What the Western Morning News needs from you!

A few months ago I was in the Western Morning News with a group of other PRs, talking with the paper’s editor.

A colleague, Sue Bradbury, commented on how difficult it was to get coverage for small businesses. Couldn’t they have a dedicated page? “Great idea!” said Alan. And the rest is history. 

For small Westcountry businesses wanting to get regional exposure about new developments, this is brilliant.

So what are they looking for? The text from an email sent to me from the WMN's deputy Business Ed, Catherine Barnes, may help you.

I’d asked Catherine whether she liked the current fashion for packaging press releases into pretty email templates. Her response, as was every other journalist’s was: “God, No!” And then she added…

BUT A GREAT PICTURE ALWAYS HELPS- ESPECIALLY IF IT IS AVAILABLE HI-RES AND IN FOCUS!

When sending emails:  A nice, clear type font is good- don’t make them too ‘busy’.

A readable format:  

Sum up the story’s main message in sentence- or two.

Further information:

Tell us:

The name of the company and where it is based (town, please- as we are a regional paper, so Devon/Cornwall is too vague.)

The role of the spokesperson and/ or  subject the item is focused upon

When the event happened- or is set to take place

When was the business established and how many employees does it have?

Avoid jargon and any acronyms should be initially  accompanied by words they stand for, in full.

Useful daytime contact numbers- preferably the client’s- we like to get the story down, in our own words.

Please try to ensure that the client (and you!) will be available if we follow up; I’ve been taken aback by the number of people who appear to head off on holiday the moment they press ’send’.

For business news, please include figures if possible, when referring to growth, or investment, figures. If an exact sum cannot be disclosed, then a percentage increase from the previous year/month is a good indicator.

*The Western Morning News  SME  Business News page now runs on the last Monday of every month and will provide you with the best idea of all, in terms of how we deliver our content.

*WMN business pages also run daily, Tues-Sat, with our extended supplement on a Thursday and special supplements covering Green innovation, local business growth appearing at various dates throughout the year. Again, you can keep in touch with what we – and the businesses we cover- are doing, by reading the paper- and encouraging your clients to do the same!

As Catherine said - Hope this unsolicited feedback is of use!