There’s no denying that the media industry has changed in the last decade. The entire industry has been turned on its head, in many ways for the better. Today, newsrooms are smaller while the sea of news and content is overflowing.
What hasn’t changed is what makes a story newsworthy.
It’s interesting to me that through the years, the characteristics of what is “newsworthy” haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve only become more important. (In fact, when doing media training with clients, we haven’t even had to change this part of the sessions.)
If you want coverage for yourself, company, product, service, event or so forth, it must meet one or all of these time-tested characteristics:
News = anything reporter thinks it is.
Remember this first and foremost.
Timeliness and “headline factor”
This matters more today than ever. In a real-time sea of news, the most timely and attention-grabbing story wins.
Competitive Advantage
Figure out how your story gives each media outlet the edge to keep viewers tuned in, readers to comment on a story, share with friends, or talk about over the water cooler.
Informative
Consider how helpful your story is and how many people it affects. For larger, traditional outlets, the more people affected, the more newsworthy it is. How helpful is what you have to say to the audience reading/seeing/hearing your story?
Prominent Market Player
The bigger your name, brand, products, etc., the more likely your story is for coverage. For example, a story about Wal-Mart or Apple is going to grab headlines more often than lesser known brands.
When it comes to what is newsworthy, it is really a case of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”