Get The Media Coverage You Deserve: Download Spotlight PR LLC’s Editorial Calendar

Get The Media Coverage You Deserve: Use the Editorial Calendar Now.

By Jennifer R. Farmer

As you think about your media outreach for 2024, there are three phrases to keep in mind; news hooks, news cycle and editorial calendar for traditional media.

A news hook is a reason for reporters to cover an issue.

When attempting to garner earned media, it is important to pick the right hook. If you are proactively reaching out to reporters, you’ll want to have a reason for them to cover your issue. That’s where a media hook comes in. For instance, an upcoming hook is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on Jan. 16, or Black History Month in February. Since we know these, and other important dates are on the horizon, we can reach out to reporters with story ideas. Using the right hook will enable us to gain more relevant coverage.

A news cycle is all the issues that are currently in the news.

When you know what’s in the news, you can tie your work to what’s currently being covered so long as you are an expert on the topic in the news cycle or have a counter-intuitive perspective. For instance, the migrant crisis where Republican Governors are busing loads of immigrants to cities with Democratic leaders is currently in the news cycle. An immigrants’ rights group or another organization that works on social services might pitch themselves to talk about these issues and have great success.

Editorial calendar for traditional media

An editorial calendar for traditional media is a schedule of key moments, in which reporters are likely to cover an issue. When we reach out to reporters, we need to be able to answer these questions, ‘why should I care?’ ‘why should I care now?’ and ‘how will this impact my audience?’ An editorial calendar can help you answer the why should I care question. And with that answer, you’re more than half way there in terms of garnering media coverage.

Now that we’ve had a primer on these terms, go ahead and download Spotlight PR LLC’s 2024 Editorial Calendar. It will give you a sense of key dates, around which you can plan public outreach and garner the media coverage necessary to propel your work. You’ll also gain valuable insight to help you prepare for critical moments such as primaries or major convenings.