A well-crafted broadcast news release can reach a vast audience quickly – but only if coverage is achieved.
A broadcast news release provides an opportunity for an organisation to showcase their message, story or brand in a concise and captivating way to their target audience – and can help shape public perception and influence decision making – but there is an art to convincing a broadcaster to use the release.
Here are five ways to craft impactful broadcast news releases:
Grab attention
With the sheer amount of content competing for attention, the opening statement made in any broadcast release must be compelling enough for a broadcaster to consider using the story. Making an immediate impact is critical. For example, it could be a provocative statement that will shock the broadcaster’s listeners or viewers and motivates them to find out what the rest of the story is about.
Clarity
It is essential that a broadcast news release is concise and unambiguous, or the producer or editor on the receiving end will reject it.
Offer some value
A broadcast news release should leave an audience satisfied, in a way that makes them feel in some way informed, educated, inspired or captivated. If a broadcaster feels the story achieves at least one of these elements, there is more chance that your story will be seen and heard.
Visual elements
If the news release leads to television coverage, the imagery that accompanies the release can be an effective way to put the story in the audience’s consciousness. When the right imagery accompanies a broadcast news release, it can be a very powerful driver for the key messages.
Carefully consider what the broadcaster wants
A successful broadcast news release can live long in the audience’s mind – but success in getting your story out there depends on the impact it has when presented to the broadcaster. A good broadcast release will deliver key messages to a target audience effectively, but the broadcaster will need to be convinced that the story is compelling enough for their audience.
