How To Grab the Right Type of Media Attention

There are potentially millions of news yarns out there, and yet every day we're fed a similar diet of news content through traditional and social media channels.

So, what makes an issue newsworthy and how can you use this knowledge to pitch your story to a journalist or producer to become a quotable spokesperson?

Here are six ways to grab a journalist's interest.

1. New, Topical, Trending

YFS used the upcoming election to highlight the rise in homelessness in Logan, Qld.

If you want to grab media attention, use a news event as a hook to promote your topic or campaign. This is known as ‘newsjacking’ – strategically piggybacking on a trending topic to insert your brand, research or campaign into the news cycle. While it's gained a negative reputation following some tone-deaf PR stunts, used sensitively it can be a legitimate way to highlight an issue that might otherwise fly under the radar.

For example, homelessness is often overlooked in the news. But a Queensland not-for-profit supporting vulnerable people saw an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the issue ahead of the 2025 federal Budget. YFS Ltd (formerly Youth and Family Services) said the number of people sleeping rough each night in Logan, west of Brisbane, had grown from 95 to around 350 in five years, driven by skyrocketing rents and static Centrelink payments.

With cost-of-living pressures high on the government’s agenda, and Logan being Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ electorate, YFS pitched its CEO Christopher John for an interview on ABC TV Breakfast on the eve of the Budget. The ABC agreed.

I met with John and the YFS team the day before to rehearse his key messages, questions and answers on camera.

The next morning, John appeared on the show, nailing his messages concisely and in plain English. He called on the government to invest in affordable housing to help alleviate the crisis. It was a perfectly timed message.

2. Exceptional

Journalists are always searching for stories that are out of the ordinary.

Every journalist is on the hunt for a story that's out of the ordinary. As John Bogar, former editor of the New York Sun once said: ‘When a dog bites a man, that’s not news; but when a man bites a dog, that’s news!' 

An exceptional event is when it happens for the first or last time, or when something is the fastest, biggest, smallest, most expensive, most popular or most unusual of its kind. For example, ‘It’s the wettest July on record’' or ‘The biggest technological change in 50 years’ or ‘World First: Panda Twins Born at Zoo!'’

What is it about your research, product, service, event, book or campaign that makes it exceptional and out of the ordinary?

3. Relevance and Proximity

There are plenty of remarkable stories that go unreported. We tend to look at what’s happening at home before we look overseas – unless it’s a huge international story with local impact, such as tariffs, a war or a pandemic. 

But as American marketers like to say: ‘There are riches in niches.’ This parochialism can be used to your advantage if you’re targeting a specific audience. Don’t overlook relevant trade magazines, local suburban newspapers, community radio and specialist websites and publications to pitch your story. 

Karen Eck and Samantha Theron are founders of Collabor8Women, a monthly networking event connecting professional women at curated tables of eight in female-led restaurant venues.

When they announced their venues for the year, PR strategist Karen Eck sent a media release to Hospitality magazine, a highly-engaged trade publication.

‘Trade media can be an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience doing interviews, honing your message and building confidence, before promoting yourself and your business more widely,’ Karen says.

The media call-out invited female-led venues to host a Collabor8Women lunch or dinner. Karen also nominated a restaurant owner who had hosted and attended more than 20 of their events as an interviewee.

'Testimonials from happy clients and customers are far more powerful than tooting your own horn.'

The coverage paid off: ‘For the first time since launching in December 2021, venues are now reaching out to us, keen to collaborate,’ Karen said.

4. Controversy or Conflict

Controversy and conflict spreads more speedily than any positive story ever will.

Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of examples in this category: the insurance company that won’t pay out flood victims, opposing political parties debating policies, rival football teams disputing a penalty point.

Like a match to dry grass, controversy and conflict spark outrage, which in turn attracts the most clicks and shares, going viral more speedily than any positive story ever will. When a small African nation successfully eradicates malaria, it barely makes a ripple in the social media sphere.  

However, if you’re caught up in a news controversy, you don’t have to fuel the conflict in an interview. You need to acknowledge where things have gone wrong and how you’re working to make them better. (See how to handle a media crisis)

5. Celebrity

Australian Psychological Society president Catriona Davis-McCabe says people turn to celebrities for information on current events because they admire them and want to have the same views as them.

‘People typically like celebrities who confirm their own worldview, and this apparent alignment of beliefs can make chosen celebrities a more trusted source of information than is the case,’ Davis-McCabe said.

Using a celebrity to endorse your campaign, product or event can be useful to attract news coverage. But choose your ambassador carefully. If they’ve done or said anything in the past that contradicts your organisation’s values, it can backfire disastrously. 

6. Human Interest

Images of storm-damaged coastal homes in NSW put rising sea levels on the front page

Human interest stories undoubtedly get more cut-through than statistics. A photo of a house on the Central Coast partly washed away by the sea captured national attention far more effectively than dozens of environmental reports warning about rising sea levels. Interviews with the distressed local residents also made the story highly relatable.

Social psychologist Elliot Aronson says, “Most people are more deeply influenced by one clear, vivid personal example rather than by an abundance of statistical data.”

When TV news covers an interest rate rise, it will often interview homeowners before turning to a financial expert for the bigger picture. But finding people with lived experience needs to be done sensitively.

Toni Wren, Principal Adviser to Single Mother Families Australia is adept at pitching stories that personalise statistics.

Journalists will often want to interview someone who has experienced domestic violence. ‘We reach out to women who want to speak, both directly to politicians and to the media,’ Wren says. ‘A lot of women want to have their voice heard, but we handle a media request carefully to ensure they don’t feel exploited. ’

If you become good at media interviews and pitching stories, you can become the go-to person for journalists seeking comments in your field. Reporters and producers are time-poor, they may simply google ‘AI expert near me’ and call the first person who pops up.

However, when you agree to an interview, don’t simply speak off the cuff.

Be prepared. Know and rehearse your key messages.

Media training is your best insurance policy.

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