Top tips for selling your story to your key media

• Contact your local newspaper or radio station and ask to speak to someone on the news desk of the relevant publication or programme. Contact numbers can usually be found within the papers or online (visit mediauk.com or BT.com if individual titles don’t have their own websites).

• Be sure to ask for the name of the person you speak to or, if they refer you to someone else on the publication, that person’s direct dial telephone number and email address. This will help you to get your story to the right person and means you can follow up directly with them afterwards.

• Give a concise pitch (30 seconds maximum) to explain who you are, where you are calling from and what the headline of the story is, e.g. “October 3-9 is Libraries Week and to support life-long learning and help individuals to unlock and fulfil their potential at every stage of life, we’ll be running a series of activities and services to help people learn something new, gain a skill and build confidence [with examples]…”.

• Send journalists the press release pasted into the body of an email, and include one or two example pictures of your event if applicable.

• Be mindful of journalists’ deadlines before making your call. People on evening papers will most likely be on deadline around late morning and won’t have time to talk or will disregard what’s being offered; likewise, reporters on daily morning titles will have little time to speak towards the end of the working day.

• Even if members of your target press or political community have not responded to your notices or event invitations, don’t be afraid to share an invite or link to your news or events with them via Twitter. All journalists and outlets now publish their Twitter handles and by including their handle on your tweet, they may pick up your story.