I’ve fielded a lot of story pitches over the years. A lot. In fact, too many if I’m being honest. I have pretty much seen and heard them all, and without sounding hyperbolic, I’d estimate half of those pitches were not actually news.
I don’t mean they didn’t rise to the level of coverage. I mean they were literally not news.
We were pitched topics, themes, concepts, genres, marketing and products. There were places, feelings and deals. Some were history. Others were opinion. A lot of them could be described as simply nonsensical: a collection of words strung together in an email blasted to a thousand journalists, all for immediate release.
The non-news news pitch was a rite of passage for the young journalists on our team. Many years ago, one of our green digital producers, in earnest, pitched: “The Salton Sea.” “What about it?” asked our EP. He didn’t have a newsworthy answer.
That’s the thing: a lot of non-news gets pitched as news, and while some of that can sneak through, for most journalists, it’s dead on arrival.
And so when it came time to sit down and began a series on “How to get on TV,” this seemed like the right place to start: if you want your stories to be covered by the news, make sure they are actually newsworthy. It’s easy. Here’s how.
Develop your pitches around impact, timeliness, proximity, prominence, rarity, currency, conflict, human interest
Before you pitch that story, make sure it fulfills as many of these eight news values as possible: impact, timeliness, proximity, prominence, rarity, currency, conflict, human interest.
These aren’t made-up criteria. Journalists study these news values – or variations of them – and apply them to every story.
There’s no explicit formula here. Journalists and editors are not crunching the numbers to see if X degrees of timeliness and 5 points of conflict make a lead story. After working in news for a few years, it becomes second nature. It’s unconscious. It has to be. There’s so much noise in a newsroom – literal and figurative – you need to be able to quickly hear a potential story, make a call, and move on to the next thing.
If your pitch got rejected, it’s likely because you didn’t meet enough of those values.
The next time you’re formulating a story, and this goes for news insiders and outsiders, go through that list of news values, and see how many you can hit.
- Impact – How many people are affected by this story? The more, the better. Think about the difference between closing a side street or shutting down the 405. One is news; one isn’t.
- Timeliness – When did the news happen? The sooner, the better. At my last station, we strived to have today’s day of the week in every lead. What is new about the story today? How can we advance the story and keep it timely?
- Proximity – Where is the story located? The closer it is, the more interesting it becomes.
- Prominence – How prominent are the players in the story? I haven’t written up a lot of bike crashes; yet it was big news back in 2010 when LA’s mayor was in a cycling accident.
- Rarity– How unexpected are the elements of the story? Is this something that happens every year, every day, or is this something special?
- Currency – Is this pitch about a something we’re already covering? Is it part of a trend or larger conversation? Is this a way to build out a sidebar or advance our previous reporting? News leads to more news, and this value embodies that.
- Conflict – Opposing forces make a story more compelling.
- Human interest – Can you put a face to this story? People care about other people, and adding a human element helps makes something news.
If you want press coverage, if you want to get on TV, if you want to raise awareness for something, add these elements to your stories. They’re like cheat codes for news pitches.
We shall close on the Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea is not news. It’s a body of water, but take a look at this July 2022 article from the Desert Sun in Palm Springs. This is how you do it. Hats off to the writer for identifying the news values for the reader while providing clear context and relevance.
Now this is a news story about the Salton Sea.
House passes wildfire and drought package that includes $250 million for Salton Sea
Is it impactful?
Yes, we’re talking about multiple government agencies responding to this issue. There are “thousands of acres of exposed lakebed containing toxic dust.” The pollution is “subjecting nearby communities” to serious health issues.
Is it timely?
Yes, we’re talking about federal legislation currently working through Congress. We expect an update “soon.” It says so in the lead. In fact, this story was released on a Friday and the lead is framed about the events happening that day.
Is it close?
Yes, the Salton Sea is definitely in the paper’s coverage area.
Is it rare?
Yes, after focusing on research for 30 years, the the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is just now making a change. How out of the ordinary is the funding? The author gives that context: it’s a 20-fold increase.
Is there conflict?
Yes, 198 Republicans voted against it, and it now faces uncertainty in the Senate.
