Do Your Homework

Before you pitch a story, it is important to understand your target medium and audience. Research the publication or station and find out if it has printed any stories on topics similar to yours. Read the reporters’ profiles and past stories, and find out who is more likely to be interested in your story or more favorable to the Church’s cause. Are they looking for the kind of stories you can provide? In essence, discover what your target audience wants and how they want it, and then provide the newspaper or station with relevant information that will be useful to them and to their readers or viewers.

Think Like a Reporter

Does your story benefit its readers or viewers? If not, it is unlikely that it will get used. Reporters want stories that will be meaningful to their readers. If it doesn’t provide something new, something of interest, something useful or timely, something touching, go back to the drawing board and start again. A good story is likely there; you just have to find the right way to say it.

Emphasize the Depth of Our Religion to Media Contacts (Third Dimension)

In an increasingly secular world it is vital for people to understand the relevance and life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, if you are pitching a local missionary story, consider how comments like these might engage your contact if a local missionary were to be quoted as saying, “A lot of missionaries know more of who they are. They feel there’s a bigger purpose. They feel they’ve done something. They’ve touched people’s lives.”

Find the Right Angle

As public affairs workers, we are not seeking mere column inches or a certain amount of air time. We are trying to tell a Church-related story that can be beneficial to the reputation of the Church. If your story doesn’t seem interesting at first, dig deeper and find a different angle. Don’t tell a reporter about a service project; tell him or her about the people involved, about the service being given, or about the people being served. Talk about the amount of volunteer hours the local bishop spends serving his congregation, the unique hobbies or talents of a local member of the Church, and so on. Give the story a face; make it relatable. Make it about people, not an event.

Find Out Where Your Story Will Fit Best

Have a specific type of story and a particular section in mind when you pitch a story to a reporter. For example: “I think this story would be a great fit in your Lifestyle Section.” This allows the editor or reporter to see your story in context of the “big picture.”

Local Opportunities

Ask your priesthood leader (public affairs adviser) to share what he believes to be the greatest challenge the Church faces in your community (examples: recognition as a Christian religion, attacks against doctrines). Learn to recognize local opportunities to interest your media in a story about this challenge. What common ground does the Church share with other like-minded individuals and groups?

Believe It, Appreciate it

If you don’t appreciate and believe what you’re pitching, neither will they.

Building Relationships of Trust

Be courteous of the reporter’s time, providing information in a timely way. When a reporter trusts you and knows he or she can count on you for fast, accurate information, you will be able to do more to help the Church locally. Remember the importance of cultivating your relationship with the reporter.