media to publicize their events, etc. – that they don’t need to go through the media any more, hoping or begging for an inch of print space or a moment of airtime.

Sometimes it was said, I admit, as a way to shuffle folks off, and say nicely that we don’t have time to publicize/cover every great event/announcement.

But a local law enforcement donkey basketball game I only learned of through a Facebook post a few minutes ago reminded me that if folks take that advice wrong – or in a way, take it too far – great things happen without us knowing! And alas, it’s happening more and more all the time (and who can follow all the vast social media counts, no matter what great tool you use? We only have two eyes, one brain and so many hours in a day!)

So let me be clear, I wasn’t saying to JUST go through social media. Mass media still has its place, and if we also know of your event/happening, with details and contact info, then we can make the call on whether to also cover it or tell folks about it in advance.

And having both kinds of “media” coverage is the best of both worlds – mass and personal/social. Right?

(PS a year later: It’s getting quite frustrating – even police are finding not only that social media is a great way to communicate, but they often don’t tell us what happened – a recent case of a missing person in our area, an “URGENT” post – wasn’t even sent to us as an email tipping us to check their Facebook page.

I use a great tool called Social News Desk to follow dozens of local police, fire and govt. Facebook/Twitter streams. Not to mention those of our station’s folks and our competitors. But I still only have two eyes, one brain and 60 minutes in an hour, etc. So knowing something is THERE is key. The soft stuff, I can see just popping to the social media. But even then, I don’t expect agencies to write them twice —  just use that media email list to give us a little head’s up to go check it out! Pretty please?)

I don’t want these all to sound like pet peeves, but … sometimes it can’t be helped.

We got a great news release today from a local agency. We wanted to go talk to them about it.

No one was available.

Really? On the very day the release was sent?

Here’s a strong suggestion: DON’T DO THAT.

It’s unfair to your recipients and very likely will blow the chances at a follow-up, which you want so much.

Now granted, I’m in a TV newsroom, and not everyone who wants to put out a news release wants to go on camera that very day. But someone should be available to do so.

Or WAIT TO PUT IT OUT until someone IS available.

That makes sense, right? I mean, you don’t invite everyone in the neighborhood to your house, then lock the door – or be gone?

If you have to send a release when no one is available, put in the release who to contact and when they will be available.

You’ll go a very long way toward fostering a better relationship with the media you are courting.

Want to get your news releases used more, with happier recipients? Here’s some little ways to do just that, courtesy of what sticks in my brain from the past week of releases:

—Don’t write in the first person. Save “our,” “we” and “us” for your flyers and newsletters. The world, for better or worse, is frantic for content, and so editors do a lot more cutting and pasting. If you make them change “we” to “they” and reconstruct your verbiage, they may decide it’s not worth the time and hassle. So please, use third person.

—Don’t put things in a headline you leave out of the body of your release. Don’t put “sixth annual” event in the headline, just as an example, and never repeat that little fact anywhere in the body of your release. It’s very likely to get lost – or again, require an editor to insert that valuable point, which you surely can’t count on happening.

—Don’t use two spaces between sentences. Maybe they taught that in typing class, but it’s not how newspapers, magazines or Web texts read these days. One space is fine. Oh and on a related note, please don’t double-space your releases, or feel the need to indent paragraphs. Quite old school, as few folks mark up printed news releases any more.

You might also make sure to made a Word .doc attachment of your release, not just a PDF (dang those Adobe Acrobat hard right margins) and not just an in-line release – our company has quite a corporate spam filter, which turns every Web link into spaghetti. You can imagine the hassle that causes when one just wants to cut, paste, tweak and post a release.

So please, make it easier on us, and there’s a far greater likelihood your message will get picked up as you hoped, and without errors or headaches you end up having to deal with. Win-win!;-)

I have created an embryonic stub of this site in more Website creation tools than I care to think about.

But WordPress.com has its advantages – simplicity, cost, etc.

Now to build this out as close to my vision as possible – to be able to help those who want, even need media coverage get it – as well as to offer style tips, checklists and also some insight into why local media do what we/they do (and don’t do what we/they don’t do.)

Because while TV, newspaper, radio and magazines on the local side of content are each different, they have some common threads – and also are often unfairly lumped in with their national counterparts. Or those who need to interact with them don’t understand how the Sheboygan Daily Whatever or Yourtown.com differ — greatly — from the CNNs and Foxes and big national news brands.

So they can get intimidated, confused, frustrated – and more.

I’ve done just about every kind of local journalism there is, including a 5-year stint as a Web-only reporter.As such, I’ve been on the receiving end of 10s of thousands of story pitches, media advisories, news releases, pleas for coverage and … requests for advice. Freely given. And it’ll be freely given here, too.

But since there’s no one place to point folks to for such information and guidance, I’m taking it upon myself to do so. I hope you find it useful – and if there’s some question you’ve always wanted to ask reporters or editors, I’m your guy.