What Makes A Newsworthy Story: The Six Elements of Newsworthiness (With Examples)

Any company looking to gain media attention needs to have a newsworthy story. Whether they’re seeking funding, new customers, or a boost in brand awareness, media coverage is an essential part of elevating a company’s profile and getting in front of its target audience. 

But getting media coverage requires more than simply shouting your message into the void or sending untargeted, generic press releases to journalists. 

For a story to resonate, it must be timely, urgent, necessary–and most of all–something people actually want to read. Attention spans have been shown to be shorter than ever, but that doesn’t change the fact that people want compelling content that grabs them and drives them forward.

This guide will explore the importance of creating newsworthy content along with strategies and examples demonstrating how to turn news into a narrative that will resonate with both journalists and their audiences.

Newsworthy Stories are Stories that Capture Media Attention

The aim of creating news and identifying stories companies have to tell is to create a steady pipeline of media opportunities. Journalists at large publications like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Forbes, as well as industry-specific outlets, are always looking for fresh stories to cover.

Yet, to increase the likelihood of getting covered by the media, companies need to have a steady stream of news announcements that help familiarize reporters with your organization. 

Some companies can rely on product launches or major milestones to attract media attention, but for others, consistent news might not be available due to the scale of their operations or the nature of their industry. These organizations must proactively create opportunities for media attention, especially if they’re seeking investors, new clients, or entering into a market.

While product launches, new hires and significant milestones are newsworthy, they are far from the only stories a company can tell. Thought leadership in the form of (e.g.) contributed articles and interviews share thoughts from a company’s executive or spokesperson that are authentic to a brand while keeping relevant to the audiences consuming the content. 

Through thought leadership, organizations don’t have to wait for a newsworthy event to be in the media. They can earn media recognition for their brands and executives by staying on top of industry trends to be better seen as visionaries, rather than vendors. 

However, that is just one strategy of many. No matter how an organization identifies and conveys the stories it wants to tell, it is critical to remember the common characteristics of newsworthiness in journalism.

The 6 Elements of Newsworthiness

Today’s news cycle is non-stop. In many cases, thousands of stories appear just as quickly as they fall from public consciousness. Companies must adopt a proactive approach to generating newsworthy stories. By understanding what makes a story compelling to journalists and their audiences, they can increase their chances of securing coverage. 

Here are the top six elements that make a story newsworthy:

Impact

The potential impact of a story is arguably the most important factor in whether it’s newsworthy. Impactful stories demonstrate value and make clear their intended effect on a specified audience. Without that, journalists–and their readers–are less likely to see the value in a story. 

Yet, a newsworthy story’s impact can and often should be highly targeted, localized to a city, town, or a particular target consumer demographic. News of a new restaurant will only carry relevance in the region, town, or even only a specific neighborhood.

 A new low-code/no-code software program may have a great impact for UX/UI developers, but have little to no impact for those in the education industry. No matter who the story will affect, understanding and effectively communicating its impact on a specific audience is the key to not only effective communication but persuading journalists of the next key element: relevance.

Relevance

For stories to be newsworthy, they need to be something people will be interested in knowing more about. For example, the B2B space, the audience will typically be managers, business owners or other users of a company’s product and services.

But sharing news of a product or service, new hire, or other company update won’t interest reporters without a high degree of relevance. For something to be newsworthy, it needs to fit into a greater conversation that answers why it’s important. Why is this product relevant? Why should a reporter’s audience care about this announcement? 

By answering why and framing the announcement within a broader context such as industry trends, economic impacts or other systemic issues, news can be turned into a compelling story relevant to the media, their audience, and even the industry at large.   

Timeliness

News is generally understood to be in some way timely, new. Stories that are relevant to the present news cycle or offer breaking information are more likely to be covered by the media. The quicker an impactful, relevant story breaks, the more likely it is to dominate headlines. 

For businesses, aligning news with trending news topics can be a strategic advantage. Through a process referred to as newsjacking, businesses can capitalize on breaking news to increase visibility–even if they don’t have news on their own. 

The key to newsjacking is speed. The news cycle moves quickly, and even the smallest delay could make once groundbreaking news boorish–or at least less relevant than any competitors who might have been faster to the draw. By monitoring news developments and being prepared to respond quickly, businesses can position their executives and spokespersons as industry experts, elevating the brand’s profile. 

Human Interest

A human interest story refers to any news meant to evoke strong emotions or connect with people on a personal level. They can range from heartwarming tales–such as a firefighter saving a kitten stuck in a tree–to accounts of adversity such as a family struggling to rebuild after losing their home to a natural disaster. 

These stories often inspire empathy and compassion, reminding audiences of a shared sense of humanity. By highlighting these elements in stories, they are more likely to be relatable, gathering the attention of journalists and any audience they seek to develop a connection with

Novelty

A story that turns heads is a story that gets clicks. Novel stories that deviate from the norm are more likely to generate interest and drive engagement. For newsrooms reporting on (e.g.) politics, novelty is their bread and butter, keeping on top of the latest developments.

