As a former journalist who worked as a reporter and also spent time on the assignment desk for Fox 29 in San Antonio, I can wholeheartedly tell you press releases are the lifeblood of non-crime news. I eventually left the journalism world to work for an education non-profit, which has helped me hone my media relation skills from the other side.

I offer a unique perspective having worked as a journalist who uses press releases daily and a marketing and public affairs coordinator who writes press releases almost daily.

Assignment editors and reporters are always looking for news to fill pages and television news time. If you’re lucky, your press release will make it into the coveted “daily folder.” Daily folders are folders numbered 1-31 and contain the upcoming events that meet the newsworthy requirement. If it looks like it is going to be a slow news day (hint: weekends are often slow news days!) assignment editors scour the daily folders for ideas.

Let’s get started!

Aurora