Is your news newsworthy?
Having the privilege of working as a journalist, and then public relations professional for more than 15 years, I know what many think is newsworthy, generally isn’t.
This sounds harsh, but with the deluge of events, breaking news items, central government announcements, press releases, and international current affairs; your piece of news is likely to be passed over by journalists.
Here are five well documented factors which you should consider when deciding if your story is newsworthy. Normally a story should perform well in at least two areas.
1. Timing – Is your news current? If it happened today, it’s news. It is no longer interesting if it happened last week.
2. Significance – How many people are affected by the story is important. This applies for good news stories and unfortunately accidents and natural disasters too.
3. Proximity – There are two ways to think of this point. Firstly, local stories have more significance to local media outlets.
Also, proximity doesn’t just apply to geographical distance. Some stories will be of interest to groups who share a bond or similarity. A good example is Māori media. If there is a story that resonates to their audiences, there is a higher likelihood that they will cover it.
4. Prominence – Famous people get more coverage because they are famous.
5. Human Interest – These types of stories appeal to emotion (amusement or sadness) and are less time dependent to produce. Television news programmes often end their show on a feel-good note with a humorous of quirky story. Newspapers often dedicate space for interesting and offbeat items.
Now you know what newsworthy topics are, my next blog will focus on taking this news and pitching it to journalists.