For businesses, novelty certainly comes into play when announcing a new product, event, joint venture, or initiative. When writing a story for your organization, consider your audience, what they might get excited about, and what is new about the story. 

Prominence

Stories involving influential figures, like celebrities, influencers or politicians, often attract media attention due to a collective public interest that has built up for decades on those individuals’ lives.

In the B2B space, these figures could be prominent business leaders, well-regarded industry experts, or entrepreneurs disrupting the norm; when Bill Gates says something, thousands of ears perk up. 

These individuals hold influence over their respective industries, making them valuable subjects for news and trade outlets. When a brand is building recognition, leveraging contacts, partners, or assets that bring prominence to their story is a key strategy.

Creating a Newsworthy Story: Different Stories For Different Companies

As we’ve seen, what stories a company chooses to deliver depends on their goals and, on an even more fundamental level, who they are.

A company seeking (e.g.) funding should focus on sharing news on the innovative (or disruptive) ) potential of its products or services. 

On the other hand, a company aiming to build its customer base should prioritize telling stories about its unique offerings,compelling customer success stories, and deeply considered efforts to define its brand and audience through that storytelling.

Understanding target audiences while tailoring narratives to resonate with specific goals will maximize media coverage opportunities. Below are five different examples of how CVM created unique stories for clients that caught the attention of the media.

Newsworthy Story Example 1: Establishing A Strong Leadership Team

Not every company seeking prominent media coverage has a CEO eager to be in the spotlight. For one of our financial technology clients preparing for an IPO, the CEO wanted to stay out of the media ahead of the public offering. 

However, maintaining a positive public image is important as potential stakeholders must see that the company’s leadership team is solid. 

So instead of focusing on the CEO, CVM secured interviews, Q&A’s, bylines, and other thought leadership opportunities for various members of the C-suite. This not only kept the spotlight off the CEO but also established other members of the leadership team as experts in their industry. 

It made the client look competent, well-staffed, diverse, and most of all–effective.

Newsworthy Story Example 2: The Innovation Lab

Clients don’t always have news, but with our help, find ways to remain in the spotlight. One well-established tech client already had their ‘core’ business but had also invested $50 million over several years into funding new innovative products. They wanted to release this news to the market, but from a media perspective, the story appeared overly self-serving and lacking in broader relevance.

CVM found this interesting and thought, “How do we elevate this story?” The result? We introduced the idea of an innovation lab, highlighting their $50 million investment to promote innovation for internal entrepreneurs within the company. These entrepreneurs could bring their innovative ideas to the CEO who would then provider leadership in developing them.

We emphasized that this 35-year-old company ‘bootstrapped its way to huge success’ without the influence of outside funding. As the company and CEO matured, they reinvested in the early stages of innovation, bringing valuable ideas to life. 

This narrative allowed us to showcase the company’s and CEO’s journey through the lens of the innovation lab, providing the story with novelty, relevance, and impact. Our approach allowed us to tell their story effectively and as a result, we garnered significant press coverage.

Newsworthy Story Example 3: Helping Companies Meet Government Mandates

One of CVM’s clients sought to publicize that they could help other organizations meet government-mandated guidelines by a certain deadline. We decided we could do more than simply write and distribute a press release announcing their services. 

To establish our client as a thought leader in the space, we created a series of thought leadership articles. They were geared towards specific trade publications, addressing the challenges and opportunities of meeting these guidelines. We also positioned the CEO as an expert on the topic, establishing credibility while boosting confidence among potential partners.

Newsworthy Story Example 4: DTC Community Think Tank

A client specializing in the e-commerce tech space approached us with the objective of building relationships with executives from their target buyer list. To meet this objective, we devised a strategy that involved establishing a peer community of senior leaders from well-known direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. 

Our client extended invitations to executives from prospective companies to join a monthly virtual meeting where they could speak candidly with other industry leaders about the challenges and opportunities they were facing. The monthly meeting generated several business leads for our client and became a source of coverage as we announced the formation of the collective and named its founding members. 

Over time, this initiative evolved into a formal advocacy program where it continues to provide a sustained of stream of regular media coverage for our client. 

Newsworthy Story Example 5: Meatless Farm and the “Protein Aisle”

When Meatless Farm, a European plant-based meat company, first called us with its sights on the US market, we knew we were going to have to think big. With well-established competitors like Impossible and Beyond already on the scene, Meatless Farm needed more than just a media push: they needed to make an entrance.

In a move intended to spark both curiosity and controversy,  Channel V Media developed a media campaign suggesting stores change the name of their ‘meat aisles’ to ‘protein aisles’.  This cheeky campaign created huge visibility for Meatless Farm and placed them directly in the center of a nationwide discussion on the growing variety of plant-based meat alternatives.

Our Approach at Channel V Media

At Channel V Media, we specialize in helping organizations of all sizes identify newsworthy angles and craft compelling narratives to create a pipeline of media-worthy content, such as contributed articles, industry predictions, and expert commentary about real-world and business trends.