How does the news determine which stories to publish?
I am familiar with sending press releases, but do some news sources feed off others?
For example, if I submit a press release to one news source (a small local paper), is it possible another local paper would feed off the press release and publish?
I think it depends a lot on the topic, and how the media outlet you submitted the release to handles it. If they use the release verbatim, or a rewrite, it’s not likely that other outlets will pick it up. BUT if the media outlet takes the story beyond the release… it’s very possible that it will be picked up by others. Best bet, though, send the release to all the media outlets in the market… follow up with a phone call, which may encourage the reporters to work up a story. And speaking from 20 years in a radio newsroom… if you send a release to the local paper, but not the broadcast outlets, there’s a tendancy to IGNORE the story entirely. Sad, but true.
I think the opposite would be more likely.
References :
I think it depends a lot on the topic, and how the media outlet you submitted the release to handles it. If they use the release verbatim, or a rewrite, it’s not likely that other outlets will pick it up. BUT if the media outlet takes the story beyond the release… it’s very possible that it will be picked up by others. Best bet, though, send the release to all the media outlets in the market… follow up with a phone call, which may encourage the reporters to work up a story. And speaking from 20 years in a radio newsroom… if you send a release to the local paper, but not the broadcast outlets, there’s a tendancy to IGNORE the story entirely. Sad, but true.
References :
20 years as broadcast journalist