Writing for the press
Writing news releases and articles for newspapers and magazines may seem an odd thing to have to do, when journalists are trained and employed to do it! However, these days, newspaper and magazine staffing levels are very low. The single most important thing to remember is that journalists are very busy people, and you stand to benefit by making life easy for them.
Whether you are submitting a news release or a full article, make sure that it is interesting for the readers of the publication and that it doesn’t contain any typing, spelling or grammatical errors. If an editor has to spend time rewriting it or correcting it, he/she will dump your material in the bin, however important the subject.
Above all, do your research and ensure your information is accurate.
Spotting (or making) a good story
Journalists are always on the lookout for newsworthy stories. ‘Newsworthy’ means something that the readers of their publication will find interesting – not necessarily what you find interesting! The greatest mistake you can make is to look at things from the ‘inside out’ – it may be really important to you that your club is celebrating its 10th birthday, but readers of a newspaper or magazine are likely to say ‘what’s in it for me?’ They aren’t interested in the birthday, but may well want to know about your celebrations, especially if they can get involved! Try and include one or more of these in your stories:
· something unusual – e.g. a personal challenge that someone has achieved
· something of local or community interest – e.g. an invitation to a taster event
· something topical – e.g. a seasonal story about a lake icing over, or a special Easter event
· something about people – e.g. the profile of an active club member
· something relevant to a national issue – e.g. a story about how your club is responding to the DDA by getting planning permission to improve accessibility
Remember, people read papers, and people write and produce papers. So it’s not a surprise that people like reading about people. If you are asked to report on a new boat, then get a disabled sailor to use it and describe the experience– what they say is much more relevant and interesting than the fact the boat is made of polystyrene-carbon fibre sandwich, has two keels and three rudders!
And if you’re looking for volunteers, submit your article during the winter – when they’re not sailing, and they’ve got the time to read it!
Writing news releases
The job of a news release is to catch the attention of a journalist in the two seconds it takes him/her to pick it up from the in-tray and throw it in the bin!
Make sure it is newsworthy and error free (see above), and that it is produced in the way a journalist expects to read it. Phone and introduce yourself to the news editor and ask to whom the release should be addressed. Check if it should be e-mailed, faxed or posted, and what the next deadline is. The following hints will help you to produce a good release:
· Type it – handwriting is not an option!
· Put the date and a contact name and number clearly at the top.
· Include a snappy headline to attract attention.
· Answer the questions who? what? why? when? where? and how? in the first paragraph – it may be the only one the journalist reads, or prints.
· Fill in the background in later paragraphs.
· Never give opinions, only facts.
· Include a quote from someone involved in the story if you can.
· Put in dates, rather than ‘yesterday’ or ‘next week’.
· Keep the release short and simple – try to avoid going onto a second page.
· Include a high quality, labelled photo, or type ‘photo opportunity’ at the top - if the release is good, a news photographer may come to you.
Writing articles
Much of the above advice is still relevant for an article requested by an editor. Make sure your piece is interesting and easy to read. Use short sentences rather than long ones that can be hard to understand. Avoid clichés, and write economically, as if every word costs you money! And make sure you write the number of words you have been asked for.
By all means, use your computer’s spell-checker and grammar proofer – but remember that they won’t pick up everything: for example ‘their’, ‘they’re’ and ‘there’ are all spelt correctly – which one did you mean to write?
It can be very useful to read your article aloud. If you can't read a sentence without gasping for breath, it’s too long. If it sounds pompous, rewrite it and make it sound as though you were explaining the subject to a friend. In other words, let it flow naturally and smoothly with a rhythm personal to you.
Finally, remember that a picture is worth 1000 words – it will attract attention to your press release or article. Just make sure you have permission to use it from the people in it (or their guardians) and the photographer.