Fox10’s weatherman took a tongue and cheek approach to our client’s off the wall story: a wall of different tubes of toothpaste from around the world collected by patients. Seeing this light feature story air pleasantly surprised us.
While I covered feature stories, my TV station often rushed me away to instead tackle breaking news. I eventually recognized even if I successfully pitched and set up in advance a feature story, the station likely moved me first rather than other reporters if, for example, the skies opened and weather struck. I never assumed a feature story would air until it actually did.
When pitching feature stories, consider that some reporters won’t be interested in ideas with no link to current events or trends. Your chances of success might be slim.
But don’t refrain from pitching feature stories. You simply need to connect with the right people. Your opportunities to tell a fun story depend on the reporter, the media outlet and a particular segment within that outlet. Interesting, light feature stories often start conversations among readers and viewers and some journalists shouldn’t dismiss them so quickly as unworthy fluff assignments. Those stories tend to stand out among the hundreds about crime.
Some media still wanna have fun. What’s not always fun is getting those stories to air.