Then there are many, many minor angles, such as interpretive piece or consumer investigation. Don’t worry about these. Just learn to recognize a hard news story from a feature story.

4. Identifying Peg – A news story is different from an entry in an encyclopaedia. Both contain facts. But news requires a reason for facts to be told.

That reason is peg.

Don’t confuse peg with angle. The angle is reporter’s approach to story. The peg is reporter’s excuse for telling story.

For example, virtually any encyclopaedia contains an entry about tobacco. But reporter can’t pick up this entry and report it as news. The facts are there, but not peg.

However, if this morning a star athlete announces he has developed a cancer from using chewing tobacco, suddenly reporter has a peg – a reason – to write about tobacco.

Every news story, no matter angle, must have a peg. Without it, there is no reason to write story.

5. Making Deadline – Every journalist is racing against time. The TV news reporter is fighting a 3 p.m. deadline for 6 p.m. broadcast. The magazine reporter must meet a deadline three months from now. The Web reporter faces a new deadline every few minutes.

The deadline is just that: The last possible moment when reporter is allowed to file a story for print, broadcast or transmission.

Reporters who miss their deadlines lose their jobs.

6. Satisfying Boss – Every story must interest at least two people before it sees light. Those people are reporter and his editor.

If either one rejects story, it is dead.

The Boss also sets criteria for reporters: What they can cover, what they can pursue, how they can write their stories, what angles they can take, which pegs are acceptable and when deadline is due.

Make no mistake. You may never see The Boss. But world of journalism is ruled by editor, not reporter.

These are problems that face every reporter: Story, facts, angle, peg, deadline and editors.

The PR Rainmaker knows: If you can help reporters solve their problems, you can become their best friend. And therein lies great opportunity.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

2. Who cares? Virtually everyone.

Those two questions pushed Taliban to forefront of every mainstream newspaper, magazine, TV news program, radio news program and Web news site in world.

This is an extreme example, but it makes point.

If you want a story in mainstream media, your story idea must appeal to a well-defined audience. If you want your story to appear in a trade magazine for nanotech engineers, then your story idea must appeal to nanotech engineers. If you want your story to appear in a suburban weekly, then your idea must appeal to geographical, provincial interests of that weekly’s subscribers.

The PR Rainmaker knows: If you want news media to write about you or your company, you must clearly and concisely answer questions “What’s new?” and “Who cares?”

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.