This is part of our Substack series Inside the Newsroom: What Journalists Really Look for in Press Releases, based on interviews with journalists — including veteran reporters and editors — about how they evaluate press releases. Over the next several weeks, EIN Presswire will publish takeaways from those conversations.
You and your PR team may think the story you’re pitching is a no‑brainer for grabbing a journalist’s attention, and often it is.
But in today’s fast‑moving PR industry and crowded media landscape, you still have to make the case in a way that shows it’s truly newsworthy and aimed at the right outlet.
There are two top elements that help a press release get picked up, one of which is making it about a genuinely interesting story, something actually newsworthy and relevant, according to Laura Cassels, a veteran Florida journalist who specializes in state politics, science and economics.
Including access to “source experts” can make a release stand out even more among the masses, she added.
“It should have data and expert quotes to demonstrate what I think of as ‘probable cause’ that the item you pitch might pan out and be worth the writer’s time,” Cassels said.
She also doubled down on an earlier point about targeting the right audience: “The other No. 1 thing is to pitch it to the right outlets. Do the work to know that the writer, editor, or outlet you’re pitching to is the kind that will care about the story you’re pitching. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and theirs.”
Cassels has spent time on both the PR and journalism sides of the business, handling media relations for Florida’s tourism marketing organization earlier in her career.
On the journalism side, she receives numerous press releases as a veteran reporter whose work can be found in the Florida Trident, Florida Phoenix and Florida Trend.
Building relationships with the media can be rewarding, especially when you can offer “pitches that are appropriate for them, with information they can use, if not this time then maybe next time,” Cassels said.
That’s why it’s important to read a writer’s work or watch a reporter’s coverage. “Comment on it in your communications,” she said, noting that referencing their work when you email a pitch can signal you’ve done your homework.
“If you have a good story to tell, if you pitch it to the right outlet, and you offer to assist further, you might see it published in an outlet where the right readers will see it,” she said. “Offer photography and infographics.”
Cassels said a press release should make its purpose clear at a glance, with the core information up top and clean details, including “anchors so the reader can jump to the parts he or she is curious about.”
She urged communicators to skip “flowery language” and focus on clarity. Cassels also warned against assuming that getting a release published in many places means it had a real impact.
Some outlets will publish a release almost word for word, Cassels said, but that doesn’t mean it’s reaching the right audience. “Those outlets often publish anything from anybody, so yours may just be lost in the noise,” Cassels said.