Have you ever submitted story ideas, photos or videos to WRAL? Our newsroom receives hundreds of e-mails and phone calls each week from viewers, PR people, businesses, school officials, etc. asking us to cover their story or use their photos and videos. I have some tips, tricks and helpful hints so you can stand out and get noticed when submitting these things to WRAL.
E-mail is the absolute best way to get our attention. Phone calls are OK, but they’re not usually preferred. In the subject line, write the name of your event or story idea, the date and time. Send the e-mail about a week before your event. If you’d like, you can send a reminder e-mail a day or so before the event. You can e-mail us at:
- assignmentdesk@wral.com for TV coverage requests
- onlinenewsroom@wral.com for online story corrections, suggestions, etc.
- Use this form to submit consumer complaints to 5 On Your Side
If you must call, the best time to do so is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, we’ll accept phone calls any time of the day, 7 days a week. To reach our newsroom, call 919-821-8600 or 800-245-WRAL.
Whether you see breaking news happening, have a question or want to suggest a story for us to cover, make your e-mail or call brief and to the point. It’s the best way to get (and keep) our attention when you’re requesting coverage. You should answer these questions:
- WHO is involved? Also, who are you? How can we reach you if we have more questions?
- WHAT is happening?
- WHERE is it happening (what street or town)?
- WHEN is it happening (date and time)?
- WHY is this something people need to know?
- HOW MANY people are involved?
There are several topics we tend to shy away from for various reasons. For example, if you call us and ask for help with a domestic or custody issue, we’ll probably say no. That’s best left to the courts and authorities. Our 5 On Your Side team also has some topics that they typically don’t cover. For more on that, see Tip # 8.
Once you submit a story idea, feel free to send a follow-up e-mail. However, nonstop phone calls and e-mails can be a turn-off to our assignment editors who have the tough task of going through all the requests. Once we get your story idea (and decide that we might want to cover it), the assignment editors will add it to our calendar. If we like the idea, we’ll do our best to be there. But, no promises. It all depends on what’s happening in the news that day.
Did you bake cupcakes for you child’s class? That’s very sweet of you, but it’s probably not something we’d cover. However, if you bake a 1,224-pound cupcake, then yes, we’d probably head right out there with our cameras. The point is, the stranger your story, the more likely we are to cover it.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with GOLO and how it works. We encourage you to share information with us by uploading photos and videos, writing blogs and starting groups in this place full of user-generated goodies.
Above all else, please be polite when calling or e-mailing us. Just ask our assignment editors, and they’ll tell you about some of the not-so-nice calls they get each day. “I need you to come here right now!” is probably not the best way to start a phone call with them. As for e-mail, ALL CAPS can be hard on the eyes. Other no-no’s: funky fonts, brightly-colored text and little or no punctuation. The easier your e-mail is to read, the more likely we are to actually read it.
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