Yes, the Local Press Still Exists — and Still Answers Emails

23 July 2025

Somewhere along the way, small businesses concluded that press coverage was for other people. Meanwhile local papers, county magazines, trade journals and their hungry websites publish every single day — substantially from material sent to them.

Why bother, in a social media world

• Borrowed trust. "As featured in the Bucks Herald" carries a credibility your own posts can't manufacture.
• Search longevity. A news article about your business ranks in Google for years — and increasingly gets cited by AI search tools answering questions about local firms.
• Reach beyond your bubble. Local press readers skew older and more affluent — often exactly the customers social media misses.

How to actually get covered

• Be a story, not an advert. Anniversaries, awards, unusual jobs, charity efforts, new premises, apprentice hires — human interest, local angle.
• Do the journalist's job for them: a short factual write-up (who, what, where, when, why), a quote, and a genuinely good photo, sent to a named reporter. Understaffed newsrooms print well-prepared material with startling frequency.
• Offer expertise. Tell them what you can comment on; when a relevant story breaks, you're the local voice they call.

One decent piece of coverage a year outweighs a month of posting. The bar is lower than you think; the email is shorter than you fear.