I was talking with a former colleague one time and she said it is tough to get TV coverage for her events.
The TV stations in that market don't want to cover fluff, she insisted.
My response was I don't ever send out fluff. Ever. I really don't even send out a lot of press releases.
Instead I try to connect the community events I do with organizations that solve real community issues. And I send event announcements to assignment editors at each TV station a week or two before the event.
As a former reporter, I can tell you that real attempts to solve real community issues are news no matter who is coordinating them.
These are just some of the things we have done in the last two years that have generated significant media attention:
*Created an event where we turned a student health center closet at UNC Charlotte into a Recovery Room where students now hold AA and NA meetings; the remodel was covered by almost every TV station in the market;
*Coordinated a collection drive for toiletries for teenagers staying in a temporary shelter for runaway kids; the event was featured LIVE by my friend Wilson from WCCB News Rising;
*Distributed colanders, cutting boards, and salad spinners at an event with Sow Much Good, which, among other things, makes sure low-income people have access to healthy food and teaches them how to prepare it; this event was on WBTV News 3 and Time Warner Cable News.
It is true - reporters and TV producers, generally, don't want to cover fluff. They don't like to cover check passings, ribbon cuttings, or CEO speeches.
But there is always a spot in each newscast and in the newspaper for a meaningful attempt to solve a real community problem.
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