Newspegs - Getting Attention With The Press

I was really lucky. Early on in my PR career, I had enough gumption and follow-through to get the attention of a television journalist who was interested in my client’s story. She couldn’t just report on it as is, however, and asked me for a newspeg. “What’s a newspeg?” I asked, and her answer, and its application to getting yourself some publicity, is the topic of this week’s marketing tip.

Newspegs have been broadly defined by some, but I’ve kept mine to the formula first revealed by my helpful television journalist: tie in your PR pitch to some sort of event, be it world news, economic forecasts, current events, or turning point for your own company, that would make reporting on it more timely and interesting.

Why is this all so important to a journalist? Well, let’s think about it — reporting news is a hugely competitive business. Every journalist wants to be the first to break a story. It’s why some publications are consistently more well-read than others. Stories need information, however, and sometimes even “filler.” Pitching a reporter using a newspeg may prove you to be just the resource they need for this information or filler, and the next thing you know, you’ve made the news!

HOW TO DEVELOP NEWSPEGS

Start by examining truly newsworthy events in your own company. Have you made some sort of significant breakthrough, developed a one-of-a-kind type of product, acquired a company, successfully implemented something unique? These are at least enough to get you started.

Next, research ways in which you can tie in your news with events of the world today. Keep up your reading with newspapers and trade journals for ideas. If there’s a good fit, work in a statistic or quote into your press release and be prepared with more facts should you be fortunate enough to be contacted by a member of the press. They’ll be looking for information on real life applications, outside testimonials, success stories and the like.

USING YOUR NEWSPEG

Although not the be all and end all, a press release is certainly the most fundamental way to send out your company news. Within it should be your newspeg information, the answer to the “why” of the “5 essential W’s + H” of public relations — “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?” “When?”, “Why?”, and “How?” All of these questions should be answered within the first paragraph of your press release.

You can also use your newspeg in pitching your story to the press, be that by email or by phone. Pitching stories to reporters is almost just as bad as attracting someone to a web site: you only have about 10 seconds to make a decent impression, so get that newspeg out right in front. Remember, however, that if it has no relevance to the news on which the journalist reports, they will have no interest whatsoever. So always check the appropriateness of your pitch.

So what if you’ve got nothing newsworthy to say? I say, uh-oh, you better take a look around you and do something that makes yourselves newsworthy (keep it clean, legal and non-violent, please!). If you can’t find anything interesting about yourselves to say, the press sure as heck won’t!

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