Thursday, 12 January 2012

The five words every hack loves to hear


If you want media coverage there are five little words that will help grab your key journalists' attention.

The Who, What, Where, When and Why are the essential elements of every news story. 

They need them. You need to given them.  

Who                – the source of the story. Is it you? Make that clear.
What               – you’ve won an award, achieved record sales – this is the crux of the story.
Where             – has your story happened? Are you the best in the South West or just in Torquay? Make sure if you give a location you also give the county or region. 
When              – You need to show why your story is current news. The sooner you tell them the more newsworthy you are.
Why                – What led to this event? What makes it a problem? What made the award winners stand out? What makes your story interesting?

Now you need to practice.

First of all, scan a newspaper and identify the five W of each story. You will almost always find them all in the first two sentences of an article. Once you are used to looking for them you will see how easy it is to include them. 

Next, try summarising your own news in a couple of lines. When you’re confident you can explain your story clearly and quickly you’re ready to call the news hounds.

Ready? Go for it!

© Claire Crawley StartPoint PR 2012 

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