How to place your story

If you have to build your media contact list from scratch, use a good media directory or local phone book and organise your list in categories. Your library may have media reference books. You must be prepared to regularly update the names on your list as contacts can change frequently.

Personal phone calls are often needed to get the story placed. Prepare what you want to say and start the conversation by identifying yourself clearly, briefly get across what the story is and ask if this is a good time to talk. They may prefer to just receive the press release.

Even if you send a release directly to the individual, they may not have read it and might ask you to re-send it. That's a good sign. Or they may suggest you send it to someone else at the newspaper or station.

Getting a hit on the first try is terrific (and exhilarating). More often, perseverance and many calls to many contacts will have to be placed before a firm interview is set. If someone is clearly not interested, it's best to take "no" for an answer. If you push too hard, chances are you'll never place anything with that particular reporter in the future.

Don't be discouraged if you get little or no interest in a given story. Itís extremely rare to get 100 per cent interest.

Finally, thereís always the chance that a bigger story will come along and knock yours off the headlines ñ thereís nothing you can do about this! But just remember that you will have made a valuable media contact and improved your chances for the next time.

Should we hold a news conference?

Journalists are busy people and don't like attending a news conference if using a news release would suffice. Many organisations hold news conferences and are disappointed with the turnout. But if the information is particularly newsworthy and you have important people lined up to entice reporters and cameras, itís always worth considering - provided you pick the right time and organise it professionally.