How To Entice The Local Press To Cover Your Farm Market
July 22, 2016 
Jim Giamarese, a grower from Middlesex County, NJ, talks with a reporter about drip irrigation on strawberries. When dealing with the media, Bill Hlubik, an agricultural agent with Rutgers University Extension, recommends that growers seize the opportunity to get their message across to consumers that the food they are producing is safe and healthy.
Sometimes getting publicity for your business is easier than you think. All you need to do is figure out how to help your local press do their job.
In July 2016, an Extension agent in Idaho made a pitch to the main newspaper in Boise to offer more coverage of local farms. He was responding to a story he saw that focused on crop identification signs along fields in a county well north of the Boise area. Why, he wondered, wouldn’t Boise’s newspaper write about the many operations nearby? Why did the reporter go all the way across the state to write about Idaho crops when so many stories could be told about local growers?
As an editor, I had a couple of theories about how that story came to be published.
One possibility is that this reporter has family in the area the story covers and noticed the signs profiled in the article during a visit home. The other thought was that someone sent in a story about those signs.
Notice in neither of those scenarios did I think that the assignment editor decided this would be a great story idea, asked a reporter to look into it, and suggested going to the counties profiled. That’s because the reality of how today’s reporters gather stories is nothing like what is portrayed in movies, at least not at the local paper level.
The reality is that newspaper and broadcast staffs have been cut way, way back all over the country. Newspapers and local broadcast news teams are trying to do the same amount of work that, in some cases, three times the number of people used to do. That means that only major stories get those well thought-out assignments, and all other local coverage is pulled together as each reporter has time. So stopping your car on your way to visit the grandparents and snapping photos of signs that identify the produce being grown is the sign of a committed reporter gathering ideas wherever he or she can.
With that in mind, you can help boost your fruit and vegetable business tremendously if you make your local reporters’ jobs easier.
Here’s a step-by-step guide of how you can get free publicity while making a reporter’s job easier.
- Jot down a list of the most common questions your customers ask about what you do. A lot of people buy produce from you, leading to dozens of conversation each week about how you grow. Some of those questions are probably about environmental issues — are you organic, are you being careful about not contaminating local water sources, and so on. You know, the questions with that undertone of accusation that gets your back up. Other questions may be about why you grow the varieties you do, or how long produce will last.
Those questions that can drive you crazy are what will get you the publicity you want. Obviously the public wants to know about these things, or you wouldn’t hear the same questions being asked so often. You’ll use these questions to pitch story ideas to your local press, who want to find topics about their community that their readers want read or watch. - Sketch out answers to these most common questions. If you’re being asked about sustainability issues, write out all the things you and your fellow growers are doing. Most of the public do not realize that even non-organic growers have sustainable practices in place.
The questions about the shelf life of what you grow is a great one to answer. It gives you a chance to talk about how fruit and vegetables harvested that day have a longer shelf life and taste better. And if you spell out the different shelf lives for different vegetables and fruit, you are are making yourself a trusted expert to consumers. - Brainstorm a headline with a lot of specific terms. You will be sending your topic with answers to someone who gets a lot of press releases. Local reporters are used to people wanting to have their businesses publicized and have a knee-jerk resistance against those appeals. You can make yourself stand out if you headline your email with something along the lines: “The 5 Best Tomato Varieties For Baton Rouge;” or “Why Trenton Fruit Growers Are Hiring Insects to Protect Their Berries.”
These headlines do two things. First, they tell the editor you have a thoughtful story to tell. Second, it makes it clear that the story is local.
You have probably noticed your local press includes a lot of reports from communities around the world, even beyond the big news items. That’s because they don’t have enough reporters to gather a lot of local stories day in and day out. So they rely on wire services that share colorful, local-flavor stories to help fill the gap. So when a truly interesting local story falls in a reporter’s lap, it makes life easier for him or her. - Find out who you should send your stories to. The best way to do this is to call or drop by the station or newspaper offices. Keep your call or visit brief — you’re just there to find out the contact name for the reporter you want to connect with.
Another way to find the right contact is to look online for stories about agriculture in your area. The reporter will usually be identified just under the headline, and have a hyperlink attached to their name. You can email that reporter directly. - Introduce yourself in an email. Whenever you send a note in, let the reporter know a few things. Say you own a farm market and you’ve noticed that everyone seems to be curious about whatever topic you are writing in about. Make it clear that you are happy to share your knowledge for free, but you do want to be identified with your farm market. That lets the reporter know that they don’t have to dip into a non-existent freelance budget, and that you aren’t going to just talk about how great you and your business are.
And for you, having your CSA, farm market, or winery identified with expert knowledge gives you exposure. If you are contacting a TV station, you should also make it clear that your operation is available to them if they wish to film there.
Oh, and make sure you do this by email. It lets them know that you will be easy to work with. They can copy and paste responses you send into any article they write, if they need to go the easy route. - Be patient. Not everything you pitch will be of interest to the reporter. And there will be times that the reporter completely misses your email. If you don’t get a response, wait a week and reach out again. If the reporter rejects an idea, send in the next topic you have on your list.
Once a reporter learns that you are a reasonable, helpful source, you will find that the station or newspaper will reach out to you whenever they want to cover local food, fall festivals, and other items. And that is truly publicity you cannot buy.