Making a Press List

The first step you’ll want to take is to make a list of the area media that might cover the BVL story. Perhaps you already receive one local paper; seek out other papers that are circulated in your area -- from the larger regional papers to the shoppers or ‘pennysavers.’ Don’t forget the specialty newspapers or newsletters that reach your community: business-oriented, religious or civic service organizations’ publications (e.g. - the local Catholic Church newspaper or Elks newsletter). This list will be an ever-growing, ever-changing document.

After you’ve identified the printed publications, move to broadcast media. Although you probably know a few radio or television stations, make an effort to “travel” up and down your radio dial and “channel surf” on your television. Make a careful list of each of the radio and television stations you’ve identified.

The second phase of the identification process is to determine and record the deadlines for each of the media outlets you’ve found. Depending on the printing schedule, each newspaper, magazine and newsletter has a specific time after which it cannot take information for the current issue. Naturally, if you have an event scheduled on Tuesday, you’ll want to hold it significantly before a 3:00 p.m. deadline at your local newspaper. Likewise, most radio stations and television stations have deadlines, too. Generally, TV stations need news by 4:30 p.m. for the evening broadcast and 8:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. for the late news. Most importantly, avoid calling your media contacts just prior to deadlines.

Identify who is writing/producing the stories. In other words, begin tracking which reporter at the local newspaper is writing stories that are related to bowling in some way. One of BVL’s advantages is that it can fall into several different areas of the news business – news, feature, sport and even business. For instance, if Mary Smith’s by-line regularly appears in the sports section focusing on golf, you’ll want to make a note of that and put Mary on your media list. At the television station, if John Jones seems to do a fair number of human-interest stories, then he would be a good future contact. Don’t forget the interview shows on local radio stations. If you can provide a knowledgeable spokesperson, they can provide a fertile ground for sending out your message.

Additionally, many printed publications develop an editorial calendar -- a list of stories or special sections they plan to produce throughout the year. You can usually call the publication to request a copy of their editorial calendar.

Here is an appropriate way to list your media contacts:

MEDIA: ____________________________________________
NAME: _____________________________________________
Phone: _____________________FAX: ____________________
e-mail: _____________________________________________
Position: ____________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
Deadlines: ___________________________________________
Date(s) called/ Comments: ______________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Finding the Media