Getting publicity for a local contest and special event

News, at its most basic level, is simply a way for people to find out what's going on. With that being our agreed definition, approaching news pitching at its core is simply telling the news what's going on, so they can decide what happenings are most worth telling their audience about. ​

The difficulty is that in larger markets, or national news covering the entire US and world, there's a lot of stories to tell and just a few people who are responsible for deciding which stories are most relevant. Your job as the storyteller is to explain in one quick glance why your story deserves to supercede the others in the lineup for space in their media network.

​The first story I ever pitched was the announcement of a local contest being hosted by a nonprofit organization. That organization bought a home, renovated it, and donated the home to a local hero. The program garnered over $20,000 in cash sponsorship, numerous donated construction team hours, and cost about $45,000 to buy the house and bring it to code.  

My job was to pitch that idea to a radio station host that our company CEO listened to, so that he would be interested in being part of the selection process and to talk about the contest the entire way through, announcing the winner on air and on television as he was also a TV reporter. 

What made it newsworthy:

• The program would be life changing for a special person who would be gifted a home they would own outright. 
• There were numbers that could be tracked including the sponsorship dollars we earned, hours of free construction by local contractors, and the full cost of the donated home. 
• Detroit, the city this was hosted in, had been a struggling real estate market, so the contest provided investment into the city to potentially move someone from the suburbs back into Detroit.
• Our CEO was an avid listener of the show and a super fan of the host, so he was excited to work with a fan. 
• The company was nonprofit and therefore could fit into their annual public service hours at the station.

Because of these elements, the radio host accepted the offer and was part of the program from beginning to end. 

Once the initial program was over, the next part of the project was to promote the awarding ceremony. The company hosts an annual Christmas Party with top business leaders and dignitaries on the invite list. This year, we also invited the winning family and celebrated the contractors who donated their hours to complete the home renovations.

What made it newsworthy:

• The party would celebrate a Detroit police officer, woman of color, and mother of three who would be awarded a ceremonial key to her new home. The police had taken a 10% pay cut, so it was timely to support someone on the force by reducing their life expenses.
• The key presentation ceremony was led by a local leader who was at the time the city council president. 
• The event was intentionally held at a Detroit arts center with a long and celebrated history.

These pitch elements drove interest from the local TV news and two cameramen arrived prior to the ceremony to film it and record an interview with the city leaders present.

The key to getting press for an event is in finding all of the most relevant elements surrounding the programming. What makes it locally relevant? What makes people care about this more than other things happening at the same time? What part of the daily news lineup does it fit into? Which producer or writer will care most and why? Knowing the answers to these questions will make the difference between being ignored and getting featured. 

When possible, inviting and confirming local leaders that are pressworthy on their own is a great way to solidify newsworthiness and get journalists to show up.

Lastly, it's all about timing. There are things you cannot control and much of PR is about being in the right place, with the right story, at the right time. Don't take rejection personal and always be prepared to keep trying with other news opportunities along the way.