Title: Timing Is Everything in a News Cycle
Headings: Timing Is Everything in a News Cycle
Timing Is Everything in a News Cycle
What is a news cycle and when should I contact a journalist?
Newspapers
Blogs
TV Stations
Radio Stations
How and When to Break Your Story
Reaching Journalists After 6:00 P.M.

Content: Radio Stations
Radio was around before the advent of TV and is still going strong, in part because of "drive time," when commuters are stuck in their cars. Radio will break a story any time of the day because they have 24 hours of airtime to fill, each and every day. Whether a radio station plays classical music or only broadcasts local news they all subscribe to the Associated Press, which transmits stories 24/7. As a matter of fact, the events of 9/11 broke over a local New York City radio station that had a traffic helicopter in the air near what became Ground Zero. How and When to Break Your Story
The more time-sensitive a story is, the more you need to think about the news cycle and whom to talk to first. The oldest trick in the book is to release a bad story after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday, knowing that almost every reporter and editor has gone home. You may have noticed that the Federal government will always release a story about a potential government shutdown at exactly this time. While that's been taking place inside the beltway for years, the trick doesn't work as well today given the ability of news outlets posting breaking news digitally. Even the biggest newspapers only have a skeleton crew working nights and weekends. The advantage of releasing a story on a weekend is that if you can get through to the journalist, they'll have more time to talk to you.