Securing positive media coverage has never been more challenging—but understanding what journalists value can give your story a real edge.
Georgia Clark, a former reporter turned media advisor at Legal Aid NSW, shares how her frontline newsroom experience shapes the way she crafts strategic, high-impact campaigns today.
With a background in print, digital, TV and radio journalism, Georgia is a media and legal professional with more than a decade of experience. She holds a double degree in communications and law (first class honours) and now leads media campaigns focused on issues like domestic violence, housing and floods.
What criteria do journalists typically use to determine the newsworthiness of a story?
There are several factors journalists use to decide whether something is newsworthy and these tend to vary between reporters, news outlets, mediums and the changing news cycle. These factors are well-researched and known as ‘news values.’ Researchers Galtung and Ruge found that the more news values a story had, the higher probability it would become news. These news values include (but are not limited to):
- Timeliness: events that have just happened or are about to happen are more likely to make the news.
- Impact: the more people affected by something, the more likely it is to be reported.
- Proximity: this includes geographic and cultural proximity – so journalists are more likely to cover things that affect their audience.
- Conflict: Opposition between people, organizations or forces creates dramatic effect.
- Negativity: Bad news and scandals are more newsworthy than good news.
- Human interest: Events that can be personalized and portrayed in terms of individual people (e.g. case studies) as opposed to the general masses.
This is not an exhaustive list of the news values and in addition to this, several external and internal pressures influence journalist’s decisions including the political leaning of their outlets, time constraints and increasingly, commercial pressure to generate content behind a paywall.
In my experience, the more of these news values in your story, the more likely it is to be reported on – and the more prominent it is likely to be in a news bulletin or newspaper.
How has the media landscape evolved in recent years, and what implications does this have for securing positive coverage?
There are two key changes affecting the media landscape right now:
- Shrinking newsrooms: Newsrooms are increasingly expected to do more with less with several news outlets closing in recent years and many cutting jobs, with News Corp the latest casualty. As newsrooms shrink, journalists’ workloads grow alongside the pressure to generate paid subscriptions.
- The digitization of media: The rise of social media and AI means that reporters are under growing pressure to break news first online and create content that stands out in a crowded media landscape. This means finding exclusive stories and creating stories that are digitally friendly, often meaning reporters need to generate multiplatform content featuring photos and videos.
The above factors make it harder to get positive media coverage. However, media professionals can use some of these tips to move the dial:
- Offer an exclusive! Reporters love an exclusive.
- Think in images and offer the reporter photo and video opportunities to make the story come to life online. Even better, offer a case study to humanize the story.
- Keep your story pitches short and sweet. If emailing, be sure to include a catchy headline and bullet points as they’re unlikely to read beyond that.
How has your experience as a reporter influenced your approach to media relations?
My decade as a news reporter has been instrumental in shaping my approach to media relations. When crafting a media strategy, I always see the story through the lens of a reporter and what sort of factors would have made it more appealing to me and I incorporate these into my pitch.
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I am also mindful of the incredible time constraints and deadlines reporters are often working with so keep my communications succinct and make the story as easy for them as possible. This usually means sending an email with all the story details first and calling after, but never pestering them! If a reporter is keen on the story, they will get back to you.
What’s one thing comms professionals often overlook when preparing for a media interview?
This sounds obvious – but the news cycle. Comms professionals need to be acutely aware of what is going on in the news on the day of an interview. It is highly likely that questions will be asked by the reporter that relate to the news on any given day so scanning the news can help ensure you’re prepared for questions and can foresee any risks ahead of time.
The news cycle will often influence the angle of a story that a reporter runs with so what you pitch as a positive story could very quickly change into something negative if a news event casts a negative light on your story.
What are the ethical lines that should never be crossed when trying to influence media?
Being truthful and honest is crucial, particularly in the current environment of fake news. As communications professionals we have an obligation to ensure that the stories that we’re pitching to reporters are factually accurate and that we have triple checked all the information (such as data) that we are providing to them.
We should not make up untruthful stories or distort facts to get positive media coverage. With the growth of fake news, communicators have a responsibility to champion the truth and fact-check narratives to ensure the public has access to reliable information.
It’s also important that we don’t seek to manipulate reporters. Trying to persuade a reporter to cover a story is okay, but manipulation crosses ethical boundaries. Ethically, reporters are obliged to be independent and we need to respect the independent function they serve as the Fourth Estate by not allowing our motives to undermine their independence.
Where we offer the reporter case studies, we need to respect their story and ensure that there is informed consent and that we are supporting them and preparing them for any risks that may arise. This is particularly the case when they are vulnerable and we need to ensure sharing their story wouldn’t put their safety at risk
What are some tips you’d share with anyone aiming for positive media coverage?
There’s something I call the Golden Trio – these are the three factors which in my experience increase the chance of positive coverage. These are: a hook which links to the news cycle, data and a case study. If you have all of these factors in a news story I can almost guarantee a reporter will pick it up. To boost your chances further, incorporate these factors alongside the news values I mentioned above while keeping your pitch succinct and offering photo and video opportunities.
As newsrooms shrink and the pressure for instant, engaging content rises, Georgia’s insights are a timely reminder of the importance of accuracy, empathy and strategy. For communications professionals aiming to secure impactful media coverage, her advice is clear: know the news values, understand the media environment, and never underestimate the power of a well-timed, truthful story.
