Reporting news or submitting information to the public about local events to the rochester ny newspapers can help quickly inform the public of ongoing issues. Whether its a car accident, funeral or charity event, submitting to the rochester ny newspaper can greatly increase your chances of being heard. However, a few tips should be followed before calling or walking in.
First, make sure to have all of your information ready to go before attempting to speak with a reporter at the rochester newspapers. If you have to keep looking for what you need during the interview, the reporter may lose interest in your story. Have everything you want to say either written or typed out in an easy to see location and reference it whenever it is needed.
Next, call in and inform the rochester ny newspaper editor that you have a potential story. Do not demand to speak with someone. Request either a phone or personal interview and give a basic run down of what your story is about. Do not walk in to the office and demand to speak with a reporter. Behaving rudely will only prevent the reporters from wishing to speak with you.
When speaking with a reporter, remain calm. If it is a topic that makes you emotional, write it out and send it in, the reporters may accept an email submission. However, do not expect the rochester ny newspaper to accept your story, and do not become angry if they do not. They are not required to take stories submitted by the public and may have a number of reasons why they do not accept the story.
If the rochester ny newspaper you contact does not accept the story, kindly thank them for their time and contact another newspaper. Each rochester ny newspaper has specific guidelines on what they report and what they accept from outside submissions. As a city paper, they are also supplied with a large number of stories on a daily basis, and may simply not have room for another story. If they do accept your story, keep in mind the possibility that it may not make it into the rochester ny newspaper that night. If the story is for a public event, give the reporters one to two weeks notice of the event to ensure the story makes it in on time.