Public Relations 101: 10 Tips for Getting Press for Events and News

1. Get to know your editors.
Call your local paper to determine who handles various editorial responsibilities. For example, a calendar editor may be the one who will receive the notices of your meetings and events, while a news editor may be the contact if you’re hosting a newsworthy speaker and an education editor if you’re pitching a story on technology in Jewish day schools. By researching the appropriate editor for your type of information, you’ll ensure that your message reaches the right hands.

2. Learn the deadlines of various papers.
Even if you have the most newsworthy story since 1987, it’s not going to make it into any publication if it already has gone to press. Deadlines vary, and it’s critical to know each publication’s cutoff date.

3. Understand the difference between a hard sell and a soft sell—and recognize when one or the other is appropriate.
A hard sell is your announcement of a new campaign to raise money for your organization. A soft sell might be offering the expertise of an ORT professional when you have learned that the paper may be pursuing a piece on Jewish education. Both, when worthy of coverage, can be very effective.

4. Learn to send releases and other communications electronically.
Like all industries, newspapers are notoriously short-staffed. Anything you can do to make the lives of editors easier will translate into a greater likelihood of your release seeing publication. Sending email releases and digital photos can help you meet your deadline as well as guarantee that the editor doesn’t have to retype your information. Once you’re comfortable, it also makes your job of communicating with editors easier as well, eliminating redundancy and reams of paper—and providing you with an electronic log, to boot.

5. Think outside the box.
Be creative. Looking at a story from a unique angle can often provide an idea for an interesting article idea. For example, the fact that you’ve increased your membership by 20 percent probably won’t make it into your Jewish federation’s paper. The fact that you’ve got seven sets of mothers and daughters in your chapter might. If a reporter decides to interview some of these mother/daughter pairs, it provides ample opportunity to talk about Women’s American ORT and its mission.

6. Learn the guidelines of the paper.
Ask editors for writers’ guidelines or other guidelines they have for PR coordinators. This type of documentation can provide information on whether the paper accepts photos in black and white or color, whether it accepts releases and photos electronically, deadlines and other relevant information.

7. Generate news.
Set up a brainstorming session to pore over your local papers and see what type of news makes it onto their pages. Does one paper tend to lean toward human-interest pieces while another focuses on harder news coverage? Tailor your story ideas to fit within the focus of that paper. Does your local Jewish community news often send reporters to cover relevant and timely speakers? Ask a professor in Middle Eastern studies to update your group on the Mideast crisis and invite your local editor. Does the secular paper have a social page? Hire a photographer at your next big donor event and send in the photos with captions.

8. Don’t overpitch.
Not everything is newsworthy, and editors are more likely to spend time looking at your communication if you don’t bombard them with trivial announcements. For example, a chapter board installation will more likely merit a calendar listing than earn a major story.

9. Follow up.
Sometimes, releases get overlooked—or don’t reach their destination at all. If you’ve sent a press release that needs to get published, follow up with an e-mail or phone call, even if it’s under the guise of seeing if the editor needs additional information.

10. Keep Women’s American ORT’s mission in mind.
Any publicity generated is an opportunity to talk about our mission: Women's American ORT strengthens the worldwide Jewish community by empowering people to achieve economic self-sufficiency through technological and vocational education. We educate nearly 290,000 students each year, in countries such as Israel, the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, France, Argentina, among others. Make certain that all WAO leaders in a position to talk to the press are well versed in the organization’s mission, both programmatically and organizationally.