Local newspapers, radio and television stations aren't scaled-down versions of their national counterparts; they are specialists in their patch, shining a light on local issues long after the fleeting attention of national outlets. Assuming there's any national attention in the first place.
We’ve all noticed the difference when we watch the national TV news followed by the local version: how a huge local story can be whittled down to a couple of lines and a quick camera shot on the national stage.
The unique nature of local media came back to the forefronts of our minds recently. We heard that Darren Thwaites, editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror North East, was departing for pastures new as part of a shake-up of the company’s editorial team. It made us pause for a minute and think hard about how important knowing everything you can about your local outlets is.
In an age of social media, it’s easy for some businesses to underestimate the importance of their local media outlets. But this really underestimates the ongoing relevance of regional media – and how they serve their local communities.
Familiarity with these outlets, including flicking through a print edition on the way home or even knowing someone who works there, can be very different from understanding what will really appeal to them and lead to good coverage. Sustained interest in a story and its developments will only come from a real grasp of this. Otherwise, a story involving a business can end up being a one-off with no interest in how things evolve. It could even leave journalists thinking “we’ve already covered that” for any story involving a particular company.
Local businesses need to think what they’re doing will mean for their community. They need to give local journalists a reason to care.
For example, does a new acquisition mean more local jobs, more money? If so, is this in one go? Or in newsworthy milestones that can appear again and again to pique the interest of journalists and refresh the story for readers? Perhaps the business is part of a bigger story of a region-wide boom? Understanding your local media’s news agenda means the stories can be tailored perfectly.
Local news outlets often follow local stories in close detail. They are kings of the super-local. Their journalists become experts in picking up on minute changes, on tiny details. Electron microscopes have lesser powers of observation. If there’s a seemingly insignificant change of phrasing in a planning document, they’re onto it.
Local papers need to fill column inches of course, but they’re very picky. They know if something doesn’t grab the reader, they will flick onto the next page and that this, eventually, leads to the circulation dropping. Any story that makes that more likely won’t get a look-in.
Journalists are also pushed for time, so if businesses haven’t worked hard to make it easy for them to see why an issue is important, they’ll go with the stories that have. Good, tight and well edited material that can be published with the least amount of changes is what they need.
Understanding the local paper also means knowing who’s who. Keeping up with changes is vital. For example, what does the expanded geographical brief for Darren’s successor, Neil Hodgkinson, who will be working across the North East, the Humber and down into Lincolnshire, mean for the editorial agenda of our favourite regional titles. New faces might want to run stories with a different approach. Businesses need to know what they’re after or they might find stories, which had worked well before, are suddenly ending up in the bin, rather than getting anywhere near the readers. Well-crafted press releases can suddenly become annoying junk.
The flipside, however, is that a new face could be a new opportunity. They may want to make their mark, so reaching out to them to find out what they want and then tailoring your approach could see your story break out of the business section and march its way to the front page.
At its best, the relationship with the local media and local businesses becomes a two-way street, exchanging ideas to get the best results for both and also the most interesting output for the readers. These readers then become satisfied customers for both the local press and the local businesses.
Great stories means great coverage. Anything else isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on; or more likely, not printed on!
