Avatar_default
Reputation: 48

How Do I Get Coverage in the Paper for a Local Music Festival

I'm helping to organize a local music festival (The Wallingford Music Festival). I think the festival would make a great small story in papers like The Stranger and Seattle Weekly, but I don't know how to get it to the attention of the right people. Any suggestions?

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…

1 Answer

  • Wa_usa_small
    Reputation: 2677

    I can't speak to exactly the best way to get something into those particular papers, but I can tell you that in general, a well-written press release from a non-profit organization will usually make it into the paper.

    I work for a non-profit and a lot of our information is targeted to the smaller newspapers around the region. Most of them have cut their reporting staff to below 25% of where they were a decade ago. As such, they're dying for content, and they'll publish just about anything if the press release is well-written, non-controversial, and promoting a non-profit enterprise.

    A lot of smaller newspapers these days will publish your press release verbatim and attribute it to "staff." Even if they actually assign a reporter to put their shoes and socks on and write up a full article, you'll often find that many of your phrases will still appear in print.

    All newspapers have an email address where they receive press releases. If you write a well-crafted press release and send it to that address, you'll probably do well.

    Also, I am hitting this point about non-profit so hard because papers are reluctant to give free publicity to a for-profit enterprise that, in their view, should be buying ads. Even if your music festival is a for-profit enterprise, emphasize the community good it does (examples: a portion of the proceeds will go to protect the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus; This festival supports local artists; etc).

    I'm sure there are some helpful folks here on Questionland who might have some direct connections to the Stranger and the Weekly for you... I don't. But in general, I can tell you that a well-written press release for a non-profit or community-benefiting event usually makes the paper. It's content, and with the bare bones staffs most papers are working with, they're hungry for content.

    Good luck!

    Share this answer with a friend: