A Third Trump assassination attempt has been thwarted in California – but did you even know about it?
What does it say about our attention spans and the news cycle in Australia, that this wasn’t a huge media story? An assassination attempt on the former President and now Presidential candidate, and it isn’t the major story on every news outlet.
If that can’t get attention – what hope do you and your business have?
Our busy news cycle, plus the millions of dollars being spent every day to get your attention, means that the stories that are being covered by the media, talked about amongst your friends, and on your social media feeds have to pass a high threshold to make the cut.
Just because something is interesting, substantial, or significantly impactful, does not necessarily mean it is newsworthy. To win attention, earn someone’s interest, and be compelling, what is being shared must be more than important.
It needs to tick multiple boxes of what is newsworthy:
- Is it timely?
- Does it engage someone’s curiosity?
- Is it deeply relatable and taps into someone’s vulnerabilities, shared experiences, aspirations, challenges, frustrations, or strong beliefs?
- Is it entertaining?
- Does it lead with drama, conflict, tension, or horror? Remember, planes that land don’t make the news.
- Is there a large scale, does this affect large numbers?
- Is there a change or a new trend? What’s different today from yesterday and what will shape things tomorrow?
- Are there impactful or attention-grabbing visuals and/or sounds?
- Is the event or issue close to home?
- Does it involve well-known companies or people, or prominent locations or events?
- Is this the first, greatest, fastest?
- And finally – is this new news or is there news fatigue about this?
So with that in mind, have a think about how many boxes this news of a third assassination attempt doesn’t tick, and how it compares to the news of the first assassination attempt.
If I told you earlier this year that a former U.S. president or presidential candidate survived an assassination attempt and it didn’t result in widespread media coverage, you wouldn’t believe me. Until you understand how much goes into making something newsworthy.
And when people with far lesser prominence than that are able to receive influential media coverage, you can see why skilled PR professionals are not going to be replaced by AI anytime soon…
Interested in building a robust media plan for your business – even if you’re not necessarily newsworthy? Get in touch with Pure Public Relations today for your free 30-minute consultation.
