Socializing Your Stories
Top Story: You Did The Big Story, Now What?
Don’t believe the hype.
Local news matters. And people actually believe it is important to the well-being of their communities.
We established that last week.
This week, Reporting Right has some thoughts on how to get that local reporting in the hands of more people.
TIPS FOR GETTING THAT BIG STORY OUT THERE
Be like Taylor
You’re not a star. But your stories should be. Get folks excited/interested in your upcoming stories by thinking the way the music and film industry do. Create buzz. Let people know what you’re working on way before pub date. Do a countdown. Offer previews. Share your process.
Get social w/ social media folks
Local podcasters, Instagram personalities, think tank comms people, Tik Tok news aficionados etc. are always looking for content for their platforms. You can be that content. Don’t be picky. (Okay, be a little picky. ) But honestly, we should all be rethinking how we interact with the social media world. Just about any platform that wants to share your reporting with its audience, is a platform you should consider engaging with.
Source it
Whether your sources are local environmental groups, shopkeepers, politicians, activists, or kids at the local high school, enlist them in getting play for the big stories they are in. Don’t get too worried about whether they are biased. Encouraging them to push out your stories, even if they hate your takes, WILL generate traffic. You don’t need their love. You just need their audience.
Take it live
People — young and old — are desperate for in-person gatherings. If you did a great story important to the community, hold an event. Do live interviews with some of the people you interviewed, open up a Q&A, offer updated information, or give people access to experts who can talk more deeply about the subject.
A subject Substack
You are the local expert on your beat — whatever that happens to be. Start your own Substack page and offer weekly updates. Sometimes, that big story you did will be the update. But other times, you can offer insight into other pieces of information of interest to folks following the issues/places you cover.
Behind the scenes
Audiences love to peek behind the curtain. If you did a big story, do some social posts on how it came together, what your challenges were, things you discovered that didn’t get into the story.
Un-edit it
We do interviews and often get great stuff that never sees the light of day. We can’t quote everything one person says inside a story. But we all know, there are some people who really add value to our understanding of what’s going on. How ‘bout recording important interviews and publishing them in full – or edited, but lengthened? As long as your sources have given you the okay, this type of insider content can drive eyeballs, and generate more understanding and interest in the issues you cover.
Also in the news
School Vouchers for rural communities: Even Republicans think those are a bad idea.
What happens when little FEMA tackles big weather? Hint: It’s not great.
The plot to undermine the 2026 election is getting underway. You may want to start planning ahead.
We’re Reading
The Changing Face of Local Journalism
from CJR
Comic Relief
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See You Next Week!
Our Staff
Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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