Everyone has a story to tell, and my years as a journalist convinced me that good leads can turn up in the least likely places. Nowadays, as a PR professional, I’m still on the lookout for the compelling stories that will help companies share their unique and engaging stories with their audience.
But in today’s vastly changed media landscape, the way in which those messages and stories are disseminated has evolved rapidly and dramatically.
How we consume news
According to the University of Canberra’s annual ‘Digital News Report: Australia 2018', digital platforms (websites, apps, social media and blogs) have now surpassed traditional platforms like TV, radio and print as a news source for Australians, for the first time in four years of surveys.
While TV news bulletins and 24-hour news channels are still popular with Australian audiences, the survey identified a significant rise in the use of online and social media as a main source of news. Not surprisingly, the study found more than 70% of 18 to 24-year-olds use social media for news, and almost 40% of this age group nominate social media as their main source of news, compared to older participants who preferred TV news.
Previous digital reports have noted that millennials - who’ve grown up with digital on-demand social and mobile video viewing - may never switch on to live scheduled news programming on a single device even as they grow older. Given these generational shifts in news consumption, it’s more important than ever to understand how your prospective audience is consuming news so that you can determine your overall media strategy.
If your target audience is older, traditional mainstream media will be your goal, if you are trying to connect with a younger audience, you’ll want to embrace digital platforms and social media. These days, it’s more likely to be a combination of the two.
All in the hook
Regardless of how your story is viewed, it needs to have a strong hook or angle. Newsrooms receive hundreds of pitches from PR companies every week, and it’s the stories that are well-written, informative, concise, quirky, visual and newsworthy that are most likely to be picked up.
Learning to identify your company’s good news stories takes practice. It helps to think like a journalist. When it comes to good news stories, journalists love innovation and are always on the lookout for what’s trending.
So, if you have a new development, a bold new business partnership, a new product, a unique customer testimonial relating to your product, a fascinating human-interest story, or perhaps a service solution that is leading the way in your industry, you have the makings of a good story.
About the Author - Tracey Challenor
Tracey is an experienced media all-rounder who spent decades working as a journalist and TV news presenter bringing the big news stories of the day to a statewide audience on Channel 7.
For the past 10 years she has worked in a variety of ...
