Publicity Tips

These are a few tips on how to get publicity for your group or event.

1) As a local paper will usually cover the whole of Coventry and Warwickshire, they won't necessarily be able to cover every event that you do; therefore it is important to be selective.

2) Decide whether there is a picture opportunity in an event. Be careful of this one. For instance an annual general meeting is not a picture opportunity and most night-time events will also slip through our photographers' net. However, if for instance, you have a church fete or event coming up, while you may wish us to cover that event, it may be far more useful to you if we stage a "photo opportunity" with a couple of people involved, about a week before. If you think about it, most groups need to 'flag up' activities, which they want others to attend, and so pictures in advance are useful.

3) They don't necessarily need lots of notice, although free newspapers like the Coventry Times will need a couple of weeks.

4) By all means talk over ideas with reporters, as they will always be happy to advise you on whether something can be covered.

5) Finally, a small column piece about an activity is a good way of keeping your organisation in the public's mind. You don't always need a 'feature' and we usually don't have room for features.