- New—To get their attention, your story should be current, timely, and fresh. It is a late-breaking development, something happening right now, a steaming hot entrée—not reheated leftovers. Like a new report or new lawsuit.
- Local—It should tie into what is going on in that particular community. Even if you are releasing a national report or talking about federal legislation, find a local angle, such as its potential impact on a local river or your region's air quality. Better yet, see below for a local human interest angle…
- Human Interest Angle—Try to put a human face on your story, such as a local children who suffer from breathing problems from going to a school that is near a coal power plant.
- Conflict—A story with a hard-fought conflict makes news. Describe to reporters who the good guys and bad guys are. Examples: A campaign to support the Grassy Narrows First Nation community’s struggle to stop industrial logging was covered as Weyerhaeuser v Native Community.
- Controversy—Anything controversial is more likely to get news coverage. Civil disobedience pretty much always gets media.
- Strange Bedfellows—We can often garner increased news coverage by building a coalition of strange bedfellows, a coalition that contradicts most reporter’s assumptions of who supports environmental campaigns. For example, a campaign for a campus clean energy policy supported by the College Democrats and the College Republicans.
- Visuals/ Colorful quotes and images.
- Dramatic images - a hockey game played on slush, a huge STOP sign that says “No New Coal,” Blown-up photos of the place that is being put at risk.
- Creative and fun images - a polar bears playing beach volley ball, environmental super heroes like Captain Planet.
- Event visuals - Dozens of people marching backwards to protest a “backwards” policy, big banner hangs on the side of buildings.
- Some visuals are already there, like shots of the beautiful natural areas we want to protect, but often times we need to create a big visual for it to be enticing to TV.
- Timely- Can your story be linked to an upcoming holiday or season? Examples would include using Independence Day to talk about how America needs to declare independence from fossil fuels.
Also, the media love superlatives! Is something in your story the “biggest” “first” “most”? Don’t forget to make that part of your pitch.
