Charity wanting in the newspapers

bertmart

Does anyone know of anyone who would write a news story for an upcoming charity which would get published in a local paper?

How much could I expect to pay for, say a 500 word story?

Thanks

Savvy_Sue

There's a part of me thinking 'How hard can it be?', but then I've browsed The Media Trust website, which has advice on how to write a Press Release in the way most likely to get your story published!

If you've got news, especially if you've got photos, local media are often very happy to publish for you. Local radio will also give publicity. To a certain extent, it's about building a relationship with the local paper.

WendyH_2

You won't really get a story printed that you've written. Your press release will be rewritten (often not very accurately!) by the local press. Sounds like what you really need is a volunteer press officer. They can develop the relationship with local press, radio etc, write interesting copy and arrange the good quality photos before sending out the release (email nowadays thank goodness! And don't forget Community Newswire).

It's not as hard as you may think to get a volunteer on board, especially if there's a local college or uni that does media studies. Students can be very keen to get experience and something to put on their CV. And try advertising in your local volunteer bureau. Make the ad interesting though as you're competing with a lot of other charities. Good luck!

Savvy_Sue

We do quite well at getting our press releases into the paper, not quite verbatim but almost ... but then we do have quite a bit of experience now.