Have I got news for you

The news cycle is a fast-moving machine and for a story to stand out in the crowd, it needs to be newsworthy. This involves a few essential ingredients: Your story needs to have the wow factor, it needs to be timely, close to home, relatable, and interesting to others.

One way to look at newsworthiness in action is to consider how the media covered three individual stories about meteorites falling to earth in 2024. The first meteorite landed in a remote location outside Kansas, one landed near Lake Tekapo/Takapō, and the other was caught on someone’s front door security camera crashing to the ground in Canada.

All three events either rose to national or international significance based purely on their news value. So, what makes a story newsworthy?

The wow factor

Are you the first person to achieve a remarkable feat? Is your business breaking the glass ceiling and challenging the status quo? Have you developed a product that changes the world for the better? A news story must have an angle that captures people’s interest and sets you apart from the crowd. This is why the meteorite landing in Canada made international news. The fact it was caught on the home owner’s security camera gave us a glimpse of something for the first time in a completely new and unexpected way and the video went viral.

A good story is something that affects someone’s everyday life or future. It’s the interesting yarn your colleague would share over the water cooler or morning coffee. Try to avoid overcomplicating it though. Think, ‘how would I tell this story to a friend?’

Proximity

What do newsworthy stories and real estate have in common? Location, location, location. The meteorite in Lake Tekapo/Takapō received media attention in regional news outlets in New Zealand, as did the one in Midwest America but neither had the same global impact as the Canadian version. People are interested in what’s happening in their local vicinity. Local media in Kansas covered the “fireball caught on camera” but it’s not something that was picked up in mainstream media here in New Zealand, or vice versa with the Lake Tekapo/Takapō meteorite. Both are great stories, but the way they are covered all comes down to location. It’s about making sure your story reaches the people it is going to impact or interest the most.

Human interest

People love reading about other people. Putting a face to a story immediately pulls your audience in, wanting to know more about you and what impact your story will have on their lives. It helps you connect with your audience and allows you to demonstrate the values that are important to you, for instance trust and transparency. In the case of the Lake Tekapo/Takapō meteorite, media interviewed local geologists about how the meteorite was located, which provided a touchstone of relatability. 

Timeliness

For a story to be picked up by the media, it must be fresh and interesting. If it happened five months ago, it’s less likely your story will get the coverage you’re after. The news cycle moves fast, and timing is everything, so if you want to share your story, don’t wait. Give us a call, so we can help you maximise the opportunities for it to be covered.

When it comes to working with the media and sharing a story with the world, newsworthiness is everything. It determines whether your story makes its way into the briefs column or becomes a front-page story with substantial social media engagement.

If you have a story to share with the world, you’ve come to the right place. At Priority Communications, we have four former journalists in our team, who are experienced in working across New Zealand and international online channels, daily and community newspapers, magazines, television, and radio.

Storytelling is a skill that involves strategically selecting an angle and then focusing on reaching the people you want to connect with. Sometimes stories may not be suitable for news media but are still important to share with other networks and stakeholders and we offer plenty of ways to do this too. Get in touch to find out more.

Take a look at some of our media work here.