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What you missed at the February meeting
Claire Metz photo from
wesh.com
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TV news pitches must have news value
and emotion, Metz says
Dogs make good TV. So do children, bad weather and
heroes.
If your story has potential for emotional impact – something that means
something to viewers – you have a shot at getting it on TV news. Even
with emotion, the story has to have a strong news hook.
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That was the message from veteran TV newswoman Claire
Metz, who spoke at the February meeting of the Volusia County Chapter of
the Florida Public Relations Association. Metz, Volusia and Flagler
bureau chief for WESH 2 News, offered advice on getting “feel-good”
stories on television.
“If it gets us, one way or another, to remote, it’ll get on TV,” said
Metz, an anchor and reporter for Channel 2 News since 1984.
TV news in Central Florida is very competitive, and “crime drives a lot
of TV news because fear drives people,” she said. Limited resources and
air time make it difficult for stations to do many “good news” stories.
There’s no lack of hard news in Volusia and Flagler counties.
Metz advised public relations professionals to find a strong news hook
before they pitch a story. Sometimes a good news story will be a
follow-up to a bad news story. Sometimes a pitch will be tied to a
timely event. “There’s got to be some news value to get your good news
on TV,” she said.
And don’t overlook sentimental favorites, Metz said. “PR people, you put
a child or dog in your story, it’ll get on TV. If it’s a child and a dog
together, even better!”
Metz advised giving TV reporters as much lead time as possible. She’s on
her computer all the time, so e-mail is a good communications tool. Send
story ideas and news releases to cmetz@hearst.com AND desk@wesh.com, or
call her on her cell: (386) 214-1591. The station sometimes uses footage
from video news releases.
Then cross your fingers – because there’s a lot of luck involved, too.
“I’ll be honest,” she said. “I’ll get to it. I’ll get to it. I’ll get to
it. I might not.”
Cindi Brownfield
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