Long holiday weekends like Memorial Day tend to bring the news cycle to a screeching halt.
People get distracted with the warmer weather, end of school, and vacations. News tends to slow down. Even though many state legislatures around the US are in the throws of nasty budget cuts, newspapers and electronic media still need a variety of stories and interviews to fill their pages and airwaves.
That’s the beauty of long weekends and holidays for folks like us looking for publicity. While others are dreaming about the lazy days of summer, this is an ideal time to develop and pitch stories.
All reporters, like myself, can remember trying to create fresh angles and interesting stories for Memorial Day weekend. Summer camp, family day trips, gas prices, pool safety, bathing suits. Blah blah blah.
This is where you come in. Many stories that seem weak or tough to pitch in a busy news cycle can easily grab the attention of a reporter during slow periods.
Here are 3 quick tips:
1. Plan in advance. Look at the calendar. Memorial Day falls on Monday, May 31st. Many people will either take off from work on Friday, May 28th or will be allowed to leave early. If you send out your press release or pitch by Tuesday, May 25th, reporters can use it anytime between late May and well into June. The media is open 24/7. Your sleeper story on a busy news day could be a big headline over the extended weekend and through the week of May 31st.
2. Keep it undated. If you have an “evergreen story” with no real date attached to it, that’s ideal for coverage in slow news cycles. You may send the release out a few days before Memorial Day and be pleasantly surprised to see it was picked up by the media weeks later.
3. Get creative! Stay away from the typical seasonal stories that reporters cover. Hard news and business stories are ideal for these time periods. Cause-related marketing is another good opportunity to shine. For example, most groups hustle for holiday food drives in November and December yet there are plenty of hungry people in May and June. You can launch a summer food drive with a local nonprofit. Human interest stories can connect with business too, and are fun this time of year. Is your department doing a team building kayak activity that a reporter can watch or take part in?
Take advantage of this window of opportunity by planning ahead and getting creative. Reporters will appreciate your efforts. While they are appreciating, you are building critical relationships with news decision makers for future pitching and publicity.
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Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article