Playing the game to get stories covered

Today I pitched three stories. Two of the stories came through people contacting me on Twitter and the third was from a caller who actually called a couple weeks ago. I was contacted by the first Twitter story last week and the second was brought to my attention just last night.

I knew when I received a phone call from a gentleman who, along with community members and a public school system had established a community garden, that this was worthy of a story. I wrote it up immediately and filed it in several future day files in hopes it would be read and picked as a story. It wasn't picked, but I honestly knew it wouldn't be picked without a voice, me, actually bugging the producers.

The story that came from Twitter last week was followed quickly by emails from other viewers upset about the same issue. I compiled all of this information and even pitched the story while I was home from work. I sent the station direct messages on Twitter during the afternoon editorial meeting. It wasn't picked. I'm the only one truly used to being pitched stories via Twitter. I wasn't surprised it wasn't picked and knew I needed to actually speak to the producers.

The story that came from Twitter last night I kept to myself until today and pitched it in the afternoon editorial meeting along with the two others. I knew only one of the three would actually be a fit for today, but I knew the other two would be great stories for the weekend. Today though all the producers I needed to talk to were in the meeting. Plus, I make the pitch and get the managers excited about the stories and voila I'm given the green light to set the stories up.

It's honestly a game where I need to know whose playing and what positions are open and need to be filled. I find a story that I know will eventually fit into one of these openings for one of these players, I hold onto it and pitch it when the playbook calls for a curve ball. (Yeah, that's the best analogy I can do at the moment! lol!)

This is how I function in the newsroom to get stories covered that may be overlooked if they don't have a voice. I can't imagine what it's like to be the PR professional who isn't aware of the playbook. We are being asked to do more in the newsroom with fewer resources. You may have the producer or the reporter that you can talk to, but often they don't know the whole game plan either.

All of these stories got my individual attention because I happened to be the one to answer the phone and I'm the one who is now being pitched stories via Twitter. I liked what I heard and knew the stories fit into the stations brand of news. I know how to play the game to get stories covered. I think it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.