During my career as a PR professional, I've worked extensively in the arts, entertainment and hospitality industries. Following are some examples of projects that have resulted in good news coverage. I hope this will help you come up with some great, newsworthy projects of your own.
* The monthly "Tunesmithing On Music Row" event spotlighting songwriters lands coverage in most of the local calendars (in Nashville)... including The Tennessean, MetroMix and The Scene. Just about every "public event" is eligible for coverage in the calendars. Remember that deadlines can be up to 21 days in advance for newspapers.
* A big Beatles-style benefit for W.O. Smith School in 2009 received extensive coverage in local, regional and national media. The "news hook" was that some of the top stars in the business (Wynonna, Phil Keaggy, Jonny Lang), along with The WannaBeatles, would be performing their favorite Beatles songs for a great cause. You can't beat that for news value.
* A book signing/talk by National Vocabulary Coach of the Year Debbie Watts at Borders Books and Music drew coverage in the calendars, as well stories on local, regional and national levels. As a result, books orders for "Wordabulous!" are coming in from Oregon to Massachusetts.
* Landing a story can pay big dividends in credibility and exposure. A story on the front page of The Nashville Business Journal announcing the launch of new drug-dispensing technologies in the long-term care industry is still reverberating in the google search engines -- more than a year later!
To successfully land news coverage, it's important to do what the media pros do. Find a strong news hook and write a well-written press release (story) in Associated Press style. Give the media what they need, and always thank them for the coverage you receive, regardless of play.
Now put on your reporter's cap, and get to work!
(*Note: To learn more, please consider attending the next "Publicizing Your Dream" class or seminar in your area.)
Copyright 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Chuck Whiting is president and founder of Whiting Publicity & Promotions, a Nashville-based PR firm that specializes in publicity for businesses, organizations and professionals of all kinds. He also is the co-author and co-songwriter of The Littlest Star: a musical story, an internationally distributed holiday picture book and music CD. He teaches media writing at Middle Tennessee State University. You may contact Chuck at (615) 242-9857 or Arts@WhitingPublicity.com .
