Last night, I attended The Publicity Club of New England’s program on Securing TV Coverage in a Major Market. It was a great session! Fred Kocher – from WMUR-TV (ABC) – moderated a panel consisting of Jack Auresto, Planning Manager of WFXT-TV (FOX 25); Lauren Bettencourt, Managing Editor of the Local News Service at WBZ and FOX 25; Linda Olsen, News Assignment Editor at NECN; and last, but definitely not least, Joe Roche, News Assignment Editor at WCVB-TV (ABC).
It’s every client’s dream to get TV coverage, however news assignment editors are swarmed with emails for us PR folk every day, all day trying to fulfill this dream for our clients. The panel was great and offered excellent insight as to how to get their interest. They also said not to take it personally if you don’t always hear back with a response – they’re essentially working in a tornado.
Here are a couple highlights from last night:
After all the fires & robberies are covered, how do they make their decision as to what to feature next?
Roche: He sees what people are clicking on. It’s about giving people news items that they are interested in and want to see. The news is 3 parts: what the audience wants to know, what the audience needs to know and what the audience didn’t know.
Olsen: At NECN keep in mind there are different areas to tap into: the Business Show, CEO corner, etc. She tries to look for a mix of stories and noted 3 very important things a pitch should be packaged with:
1. Make it visually pleasing
2. Make it of human interest
3. Have the story be relatable
Bettencourt: LNS covers many things that some of the other stations couldn’t. She loves community outreach stories.
Let’s talk on-air vs. web, do they choose different stories for each?
Auresto: We don’t wait till the 6 o’clock news to break a story that happened at noon. It’ll be put on the web (but it still may be covered during the 6 o’clock news). The Web is like having a sister-station. Everything is moving to the Web.
Roche: For instance, if there is a news conference, only part of it might be shown on TV – but you’ll be able to see the entire conference online.
What don’t they cover?
Olsen: Dry meetings or events that are more like a dry meetings. Stuff that isn’t visually stimulating.
Auresto: You have to think, “Do I want to watch this on the 10 o’clock news?” Fine a compelling story about what you are pitching.
Bettencourt: Also, if you send releases about events, have an interesting person available at the event.
Top Dos and Don’ts
Bettencourt: Don’t send an email then call 5 seconds later. You can call, but remember she always is checking email, but she might be busy. Give her time to digest. Do, however, leave contact information including cell phone numbers.
Auresto: Contact information is extremely important. Put that up front with details below. *Regarding events
Olsen: Establish a relationship. She’ll take a few minutes to talk to you if you start a relationship with her. Also, remember you don’t always have to pitch the assignment editors, build relationships with others at the station too.
Roche: Relationships are important. Don’t call too close to news time. Don’t pitch the same exact thing to him that you are pitching to another station.
A couple other interesting pieces I got out of last night:
Roche: He said they aren’t a bunch of prima donnas, so do reach out.
Auresto: He files all the experts he receives, so send him a list of clients and what they can talk about/specialize in.
All-in-all, the panel stressed the fact that they just want to put together an awesome newscast. Think about what you would want to see on the news, create a good story for your pitches and offer them a nicely packaged story idea.
Share on Facebook
Technorati Tags: FOX 25, NECN, Pitching News Station, Pitching Tips, TV Coverage, WBZ, WCVB-TV, WFXT-TV, WMUR-TV
