If you want to create a story that will appeal to a journalist, you must begin with both of these cards in your hand.

Without newsworthiness or without timeliness, you should fold your hand. You have little chance at victory. There is no point in betting your time, money and effort trying to bluff your way to a win. The odds are stacked too heavily against you.

What does it mean to be newsworthy?

First, to be newsworthy story must have significant impact upon news audience. The fact that story interests you, or your client, or your CEO is irrelevant. This qualifies story only for your company newsletter.

To qualify for news media, story must interest readers, viewers or listeners. If you want to place a story in an engineering trade magazine, then your story must interest a broad range of engineers. If you want to place your story in USA Today, then your story must interest a broad range of general public.

Second, to be newsworthy your story must identify a conflict, signal a change, deal with a problem or point out an oddity. A story that lacks at least one of these elements, by definition, cannot be newsworthy.

What does it mean to be timely?

To satisfy need for timeliness, you must provide reporter with a news peg: a reason to tell your story right now.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, there was little interest in news media in Taliban. After Sept. 11, that lack of interest turned into a frenzy of interest.

What changed? The story became timely.

The Taliban issue had developed a news peg. There was now a reason to tell story.

That’s an extreme example, but lesson holds in any story situation. It’s not news that Xerox hired a new CEO two years ago. It is news that Xerox will get a new CEO this afternoon. The difference is timeliness.

By definition, news is timely. If you can’t tie your story to breaking news, or at least to very recent events, then shelve story. Your best bet is to wait for a future event will make your story timely once again.

PR Rainmakers play “tight and aggressive” at all times. They never let ego, emotion or outside pressure push them into betting on a losing hand. They insist that every story they take to news media include two essential cards: newsworthiness and timeliness.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

The PR Rainmaker knows: The best news stories are earned one by one.

The assembly-line approach rarely works well in media relations. Reporters do not like to buy “off rack.” Each wants a story of his own. Each demands a custom fit.

So it becomes PR Rainmaker’s job to take stock of a reporter’s needs and wants. We must tailor story to fit that reporter. Then we must take that product and sell it to reporter. We must convince reporter that our story solves reporter’s problems.

We must keep in mind during every step of developing campaign: The reporter is consumer and story is product.

Third, reporters buy for their reasons, not ours

It is not unusual to spend hours designing a story for a specific reporter, only to have reporter reject idea. This can become incredibly frustrating.

This is one reason why so many flacks resort to assembly-line, blast-fax methods. “Why should I bother?” they say. “Why not just send out a thousand press releases and hope someone somewhere picks up story?”

But PR Rainmakers understand and accept challenge of executing an effective campaign. They know that, when it comes to convincing a reporter to buy any particular story, failure is far more likely than success.

As with any sales prospect, a reporter is more apt to say no than yes, even when you have tailored story especially for that reporter.

Why? Who knows?

Maybe reporter is working on a seven-part investigative series and doesn’t have time. Maybe reporter is being moved to another news beat. Maybe reporter is coming down with flu. Maybe reporter is going on vacation. Maybe reporter is just a jerk.

Who knows? Who cares?

When reporter says no, move on.

Don’t argue. Don’t rage. Don’t resort to spray and pray.

Advance to next proposal with next reporter.

Reporters will buy for their reasons, not ours. Keep telling yourself this and you will have a much better chance of holding your temper, maintaining your sanity and placing more stories in news media.

Copyright © 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.