Make your event hot news!!

The largest amount of coverage No Smoking Day receives comes from the local press - and it's down to the efforts of our local organisers. But why is local media coverage so important? Well, if smokers don't know what you are doing it makes it so much harder for you to reach them.

The combination of a major national campaign that has the added bonus of local interest is a good scoop for local journalists, and this section is aimed at helping you to exploit this opportunity. And we have also provided you with some guidance on tapping into the online social networking sites.

Local media

The two main types of local media you will encounter are broadcast and print.

Local print media can range from anything as big as a city daily and the weekly freebies pushed through your door, right down to parish news and even newsletters in schools or hospitals.
Local broadcast media will include anything from regional TV news right down to hospital or student radio.

When discussing local media it is important to understand they ways in which it's different to national media. The focus is on local issues. It's because these newspapers like local stories that No Smoking Day activities do so well, but you'll need to find the right local angle.

For example, a weekly freebie paper might like very local stuff, mentioning schools, civic centres and local businesses that the readers use. A parish newsletter will like stories that are exceedingly local.
Bigger regional daily papers prefer items covering the bigger picture, so try to make use of the wider regional or national perspective, perhaps using statistics or trends to give added weight. Contact the No Smoking Day team if you need help; we can usually point you in the right direction..

1. Identifying your local media
Before you make any contact with your local media, identify who they are, and which ones you want to use. Familiarise yourself with your local papers and get to know the kind of stories they publish - and the photos they print. But don't leave it there - think about all the local and regional media you can use.

You can find contact details for most by doing a web search, visiting online directories (such as www.mediauk.com) or checking local phone directories. No Smoking Day can also help provide you with contact details for the media in your local area. Simply email your name, organisation and the name of the town you want contact details for to mail@nosmokingday.org.uk.

2. Creating a relationship
It can be very useful to set up a relationship with your local media well before you know you are going to send a story.

You know well in advance that you will be holding an event on No Smoking Day. Use this to your advantage by contacting your local media and getting them to put it into their diaries now.

If they have a date in their diaries they will already be one step towards writing a story. And if you leave them your contact details they'll have a lead when the Day approaches.

Remember, No Smoking Day is very well known nationwide and local journalists may even have covered the story last year and may already be keen to do so again.

When you call, ask for the features editor or health desk. If they have covered the Day in the past it is likely they have an idea what it is about, otherwise this is a good opportunity to give a brief idea about what to expect nearer the time. And if you've got something they can photograph, you might also think about alerting the picture editor.

If you plan to send a press release nearer the Day then find out what format they prefer this to be in. Email is popular but some may still prefer post or fax.

Bear in mind that a journalist may get hundreds of emails a day and might not bother to open them all, especially if they have attachments which may take time to download.

Don't forget our template releases that are very easy to use.

3. Evaluating your local media and how to use them
Before you start sending blanket press releases about your event to all the local media in your area, think about what types of news they feature and the ways in which they cover them.
This doesn't require you to read every publication cover to cover, just get a basic idea of their interests and their approach.

Try to look at the types of pages they offer, for example health pages, editorials etc. A basic checklist such as the one below may be of use in evaluating your local media.

Local News
What sort of news do they cover?
Do they include human-interest stories?
How long are the stories?
Do they use quotes from interest groups?
Features
Are there regular features pages?
Do they or might they cover health issues?
Does the publication 'campaign' on any particular issue?
Photographs
What sort of photographs does the publication use?
Do they use colour or black and white?
Regular Columns
Do they have regular features on certain issues or by certain journalists?
Do these offer any opportunities for you?
Letters Page
What sorts of issues does the letters page cover?
Could this prove an opportunity to stir up debate?
Local News round up
What scope does the 'round up of local events' offer you?

Whatever you decide to do, always remember to mention No Smoking Day often. No Smoking Day has grown to be one of the UK's best known annual events, and the media will be much more open to your suggestions if you link your events as closely as you can to No Smoking Day and this year's theme.

Power of the internet

The web is a very powerful channel of communication these days - most local media have online versions; social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are immensely popular and there are millions of bloggers out their sharing their experiences and messages.

How to Set Up a Facebook Account

It seems like everyone these days is on Facebook, and you may be wondering what it takes to get your own account. Luckily for you, it is free, the process is super simple and takes just a few minutes to set up. After you set up your Facebook account, you could be communicating with smokers and smoking cessation professionals in no time.

Follow our guide here.

Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. You may have heard how popular Twitter is with celebrities. Our own President Duncan Bannatyne has more than 190,000 Twitter followers! It is great for exchanging quick and frequent messages, and questions and answers.