Ask an expert: landing local media in 2024
Lots of newsletters interview reporters - but who's sitting down with the people pitching everyday and getting the best wins? Well now, we are!
I’m going to be honest here, landing local media has been a struggle for Six Eastern. I didn’t understand how we could land CNBC and Bloomberg, but not ABC’s WXKY “Positively Detroit.” I was ready to bring in the big guns. And that’s Cristin Culver.
Today runs her own consultancy — but before that, she was quite literally Head of Local Communications at Opendoor and has worked with many other companies that seem to be really good at local. We brought her in for an agency-wide convo to go deep on tactics. Here’s the most actionable stuff we learned to help you pitch right now:
Simply existing in a region isn’t a story — doing business in (or expanding to) a new geography is not what you should pitch. Impact on the local community is key. Ask yourself: why should everyday residents care? Sure, if you have a big new office lease (and are willing to share specifics), you can land a commercial real estate reporter, but that’s about the limit of where “existing” gets you press.
Broadcast needs more than a talking head — if you’re hoping to land a TV segment, just offering an interview probably isn’t enough. Bring it to life with an experience, demo, backdrop, or B-roll. Cristin would bold the word “VISUALS” in her note and bullet out the exact imagery to make it as easy as possible for the station.
You can manufacture “good news” — Cristin told us about pretty simple stunts like free indoor pumpkin patches on a rainy October day, and races across town to self-tour as many homes for sale as possible — fun stuff relevant to the local community. Most newsrooms try to balance happy and not-so-happy news, and your best bet is fitting into the feel-good stuff.
Don’t bother with the newsroom hotline — this one surprised me! Start with email and a DM on X (lots of local reporters use X) and if you don’t hear back, you can try giving them a call. Calling the general newsroom number you find on their website won’t do much. The good news is, local reporters are much more open with their contact info so you’re more likely to find a direct line than you may be for a national reporter!